They were quiet and exceedingly polite, and left me a nice tip, so it was a nice experience for me. And it would have been a nice little breakfast for them, were it not for [insert menacing "dun-dun DUUUN" music here] The Pervert.

This greasy old stain of a man used to come in each weekend and park at the counter, spending untold hours staring at the waitresses for an inappropriate length of time and trying to make uncomfortable conversation, only stopping to wipe his glasses and ask for another splash of coffee. Since he usually sat at the counter, I was literally trapped in a small area with this leering lech for hours every weekend. It was unpleasant, and unnerving, but I was young, and didn't quite know how to make him stop, since he was just being icky, not doing anything overt. The customer is always right, the owner said.

Unfortunately, The Pervert took quite a liking to Brooke, and walked over to stand directly behind Brooke and Terri. He said hello and began to compliment her beauty, while looking at her in that unnerving way we waitresses had become accustomed to.

At first, the Shields' were polite to him...up until he laid his greasy hand on her back, and started rubbing her back in a big circle. Brooke clearly tensed up, and it took only a few seconds for hawkeyed Momma Shields to notice him making his move on her teenaged daughter. I didn't catch what she said to him, but he thankfully stopped abruptly, and made his way out the door, instead of returning to his stool.

Mrs. Shields got the owner aside and told him what just happened, and that The Pervert had made Brooke uncomfortable. The owner apologized profusely and promised it would never happen again, and that he would make The Pervert apologize to Brooke.

I never saw Brooke in that diner again, but I have to say that after the dressing-down that the owner gave The Pervert, his behavior was a bit more restrained from that point on. Still, I had to wonder: Over the years, how many oily characters like that thought they could touch Brooke just because they wanted to? It made me feel sorry for her. And it made me a little mad that the owner stuck up for the movie star, but not his own waitresses.

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I don't think it's sexism, basically.

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Doesn't make him a bad musician. Definitely makes him someone I would never want to serve. Feh.

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i'll take this as further proof of the fact that people who make wonderful things aren't necessarily wonderful people.

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Also, I'm still recovering from a cadaver lab...ew.

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Or else we have to come up with a super secret code language. O-day ou-yay ave-hay any-hay uggestions-say?

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