Dunkin' Donuts is the center of the universe, baby. Walk in there on your way to work and check it out. Yeah, I said walk in there; don't go through the goddamn drive-through unless there is no one in front of you. It always takes longer and you are lazy enough as it is.
I pop in there on the days I have to sling booze early; the days I open the store. By the way, as much as I hate early, I enjoy the first hour that I am in the store alone. I dig the quiet and the chance to do my job without some idiot looking at my cutesy NHSLC shirt with the name tag clipped on and asking me if I work here.
Pop into DD on a weekday and you see America as it is. Tired people with bags under their eyes standing at the counter ordering coffee, sandwiches, donuts, whatever it is that will start their day off with a little pleasure, a little dignity. Strangely enough I rarely pick up on an air of desperation. Everybody seems to walk in there with a purpose, an aura of dignity about going to work. Maybe its as simple as being able to treat yourself in a small way. The people that work there are pleasant and I rarely see a grumpy customer. Maybe its as simple as the fact that nobody is awake.
Go there early because that's when life happens to most working folk. If you walk in there later in the morning you'll be greeted by the people who are scamming the system, drug dealers, retirees, layabouts and castoffs. Its a whole different vibe.
The employees work their asses off. Running, whirling, swirling, reaching, grabbing, boxing and mixing. The experienced ones are smooth and a pleasure to watch. Effortlessly dealing with customers, running a register, cooking, bagging and tagging. Trainees have a look of disbelief on their face like "How the hell will I ever handle it?" But us wee folk are eminently trainable; somehow we always learn no matter how fast paced or unreasonable job demands become. That carrot called a paycheck provides endless inspiration.
Zap in there early on a weekend morning and you get an entirely different vibe. Flocks of parents and kids on their way to basketball tournaments, fueling up and socking away treats to reward the kids with later. Everybody seems to know everybody else. Exchanging small talk; the job, the kids, the home, sickness and health, good news, bad news, catching up or keeping up. Its a little odd as a worker bee standing there bleary eyed on a Saturday morning watching all these people live a weekend life, life as it should be; two whole days off in a row every single week. Makes you feel a little alienated or maybe like you have done something wrong with your life. For me, that thought is often followed by thankfulness that I don't do the 9 to 5 anymore. That would kill me. Everything is a trade off for us wee folk.
My ritual is to order the coffee and sandwich (sausage, egg, and cheese on either a plain bagel, or an everything bagel when I'm feeling quite feisty) and then walk over to the sandwich pick-up area while greedily slurping my coffee. Those first few sips are powerful; I am an addictive personality who celebrates his addictions. Coffee ain't nothing but a drug to me and when I begin to feel its effects I know I am alive.
My stakeout point allows me to look into and across the kitchen towards the drive-up pickup window. I was standing there slurping and observing recently, watching these youngsters gliding around filling orders, when a truck pulled up to the window. Guy with a dog leaning over him to watch all the activity.
The dog was amused. His head swiveling to see all these bodies doing the customer service dance. It was obvious that he knew his life was a lot better than anybody's in that store. It was an interesting moment to me, a clearer perspective on the world.
Dunkin Donuts is where life happens. Life as experienced by the worker bees of the world. People who go to work because they have to, not because they have any expectation of enjoyment. People who are hurried and worried, stressed and depressed, hanging on like farmer John.
And somehow making it all happen. Somehow keeping it all together. Even if that requires yards of duct tape.
People to whom a simple cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich provides dignity.
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