The shift got off to a slow start, with one lone customer at the bar. He finished his lunch, paid his tab, and I brought him his change. As he headed out the door, I noticed he left some cash on the bar for my tip. “Thank you!” I called out, going back to the dining room to continue setting up. As I was laying placemats on the table, I glanced up to see an elderly man near the door. I hurriedly left the dining room, and went behind the bar. “Can I help you, sir?” He gave me a panicked, deer-in-the-headlights sort of look as I glanced down where my tip had been.
It wasn’t there anymore.
“All right, put it back,” I said calmly.
He gazed shiftily around: “What? What are you talking about?”
“There was cash on the bar—put it back right now!”
He looked uneasily at me: “No, um…there was nothing there.”
It was only a couple of bucks, but now I was furious. So I yelled: “PUT THE MONEY THAT YOU JUST STOLE BACK ON THE BAR!”
Honestly, if he had just turned and walked out the door I certainly was not athletic enough to leap over the bar and tackle him, and by the time I went all the way back and out from behind the bar, he’d have been long gone.
“NOW!” I yelled. “PUT IT BACK!”
He hesitated, eying me like he was going to argue, than thought better of it. He reached into his pocket pulling out the crumpled dollar bills, and put them back on the bar.
“NOW GET THE FUCK OUT!” I screamed. (It was a serious overreaction on my part; we’re talking about six bucks.) But my rage scared him—and kind of scared me, too. I was shaking, but I felt really powerful there for a moment.
He hotfooted it out the door, but as he passed the open window, he leaned in and yelled “CUNT!” before scampering off with surprising speed. And then I had a good laugh, cause he kind of had a point.
The irony is that if he’d asked for a sandwich or something, I probably would have just given it to him. But no—instead, here we were—yelling at each over a couple of bucks! (Good Lord.) I’ve never been so grateful for an empty bar in my life.
Another time the bar was packed and a passerby called in through the open window, “Hey—do you guys sell pumpkin beer?!
Oh, how we laughed. And then made a sign:
There was a brief time, however, where I was selling cupcakes out the window. (No pumpkin, though) I wasn’t bartending at that time; I was trying to launch a business: Double-D-Lish Cupcakes (Bigger than average and all natural!). I baked them in my tiny studio apartment, then stacked boxes of cupcakes into the basket of my bike and pedalled across town to the bar. It was always a high stakes ride. Jamo McManus was kind enough to let me use the window as a mini-storefront.
While I did have a car in the city at the time, I couldn’t really drive it due to lack of parking, so I kept it near my apartment and used the trunk as a pantry to store my baking dry goods.
Then I got a great review from Andrea Strong in The Strong Buzz:
I was delighted, but instead of the big time, it led to a Cease and Desist letter from an outfit in California that used the name “Double D Cupcakes.” My name—Double-D-Lish—was better (and I had it first), but I couldn’t prove it, and had no money for a lawyer. Carlton the barfly offered to have those cupcake-making assholes out West roughed up a bit, but truthfully, by that time I was ready to throw in the apron. It was very hard to sustain a baking business, and besides, I needed the trunk of my car to store my winter clothes.
A few years later, the window was again pressed into service when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
That window was a lifesaver. When all restaurants in the city were forced to close, we were able to remain open and sell food and drinks, which kept the staff (and neighborhood) afloat.
Finally though, the window at McManus is and always has been a great spot to just sit and watch the world go by.
Wishing a very happy birthday tomorrow to my friend Andrew Malone, who has been known to do just that.
Sorry I never got to taste your cupcakes. I usually don't like them -- they're normally too sweet for me -- but what a great review! Lovely thoughts swirling 'round that window!
We earn our money with irreplacable time! Thieving swine! Love the cupcake story. We all have these little business ideas inside us. So few of try them out. Kudos for giving up hope to having a go at our big or little dreams!