Sometimes you gotta go where everybody has your back

This morning a customer handed me a heavy, Dwight D. Eisenhower silver dollar to pay for his morning cup of coffee.  It's rare to see any coin worth more than a nickel, much less a full dollar.  As a matter of fact, I don't think I've EVER had someone pay with a Dwight-buck before.*

It reminded me of when I lost my first tooth.  I had a small coin collection at the time, and it was the biggest coin I had ever seen.  I still have the collection, a variety of nationalities and denominations, some with holes, some with beautifully lacing vines, or birds with unfurled plumage.  A Dwight-buck isn't a very pretty coin, just a giant bald head.**  But it has a nice sturdy heft, the kind of dollar that sends a postcard to Uzbekistan instead of buying a bargain burger.***  I laughed as I remembered my dad, a coin aficionado, telling me about the bald man on one side and the liberty bell on the other.  I held it up for my boss/friend Randy (angry_barista) to see, smiled and tossed it in my till.****

Half an hour and 300 lattes later, there was a lull in the early morning flow.  Randy shook out a fresh garbage bag, and said, "Did you hear what that guy said?"
Me: What guy?
R: The guy by the garbage a while ago.
Me: .......?

So the story goes:
When I showed Randy the silver dollar, the man by the garbage saw it and joked to Randy,
Dude-Man: Do you think she even knows who Dwight Eisenhower is?*****
R: Um...yeah, I think she knows exactly who that is.  She's actually very smart, and she had her masters.  She's a teacher.
DM: Oh, um, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend...
R: Yeah.

At this point in the story, both of my coworkers were sticking up for me before I could even think to be offended.  And THAT was my take-away this morning: sometimes when strangers are stinkers, you're lucky enough to be surrounded by friends that have your back.  Talk about a early-morning feel-good!



*Not to be confused with a Schrute-buck

**My apologies if you're an Eisenhower fan.  Or bald.

***That's an aliteration.

****He's not so much "angry" as snarky, and committed to good coffee.  SERIOUSLY.  Gooooooood coffee.....

*****For the record, my typical customers are fantastically nice people.  I love the good natured people of my store.  This guys was an anomaly.