The Things You Don’t Know

A woman yelled at me today,
for running out of chicken wings.
It was 7pm.
and I get it you know,
I really do.
But it felt unfair
and my tongue threatened to rise up
on its own accord
and tell the truth.

It wanted to tell her how
the dish washer didn’t show up
and the lead line cook got heat exhaustion
from being in the kitchen too long
on too little water
The fridge broke –
only long enough for us to move
everything out from inside
before picking up with its usual hum of cool air.
A tray of wine glasses smashed
around the time the hostess
got in a car accident,
called in to say she’d be late.
And this as a party of 10 arrived
for a reservation
that they had never remembered to make.
All the while the prep cook
(covering for the dishwasher)
forgetting to get more wings out of the freezer
because he too
has life on his mind –
his girlfriend in the process of moving out.

I smile as best I’m able
say how much I agree
that we shouldn’t have run out of wings
and offer you free dessert.