Pizza Hero

 

One of the times I was a hero to my surprise was when I was working in a pizzeria/ Restaurant at the age of 19 years old and into my early 20’s.

In the back was a sit-down formal restaurant and a separate dinette area. The waitresses in the back didn’t like me and were jealous of me because I was younger than them and they thought that I was taking tips away from them by working in the front end of the store and stopping customers from going into the back to them which was never true.

They had their customers and I had mine. And I didn’t make half the amount of tips that they did ever, although I did alright for myself.

Really, they were just mean and cliquey and I was too naïve and timid to stick up for myself to them. They didn’t like that the owner favored me as well, took me under his wing to help me.

I worked in the pizzeria part of the store where only men worked; because of this and the fact that I was young and attractive then, I was known as the “Pizza girl” (real name changed for the story).

Only family female workers had ever worked in the front area before I was told, so it was a bit of an honor for me to have been trusted with the position, a position gotten only due to me hanging around every day, all day long, pining after the owner's step son who, I loved and dreamed of marrying one day and living happily ever after with as any young woman would do at that age.

I would go in on the days he worked which was mostly on the weekends because he had a regular job during the week and did this for extra money, to help out and learn the family business which he later became a major part of a few years down the road.

I would either walk by the store a million times a day and look in the window hoping to see him and wave or go in and buy a slice or two, eat it, and sit at the counter for like 3 hours sometimes talking to my dreamboat while he worked then go home and order something hours later to be delivered just so that I could see him and talk to him again because he was the delivery guy too, keeping him in my hallway for an hour sometimes talking.

When they got wise to me they started making my delivery the last one for the night so that we could have more time to talk and others would not be waiting for their food.

Now a days they would call that stalking but back then we just called it “True Love” an innocent infatuation. Not anything like what happens in today’s world. We still had a grip on reality but with blissful hope.

Most of the time you got rejected for your unrequited love but we understood that disappointment was just part of life and then it goes on even when we didn’t like it and it hurt. It was the late 1980’s early 1990’s and so the tail end of innocence still existed. I am very thankful to have lived and come of age at that time.

I was there so much at the pizzeria that they joked with me all the time that they should give me a job and so they did which, worked out just fine for me because I needed one anyway, having just quit/lost my job at “Sterling Optical” or was it “The Wiz”. Whichever one it was, it was one of those young adult jobs that I had as I/we used to call them.

Time passed and I had been working there a for a while already when one day while waiting the tables an old foreign man came in with his little grandson. The grandfather didn’t speak a word of English but he was a very jovial old man.

My station was standing up against the corner wall outside of the counter, out of the way but alongside the row of tables to my right at the ready to serve.

As I was standing there usually just thinking my own thoughts, I noticed that the grandfather and his grandson were having a great time. They were laughing up a storm. Only God knows about what but whatever it was, it must have been good because they just kept laughing.

I can kind of see the old man’s smile and mustache in my mind when I think back to it. The boy was about 5-7 years old I think I remember but maybe a bit younger.

All of a sudden this never ending infectious, out of control laugh for the boy turned into a coughing laugh, then a cough and he kept coughing and he wouldn’t stop.

His cough then turned into a choke, now he was choking but oddly enough he didn’t seem in distress at all but seemed like he was still laughing even though he was choking.

His grandfather who was sitting there just kept laughing his head off so much so that you almost didn’t realize that the kid was even choking because no one seemed to be in apparent distress.

I was like that looks weird, is that kid, ok? I guess so because they are laughing. But is he choking or is he not choking? It was really hard to tell at first.

The more I looked at him the more I realized the kid was really choking and that this was getting serious.

I got the attention of my boss behind the counter and told him, “Hey I think this kid is choking and the grandfather is oblivious or something because he just keeps laughing out of control.” Maybe he was just nervous but he wasn’t doing anything about it either nor was he asking for any help. He just kept laughing.

Finally, the kids face was literally turning blue yet he still seemed like he was laughing but now something in his eyes looked different at the same time, fear I guess or not understanding what was happening to him but realizing that it wasn’t pleasant. The whole thing was crazy.

At that point I had a gut feeling by looking at the kid that something needed to done and I needed to act fast.

I told my boss we needed to do something like the Heimlich maneuver. At this time, it was not posted and mandatory in all of the restaurants as it is now fortunately. Now it is only with name and some of the procedure changed.

And in all honesty, it was relatively new to the general public at that time or at least that is how I remember it. There was no signage posted on that night but shortly after that I remember that it became mandatory in all restaurants.

