Ralph, he'd come in at five thirty every morning. Rain snow, wind, heat, cold, it never mattered. You could always count on him bein' there before the sun. The man who raced his own shadow, that's what his customers used to say.

He always had this little smile when he heard that but watch out though, because he always pretended to be a gruff and no nonsense kinda guy. Didn't like nobody to make him laugh. I always thought it was because he had to maintain his authority in that place just to keep the bruisers in line when they'd try to get out of hand sometimes. I think I'm right about that too. And he rarely had to bark out more than once to make some loud mouth, quiet down at the counter. Always lookin' out for his other customers. That was Ralph.

Ralph, man he had his routine and nothin' would change that...nothin'. First thing when he came in he'd hang up his hat and jacket. He always wore that hat, a grey gaberdine golfer's cap. Summer, winter, always the same hat. Different jackets though. Ralph was no fool. Knew when to bundle up when it was cold and to lighten up when it was hot. Then he'd go in the back and come out with a fresh apron. Know what made Ralph different than the guys who run the other joints around here? He'd always put on a fresh apron for lunch and supper too. How about that?

Lot's of times the early guys would really get pissed off at Ralph but he had his rules. Didn't care if you were freezin' your ass off and sleet made you into an icicle, he wouldn't open his doors before six and it didn't matter if your wife was pregnant and needed a place to drop the kid real fast. Six o'clock and no earlier. Period.

Ralph had his routine and god help you if you messed with that. If you was standin' out side you could hear him rattle the top of the coffee urn, settlin' the stuff in the steam table, bangin' this and rattlin' that. Soon you'd start to smell the coffee and oil from the deep fryer heatin' up. Christ, sometimes your stomach would be grumblin' and you'd be slappin' your hands together, just waitin' to get inside. Somethin' about being hungry in the morning that's different than other parts of the day, don't ya think?

I think some of the early guys came in just so they don't have to look at their wives in the mornin'. I know for a fact that old Tommy and little Arthur didn't need to be in the factory before eight o'clock 'cause they worked in the office. But they'd always be out there, every mornin' with the rest of the guys waitin' for the place to open up.

Lunch time it was a mad house in there. Everybody rushin' talkin' and makin' a lot of noise.  Ralph, he worked the grille, slung the burgers and fries, poured the coffee, he did it all. Place was too small to have a waitress and too big to handle alone but he always did it, didn't he? You maybe had to wait your turn but Ralph, he made sure you had your meal and be back to work on time. He always made sure of that.

Supper time was different though. Ralph took his time to make you a nice meal and would holler at you to wait if you tried to hurry him. A different man at supper time, wouldn't you say? I guess he figured that a lot of the customers ain't got no place to call home so he kinda wanted you to eat regular like you might if you had a wife and kid or somethin'.

After supper time he'd lock the door, usually around seven since there wasn't too many that came by at that time. But if you didn't finish your meal you know what he'd do?  Wait. Wouldn't hurry you up or nothin' just so he could get out of there.  He'd wait before doin' all that nasty stuff you make your wife do. Cleanin' up and stuff. Sure he'd scrape off the grille and wipe everything down but he wouldn't do stuff that made a lot of noise like rattlin' the dishes or bangin' pots and pans. He'd wait until later to do that. Sometimes I seen him leave after eight  even nine o'clock at night to go home.

Ralph....I wonder whatever happened to him.

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