Friday, June 24, 2011

No Custom Pies!

The customer shuffles slowly up to the counter with his hands in his pockets and a grimace of intense concentration on his face. Never taking his eyes off the menu just above Tony's head he says, "Howyadoin'?"
"What can I get ya?" Tony says rubbing his hairy hands together in the slightly flickering fluorescent light of the pizza shop. "Ummmm, gimme a large Tony Special", shrugging his shoulders like there was nothing else he could order.
"You got it." says Tony punching the dough with the well rehearsed movements of a prize fighter.
"Actually, throw a few pineapples on that" the customer says as an after thought. "Tony special don't come with pineapple." Tony says looking at the customer as if he were a grade school student.
"Yeah, yeah, just throw a few on for me, I like a pineapple with my jalapenos." He began to take a large stack of napkins from the metal tin on the greasy table behind him.
"No custom pies" Tony says dropping the dough into the light dusting of flour on the counter. "What?"
"No custom pies, I said. You want pineapples get a Hawaiian deluxe, or else no pineapples." Tony now pointing up to the menu without breaking eye contact.
"Whoa, take it easy, I'm not askin' for a custom pie, I'm just askin' if you can take a few pineapples and throw 'em on there."
"Look, you take a handful of pineapples throw 'em on a Tony Special, it aint a Tony Special no more, it's a You special, and since You don't make pies here you don't get to make a special, only I do, you know why? Because I'm Tony, and this is my place, that's why." He begins pounding the dough again shaking his head in disgust.
"So what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is this, I make your pie YOUR way then everybody's gonna want that. It will be in the New York Post, on NY 1, John Stewart on the Daily Show will be telling the whole city 'Hey, go to Tony's! He don't make is own pies, he's just some fuckin' idiot standing behind a counter waiting to be told how to make a pie by every Starbucks drinkin' fatchalagots in the city!' I'll be a clown, a laughin' stock, I'll lose my business, my wife! I got three kids in school!" Tony began to become dizzy and had to steady himself on the counter. He was sweating profusely and the large veins in his neck were pounding.
"Do you know how stupid that sounds, Tony?" the customer says, smacking himself in the forehead, sending long strands of greasy hair into his eyes.
"No, no I don't! If I DID know how stupid it sounded, I wouldn't have said it, now would I?" Tony was beginning to regain his composure.
"Well, you understand how stupid it is now dontchya?"
"Yeah, I understand it NOW, but that's only because you told me."
The customer now looking at Tony with a confusion in his eyes that said "I don't know where this conversation is going".

"Hey" Tony said, "I know a lot of things, I know that light is both a particle and a wave, I know that the Earth day is increasing by .oo18 seconds a century because the moon is drifting away at a rate of 3.8 centimeters a year, I know that 142857 is a cyclic number, i.e., its digits are rotated around when multiplied by any number from 1 to 6. Like this:
142857 × 1 =  142857 
142857 × 5 = 7 14285
142857 × 4 = 57 1428
142857 × 6 = 857 142
142857 × 2 = 2857 14
142857 × 3 = 42857 1

But just because I know that shit don't mean I could have come up with it myself, alright.
Now, I ain't gonna tell you again, NO CUSTOM PIES! Got it?"
"Yeah Yeah, alright keep your fuckin' pineapples, I'm going to Luigi's!"
the customer says waving Tony off and walking out.
"Alright, say hi to your mom for me, Chris." Tony says going back to punching his dough.
"Yeah, yeah...ok Tony, see ya."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is this a nod to chris wanting to customize everything?

Fyawnym said...

I almost wet myself. I should come back more often - great reading. Thanks, Fyawnym