I told my boss I was going to try it. He looked at me with warning eyes saying “you better know what you are doing because if you don’t, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble.”

Being a young person and thinking as young people do, I thought, “don’t worry I know what I am doing” when really, I didn’t, I only had an idea of what I had seen on TV, and being an extreme hypochondriac myself, I often listened intently to any kind of medical things in case I ever needed it one day but I never had any formal training or anything like that.

Looking back at them now and preparing my mind to help, for the life of me I could not understand why the grandfather just kept laughing? He was oblivious and joyful. Didn’t he see that the kid was turning blue? Didn’t he hear him or was he laughing too loud?

I especially loved kids and I am a good person so, I wasn’t about to let this kid die while the grandfather sat there cracking up out of his mind. Maybe he was hysterical or something?  I just thought he was crazy for not worrying about his grandson choking and for not trying to help him. I had to do something. I instinctually had to try.

I immediately went over and put my hands around the kid’s stomach and looked at my boss behind the counter, like are you ready for this? All along thinking, Oh God please let me do this right and save this kid.

My boss then looked back at me like you better make it good, this better work out right or we’re going to be in big trouble. I looked back at him like ok, with some unknown, ignorant self-confidence but not arrogance. Ignorant because I had never done it before and really I was just winging it. More like I could do this, it will be ok was what I was thinking when really I had no business thinking that at all but you’ve got to be confident to be successful I guess right?

The kid’s life was in my hands. I started thrusting his stomach in and out a few times with my fists all the while hoping that it was going to work and not hurt him at the same time paying attention to the fact that he was just a kid and that I needed to be firm but gentle at the same time. In my mind I must have had my fingers crossed for good luck.

The grandfather was still sitting in his chair laughing his head off while I was doing this completely unaffected it seemed. I was beginning to think this guy must be either really dumb or really crazy. Doesn’t he know what’s going on here?

Finally, the kid coughed up whatever he was choking on by the grace of God. I was successful, praise God, I was so relieved and so was my boss who was now impressed with me, glad the kid was ok and also glad to not have a pending lawsuit on his hands. He was relieved that it actually worked and so was I.

The grandfather was still laughing. It was like he was on some sort of a laughing machine that could not be turned off. There was no thank you to me or even an acknowledgement of what had just happened. He just smiled at me with his eyes while laughing, not really knowing whether it was meant towards me personally or if it was just in general and part of his wild laughter and state of oblivion that he was in.

Maybe he was even drunk for all I knew but I didn’t smell any alcohol on him so I don’t think that he was.

Even the kid started laughing again. Then they both just kept laughing.

Not to float my own boat but, I wonder what would have happened to this kid if I wasn’t there that day because the grandfather just didn’t seem to get it no matter what was happening. I am sure he loved his grandson very much and I am so happy for their happiness and wild laughter but the whole thing was kooky to say the least.

After that, for the rest of the night, and for a couple of weeks later. I was a legend in the restaurant with my fellow co-workers, my friends, the delivery guys, including my love, the step son, they all congratulated me on being a hero they said.

They said “you saved that kids life.” At the time I did not really think of it that way, I was really very humble and more like I did what I had to do. I was actually very modest and glad that I could be there and help the kid.

One guy, big John, Red as we called him said “I was a hero and that it was great what I had done. He said no really you were, we heard all about it” and kept praising me.

It was kind of cool to be a hero for a while because I had done something good and everyone was happy about it and appreciated me for it.

Really, I just got lucky and so did the little boy and his laughing grandfather because I was in the right place at the right time as they say and took a chance. For whatever reason my mind clicked into to place at the right moment and my observations were exact. Thank God I saw the Heimlich maneuver done on TV somewhere previously at that time. Divine Intervention!

I was glad I was able to help. The day ended well and the little boy was still alive and that was what was most important. Of course, I felt good about myself for having been successful and doing a good thing and helping people when I can like my mom had always taught me to be especially by her great example.

Over the next few years that preliminary practice came in quite handy when I had to do the Heimlich maneuver on my mom a couple of times. I was very thankful that it worked then too of course.

They say that when you save someone’s your life that they now owe you for the rest of theirs and that you are responsible for them now. At least that is what we used to say growing up, an old wives' tale but originally coming from a Chinese proverb I heard.

I never saw that kid or his grandfather again as far as I remember, but then again maybe they did come in again once or twice after that but who knows.

God forbid one day I may be in trouble and you never know that kid may just show up one day again through divine intervention and return the favor if it’s true. Stranger things have happened. Maybe he will save me with his infectious laughter one day! J

By: Donna Van Blarcom