SIDE SALAD - Everything crunchy is good.

RESUSSA GOES TO LUNCH

Last week, I wrote about getting a CPR mannequin in the mail at work. I pledged that it would provide endless amounts of fun as we took it to various places around town.

So I decided it would accompany me to a staff lunch I held off-site.

Destination?

Nicko's diner on Florida Avenue, which claims on the cover of it's menus:

"Elvis Ate Here."

Nicko's is a great place to eat. It's about as authentic a diner as you're going to find these days. Reminds me of the old Pelican Diner on St. Pete Beach, where we'd get club sandwiches and open-faced turkey sandwiches with hot gravy and fries.

Table for four, please. And one CPR dummy named Resussa (as in "resuscitate").

Resussa immediately made friends with our server Amanda, better known as Mandy.

Mandy was offered a chance to test her CPR skills. She considered the offer and then quite colorfully replied, "I'm not putting my lips on that thing unless it'll save my fat white ass."

We liked Mandy immediately.

Resussa's presence clearly stood in contrast to the sober nature of this establishment.

I couldn't hear what this patron was saying into his cell phone, but I imagined that he was placing a call to his broker in Tokyo.

The pressure of a new environment prompted Resussa to take up a dirty habit before lunch arrived.

Mandy was a great server full of charm and promptness.

Mmmmm. Greasy gyro platter.

Always conscious about her weight, Resussa ordered the cole slaw.

Partway through lunch, Mandy leaned over the back of the booth to show us her Burmese ruby ring, which she said was bequeathed to her. Seems her mother was a German countess who had lost her royal title by marrying an American. The ring, she said, was hundreds of years old and matched a pair of 10-karat earrings that she said were locked away for safekeeping. One day, she said, she might sell them for a car.

It was at that point we asked for the check.

Posted by Jeff at October 29, 2005 10:44 AM