At Least I’m Not Freezing at Pee Wee Hockey

Name of Place Visited: Dunkin’ Donuts
Street Address: New Scotland Ave.
Date, Time of Day: Monday, 1/28 Noon-1:00

Inspired by the great commercial where people sing about “freezing at pee wee hockey” until a guy arrives with hot chocolate, I arrive at the Dunkin’ Donuts located across the street from St. Peter’s Hospital on New Scotland Ave. I park my car in the small parking lot located in the front of the store and head inside. From the table I’m sitting at I can see the parking lot. Rather than walls there are large glass windows that let you see everything outside. Behind me and to my right is Andy’s Place, a bar and restaurant. To the left of the Dunkin’ Donuts (if you’re walking out of the building) is a Mr. Subb. It’s in a very busy neighborhood due to the hospital across the street that also has multiple construction projects going on. I’m very comfortable here, I come here occasionally to get lunch or breakfast so it’s not foreign to me at all. I had a bacon egg and cheese on a plain toasted bagel, a boston cream donut and a hot chocolate as I took my notes.

There is a middle aged man working on laptop with his briefcase and jacket on the chair to his right. He is busily typing away on something as he sits under an advertisement for “new oven toasted hash browns.”

An older couple sits at the table to my right. They have a box of munchkins, coffee, and are splitting a sandwich on a croissant. The old man is cutting the sandwich in half. Both are wearing sunglasses.

Two men walk in wearing Yankees hats. One is tall wearing a dark yellow hoodie and Yankee cap backwards. The other is shorter with a blue t-shirt with gray long sleeve shirt underneath, Yankee cap forward. Young female employee shamelessly flirts with them. They sit down directly in front of me. One in blue t-shirt has back to me. Shirt says “Perfection Roofing.” Talk about high standards.

Older couple finishes sandwich and open box of munchkins. Still haven’t removed sunglasses.

The two men in Yankee caps are trying those advertised hash browns. I'm sticking with my boston cream.

I accidentally make eye contact with the old man, at least I think. You never know with those sunglasses. I play it off as looking out the window.

Young female employee continues to flirt with men in Yankee caps who seem very amused and answer with a lot of “yeps” and chuckles. I discover the man in the dark yellow hoodie is named Tom, but she insists on calling him Tommy. He doesn’t seem to notice.

Laptop guy is still working hard on an e-mail. Adjusts glasses for a moment then goes back to typing. I wonder if this is what he really wants to be doing right now. I know I’d rather be watching a baseball game or in a pool in the summer time.

Old man goes to the bathroom, old lady now has munchkins to herself. Will she take advantage?
I have to give it to this female employee, she’s resilient. She asks the men if they have My Space. The taller man mumbles and the employee calls him a “dumbass.” Shorter man says he has a My Space as she plays with her blonde pony tail and turns her attention to him. I wonder if these guys come in here often. Chances are a job they’re doing would take more then one day. Maybe this isn’t shameless flirting, but a budding friendship. God, I’m getting sappy.

I debate whether “MySpace” is spelled as one word or two separate words. I feel like a 40-year-old man who has fallen out of touch with pop culture. I wonder if the old couple even know what MySpace is. I bet laptop guy has one.

Old man returns, the old lady never took advantage of the defenseless box of munchkins. Old man comments a half of sandwich was all he wanted and old lady agrees. I hope I never get to the point where half of a sandwich is all I need.

Another female employee, this one a little older then the first with brown hair, joins the other employee in flirting. She decides flirting in Spanish would be effective. I wonder why I’m not getting any attention. Maybe I should wear a more revealing shirt next time, or not shave so I have the rugged look going on.

Young man with bear and long brown hair sits at table under “Triple Chocolate Muffin” ad with Green Tea and coffee. Has a tattoo on forearm just above his wrist, try to see what it is when he gets his sandwich, but I can’t tell.

Two men in Yankee caps leave without saying good-bye to female employee. Possibly trying to sneak out? That’d be kind of sad actually. Amusing, but sad.

So that young man with long brown hair had a beard, not a bear. That’s be freaking crazy though if he had a bear. Talk about spicin’ up your Monday. “Hi, could I get a hot chocolate and HOLY SHIT A BEAR!” I don’t get why these things run through my head either.

Older couple gets up to leave. Old man grabs box of munchkins, his coffee and the garbage. He throws out the garbage when they walk by the garbage can. I wonder if they’ll take off their sunglasses when they get home.

It’s probably better that guy didn’t have a bear with him. If the old couple could barely handle a half of sandwich, imagine what would happen if they saw a bear walking into Dunkin’ Donuts. Of course I would panic too and at least they would have sunglasses on so they could look somewhat cool.

Laptop guy gets up to throw out coffee cup, his chair makes an screech worse then nails on a chalkboard when he gets up. I make eye contact after my reaction to the screech and he gives me an I Don’t Give a Shit look. After brushing off his shirt and butt, he throws out his cup, comes back to gather up his laptop into his briefcase and goes to the bathroom. His planner is left open with his cell phone sitting on it in the middle of the table. I bet laptop guy wouldn’t have even flinched at the bear. He would probably just screech his chair, give the bear a look until it cowered, then typed an e-mail to his boss telling him how he scared a bear and deserves a raise. I could use a raise too come to think about it.

Laptop guy returns, I notice an ink stain on the sleeve of his white dress shirt. I wonder if he’s noticed yet. If he hasn’t he looks like the type that would be somewhat annoyed by that. He brushes the crumbs off his navy blue dress jacket and puts it on. Puts briefcase around his chest. He drops his cell phone when he picks up the planner. He remains calm by drawing it out from under the table with his foot, picks it up, dusts it off and blows crumbs off it and walks out of the D&D’s in the direction of St. Peter’s Hospital. The bear wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Female employee who was flirting stands in corner behind me and to my left covering her face and leaning on the window. Mondays do that to me too.

Employee removes hand from face and stares into space, there are no customers in line for the first time since I’ve arrived. I wonder if she’s thinking about those roofing guys in the Yankee caps. I bet she would have used the bear to her advantage so the men could protect her. Smart girl.

Another employee comes over and they have a short conversation about Rhianna. Only male employee sits behind cash register looking out front window. He must not be a Rhianna fan. His facial expression looks like he could be standing in the rain under his umbrella (ella, ella). Okay, I admit it that was a stretch.

As much as I didn’t think I had anything in common with the people I saw today, we might all be more linked then I thought. Most people have flirted shamelessly only to be shot down before. We’ve all had days where we spend far to much time on a laptop for work and end up being in an annoyed mood, especially if we get an ink stain on us in the process. And if the worst thing that happens to me when I get old is only having the ability to eat half a sandwich while wearing sunglasses in doors, well it could be worse. It was pretty sunny out anyways.

Maybe we’ll meet again at a Pee Wee Hockey game. Laptop guy will be there, without his laptop because he’s watching his boy play goalie for the Bears. The old couple will watch their grandson play center for the Bears while they split a muffin and wear sunglasses because the light is shining to brightly off the ice. The female employee will be there with her boyfriend, the other male employee who she chose after realizing the Perfect Roofing guys cared more about roofing then being in a relationship. Plus the male employee had a sweet MySpace. They’ll be listenting to Rhianna on their iPod after the female employee convinces the male employee that Rhianna does have at least one good song. And then there will be me, sitting there with my hot chocolate taking notes on what everyone is doing at a Pee Wee Hockey because that’s what English majors due. I’ll be wearing a more revealing outfit this time in case one of the employees at the hockey rink felt compelled to shamelessly flirt. In the end, we’ll all be freezing at Pee Wee Hockey.










God, that was a sappy ending.