A&W summer job
My wife lied her way into a waitressing job at A&W in the early 1970s when she was about 15.
As the child of immigrants, a “new Canadian,” she craved a source of cash that would provide a degree of autonomy from her parents, who didn’t prioritize their daughters’ desire to dress in North American teenage – in this case hippie – garb and therefore withheld the cash required to purchase such indispensable items.
Waitressing at A&W not only offered financial independence but a whole late night social life, complete with long after-hours of pot smoking and discussions of both the metaphysical and the physical dimensions of life, with co-workers and supervisory staff.
Anne was a stellar A&W waitress, who garnered her fair share of tips – and of free treats – while proudly sporting the requisite uniform and kibitzing with the clients.
She also became an expert on the A&W menu, whose contents she remembers to this day.
When our younger son David could not stomach the Eastern European fare prepared by his grandfather during trips to BC, Anne plied David with A&W sustenance, whose components she had memorized down to the very last pickle, with a tasty and frosty root beer to wash it all down.
To this day, Anne has maintained a loyalty to A&W and to the purveying of tasty delights that served as her “get out of jail card” in those days long past, in a Vancouver suburb that exists only in memory now.
Your friend,
Robert
https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/
