Tags
18th century, attentiveness, Constitution, law, privileges, protest, responsibilities, rights, Roe v. Wade, US history
Another morning at the coffee shop and Ms. Anne Thrope worked next to me at the flattop. “Plain bagel with sprouts and onion cream cheese up!” she called, then in a quieter voice to me she said, “What do you think of the latest political efforts concerning individual rights? The leaked draft concerning Roe v. Wade.”
“Ms. Anne, you don’t want to know what I think because it’s too early in the day and I’d have to use my hands to talk and we’d fall behind in the orders. Speaking of which”—and I raised my voice—”Dirty eggs, sub everything bagel!” I sometimes worry that customers will overhear our conversations and leave because they are more conservative than Ms. Anne.
“I’m concerned by the stupid thinking I keep seeing from certain areas that we need to follow the original intent of the 18th century writers of the Constitution. If you follow that logic, then our court systems wouldn’t use stenographic equipment because those technologies were unknown in the 18th century, and we wouldn’t be driving cars or watching television or using computers because our lives would be frozen in the 18th century.” And then her voice jumped in volume, “Rainbow bagel with bacon to go for Schenectady! Rainbow to go—Schenectady.” Back to me, she asked, “What kind of name is Schenectady? You think it was something less pronounceable once upon a time?”
“I cannot imagine, Ms. Anne. But you were saying about being frozen in the 18th century. Wait—egg and sausage wrap up!”
“I’m ready to wrap up the day,” she said to me, “but people need coffee and food. Can you imagine what it would be like if a restaurant operated now the way the inns of the 18th century operated? The business was only beginning then. The best alehouses had bread, cheese, and mutton. Nothing else. That sort of menu would send us into bankruptcy fast. Cheddar bagel, plain, and cheddar bagel with bacon and cream cheese to go for Iredale!
“There you are. Thanks for waiting, Coach. How’s the school baseball team?”
While she listened to Coach Iredale’s response, I watched her side of the flattop. Ms. Anne turned back to the cooking.
I felt relieved that she was moving from political conversation and said, “So restaurants then didn’t offer bagels and coffee?”
“Coffee houses also sold limited pastries, such as sticky buns, but not the gigantic sticky buns we now have. And getting back to political matters, if we really went by what the 18th century writers wanted, some of the justices on the Supreme Court wouldn’t be where they are because in the 18th century they weren’t recognized as having the rights of citizens. They assure us that Roe is ‘settled law’—the Latin stare decisis—and then they turn around with a draft statement that overturns that settled law. What’s the next settled law that they’ll overturn? Chef’s jumble up—jalapeno bagel with egg, lox, and scallion cream cheese!”
“Ms. Anne, that should be a regular menu item.”
“And you’re trying to change the subject. In the 18th century, African Americans and women did not have the rights and privileges we now have. Anyone who didn’t own land was up the creek when it came to voting, and only about 10% of the people owned land. How would that work now? 10% of the people voting?! Only property owners?! That would disenfranchise you and a lot of others. What are they going to do next? Start another civil war to destroy the United States? I should be on the front line in DC. It feels like Saroyan would nudge me to go there.”
“Speaking of front line,” and I raised my voice, “Order up—blueberry bagel, cinnamon crunch bagel, and order to go for Romero!” I lowered my voice again and said, “Ms. Anne, it’s hard to have a serious conversation and cook. I’ll be glad to sit and talk with you another time, but not during morning rush. And besides, do you ever worry that some customers disagree with you?”
“No, they know where I stand. I hope those in power understand that we’re paying attention and will find ways to limit their power, but I’ll stop.” She paused a beat and called, “Dirty eggs up!”