I was downtown with my husband Ken. I was tired and hungry, so when he suggested that he could drop me off at OJ’s while he ran an errand I said a quick, “Yes, please”.

It was late afternoon so there were plenty of stools at the counter. My favorite place to sit. I enjoy the banter between the cooks and the waiters, I like to see my meal prepared, and even though the front window is no longer a picture window I still covet the street view.

I decided that an omelette would be just enough. I asked to add cheese, bacon, vegetables, and onions. My waiter said that I might want to skip the onions because there were some in with the vegetables. I let him know that I didn’t want the bread, but that I would like a cup of coffee.

It was my mistake to order bacon in the afternoon. I appreciated that the bacon would be well done, but it seemed to take forever. When the omelette was finally set in front of me it looked perfect. My waiter then said that he would have them start the fries. (?) He just then thought about fries? I asked if I could have the small dinner salad instead.

As soon as my fork cut in to the eggs it became “you can’t judge a book by looking at the cover”. The bacon and the cheese were OK, but the vegetables looked and tasted as though they had been overcooked three days earlier! My salad came with the proud announcement, “There are no onions!”

Looking at my thimble of cold coffee as the waiter walked away I called out, “Could I have some more coffee please?”.

The bill was just over $23. I really hated to give up that $24. It will be a long while before Original Joe’s sounds like a good idea.