NY Stories: You Have No Bagels?!

While in graduate school I lived in a closet of a room in Astoria, right off of Ditmars Blvd. There were many things that I loved about living there. The food shopping was easy and excellent. There were so many little specialty shops and small super makets on my eleven block walk from the train station to my house. The neighborhood was extremely safe and very family oriented, which was a nice transition for a girl from the suburbs.

An added bonus was the Dunkin Donuts that was open twenty four seven. How, one might inquire, is this an added benefit? Well I shall tell you! When one works odd retail hours one sometimes must be at work at 5am. A 5am shift with neither food nor coffee (no matter the quality of either) is not to be recommended. So Dunkin Donuts was the happenin' place to be at quarter after four in the morning! That being said, when suddenly a sign appeared on the door informing me that construction was about to occur thereby temporarily closing my early morning haven of chewy bagels and tepid, over sweet coffee, I was needles to say, unsettled. All was not lost however! A new Dunkin Donuts was opening a few blocks closer to my house but still along my path to the train. The first morning I had to go to the new Dunkin Donuts I was prepared to be required to actually order. My Dunkin Donuts guy always knew what I would order and therefore simply prepared it for this bleary eyed, early morning commuter, no questions.

So I walked in and asked for my usual, "May I have a whole wheat bagel with strawberry cream cheese and a medium coffee extra milk and two splendas." "I'm sorry we have no Bagels." Baffled by such a statement, I repeat it "You have no bagels?!" He is of course standing in front of a wall of bagels and doughnuts. "No we have no bagels." My yet to be caffeinated mind is not prepared for such a challenge. Thinking that I could possibly change the inevitable answer I attempted changing the inflection of my voice, "You have NO bagles?" "No, we have NO bagels." This went back and forth for several moments before I was able to get out, "Well what are those things behind you?!" "Ohhh, you want one of them? Toasted?"

Needless to say I got my bagel and coffee and rued the day when my Dunkin Donuts decided it needed to upgrade.

About three weeks later my Dunkin Donuts reopened. I was walking past it in the middle of the day and overheard a man say to his wife, "You know I really like the new (meaning the newly renovated) Dunkin Donuts." To which she responded, "It's not a freakin Disney World ya know!" "I know! But at least at this one the guy don't tell me he's got no bagels when he's standing in front of a freakin' wall of them!" I could barely contain my urge to turn around I shout with triumph, knowing I wasn't the only baffled Dunkin Donuts customer in Astoria!

First Blog

This being my first blog, I feel the need to set forth some parameters for myself. For instance, what do I intend to write about? Ummm, I dunno. Stuff that interests me. Check! Am I going to do it every day? Let's be honest, no. Cool. Check! Is this the step in life that will make me wildly famous and the most recent best thing since sliced bread? Please god no! Check! Ok, I think we're doing well!

So you ask...well what are the things that interest you, and if you're not going to write every day, when are you going to write, and seriously, don't you want to be famous?! Well don't be a stranger and stop by sometime and you will most likely find out the answers to some if not all those questions and probably some other stuff too.

See you soon.