The combination of cold weather and looming finals is proving to be a business opportunity for my local deli. The number of students needing fast comfort food seems to have tripled and extra staff have been called in. The guys behind the counter show no sign of pressure though and move quickly and competently around each other to load up the sandwiches and fry the sweet potatoes .
I’m impressed by how they remember complex orders. Yesterday a bloke rushed in and said urgently something like this “Can I get a hero with turkey, ham, corned beef, chipotle, onions, American cheese, Bacon, mozzarella, avocado, onion and tomato? And another one the same but with swiss cheese not American and aubergine not tomato?” I waited to see how the deli guy reacted to this but his impassive reply was “what kind of bread?” I felt as if I was in a fast talking film of the 40s.
