Tastee Diner, Bethesda, MD
Christmas 2000
'Twas a dreary Saturday before Christmas, and at 5:45 AM the morning shift began slowly cranking up – the wait staff, as usual, a little sluggish at this hour. Kay arrived with a big batch of her Christmas cookies although she had yet to feel the slightest hint of Christmas spirit. Beth arrived feeling cranky and unwilling to put up with even a little hassle on her shift. It looked like a bad day brewing.
But, the Christmas cookies would change everything. Slowly throughout the morning, as the waitresses munched on those cookies, the day and mood brightened. By early afternoon, the atmosphere turned downright festive with Beth and Mary joining in a rousing rendition of Jingle Bell Rock.
The diner now buzzed with the holiday spirit! Suzi, Marisol, and Weenie had it now, and they spread it like a benevolent virus to all their customers. Pat and John and the Kugelmeister got it. The fella with the umbrella got it. Astonishingly, Father Bennett, the parish priest, who had not had the true Christmas spirit in years, got it.
Coincidently, and bordering on the miraculous, three nuns in a pickup truck delivered a magnificent Christmas tree to the diner. Ginny, the manager of the day, nearly fainted on the spot. Not in all her years had she been part of anything like this.
This was so unbelievably wondrous! Everyone who came into the diner that day walked out giddy with Christmas cheer!
Word spread quickly. The Washington Post carried the story, and Brokaw ran it on the NBC Nightly News. At day’s end, the whole world knew the story.
The next day an enormous and boisterous crowd surrounded the diner. Everyone wanted to come in for a little touch of that Christmas spirit. And the diner, as usual, did not disappoint.
Written on the menu board outside:
Serving up huge helpings of the spirit of the season!
Merry Christmas
and, as always,
may the best in you
bring the best for you
in the new year!
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