Just "Bill"

He walked into the café with his neighbor, who was using a walker as a balance-assist. The café was packed (and we don't take reservations). He was a local so he knew he'd probably have to wait, but he also knew that he had cache, if he'd wanted to use it. He didn't. He arranged for a seat for his neighbor while he stood nearby.

I think it was a Friday night, this particular visit, but no matter, he was – in fact – a "regular". What I remember was that we were down a server, that our host was new to the gig, and that we were fairly well slammed. Even so, I couldn't help but notice that the place got a little softer … a little more well-mannered … when he walked in.

In a town full of multi-millionaires, the famous, the notorious, the sports legends, the computer geeks, the singers/songwriters, the snotty and big headed, the old money, the BIG NAMES, and the child stars, no one classed up the joint like he did. He was not comfortable with having a big deal made over him, which was unfortunate, considering. Funny when an entire room full of people tries to NOT stare and gasp at a person. I've never seen so many people look at NOTHING so intently before.

Typically he was a breakfast regular, and he'd wipe the bakery counter clean of the twists and hand-pies, buying anywhere from 6 of each to 3 dozen of each. We'd know if he was heading to work or back home by what he was buying. He was usually part of the 5:30am gang, 'tho I can't say that he was a morning person … he functioned well-enough. Mostly, I think he liked coming that early to just be a regular guy. That's when we would talk about fishing, or our mutual admiration for classic cars (he'd met Jake, and approved), or he'd question my sanity about having a gig at a Fortune 50 company and working on the weekends "for fun". (I would typically come back with a shot at his still being in college at his age. He had a great smile, and his eyes would almost shut when he laughed.)

Anyway, I sat he and his guest in a corner table, to try to keep them from being bothered too much. I assigned our most seasoned server, Katie, to the table because I knew she'd handle it well. And she did, even though she later told me that she was a huge fan and was shaking so badly she'd nearly dumped their dinner plates. At the end of the meal, I gave him some bread. I'd remembered from his last visit that he liked feeding the ducks "on campus".

In my years at the café, I've met the multi-millionaires, the famous, the notorious, the sports legends, the computer geeks, the singers/songwriters, the snotty and big headed, the old money , the BIG NAMES, and the child stars.

I will MISS Bill Walsh. In fact, I already do.