The Watch

The worst luck...or...

The waitress glanced at her watch four times in the minute she was at Calvin’s table.

“Something the matter, Miss?”

“Hmm? What?” Angie asked.

“I just wanted to know if anything was the matter because I’ve seen you check your watch four times now and I haven’t been here long.”

“Oh, that. It’s also a smartwatch. I can send and receive texts. Just got a text from my husband. He was just laid off 30 minutes ago so it’s pretty upsetting.”

“Wow, sorry to hear that. Anything I can do?”

Angie smiled. “Maybe go easy on your waitress today?”

“Fair enough,” Calvin said. “Will do.”

As Calvin ate, he was deep in thought, mainly about this waitress he never met before, who was probably having a much worse day than he was. He observed her as she waited other tables, checking her watch throughout each interaction. Calvin was dying to read the interactions between her and her husband just to see how they were processing it in real time.

His tip today was larger than anyone he had ever tipped before, three times larger.

Two days later he was recounting the story Calvin to his friend Patrick at a coffee shop.

“Angie with a small Harley tattoo on her forearm?” Patrick said. “Redhead?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’ve had her before?”

Patrick bit his lower lip. “Yep. Same story for me a month ago. Boy, that lady’s husband has the worst luck with jobs.”