A Bird In Paradise

My son, Alex, loves to play drums and  he is constantly tapping his hands on any available surface.  Sometimes it grates on my nerves, but unless I have a headache, I never ask him to stop because I love that he is expressing himself in a creative, albeit noisy, way.

The other day an old friend of mine mentioned that he was going to see Stomp, and though I had heard of the show, until I looked at the website, I had no idea just how perfect it would be for Alex. Ticket prices started at $95 and for 3 of us that's a bit much considering I didn't know if they would really like it. Upon further internet searching, I discovered that the Fox Theatre sells tickets the day of the show for $25 if you come an hour before the performance. Now that was a price I was willing to pay.

We decided to make a day of it. We got to the box office around 12:30, got the tickets, and decided to get some lunch. The first place suggested was a mile walk away. They were  serving a buffet brunch that didn't interest us, so we went back to the other restaurant- right across from the Fox.

At first glance, Best Steak House didn't seem like the cleanest place to eat, but there was already a fairly long line inside of smiling people, so we figured it must be good. Everyone in line was wearing their sunday best. There is a Huge Baptist church on the corner, so my guess is that this diner is a popular place to congregate after services.

A few minutes went by before I noticed a man from behind the counter shouting, "next", and people were yelling back their order one at a time. I'm not a yeller, so I got a little nervous for my turn. "Next", he shouted to me. "sirloin burger platter", i said. "I can't hear you", he yelled back. Gulp. I repeated the order laughing. The ladies behind me suggested that I get the "tip potato's"...these are diced potato's with onions and cheese for which you tip $1, lol. I got them. When a regular suggests something, it's always wise to follow the advice.

We got our food, found a seat, and immediately noticed a guy standing at the end of the counter...he was tap dancing.  We had locked eyes when he first walked in, but I had gotten distracted by the ordering thing, so it wasn't until this very moment that I got a good look at him, and naturally, he looked like a nutter. Handsome, yes, but who dances in a diner? Man, I sure can pick them. He kept looking over at me, smiling, and tap dancing. Kook! He got his order to go, tipped his head to me, and left.  Emmy, Alex, and I talked about the strange incident throughout lunch.

Forty minutes later we were inside the Fox Theatre marveling at it's beauty. We found our seats and the lights dimmed. A figure appeared, he was strutting to center stage, making music with a brushing broom...the 3 of us looked at each other, and at the same time exclaimed, "Oh my God it's him. The guy from the restaurant." That's right. The smiling nutter who was tap dancing in the restaurant was none other than, Justin Myles, star of the show.