Pastries with Pattie

                                         Pastries with Pattie

         For the last dozen years or more, we have made it our custom to stop by the Panera Bread Company, in the Coconut Mall Complex in Estero, Florida several times a week. Enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee and fresh bagels, while sitting under swaying palm trees in seventy-degree temperatures, is a pleasant experience. It is especially so, during the early morning hours, when things are quiet. Much of the town hasn’t yet awakened. Several of our Spring Run neighbors also share the custom and get a pleasant “good Morning” from us, when we see them.

        The frequency of our visits has enabled us to develop a warm familiarity with many of the staff. These people work hard, are always pleasant and do whatever they can to make our stay at Panera feel  “Just like home.”

        Pattie, a “much over 39” cashier and Chris, a middle-aged cashier, are the two people whom we currently most interact with. Both women greet us with a warming smile. They then devote pleasant attention to whatever we order. It is always fun to see their smiling faces whenever we drop by. Though we know them but casually, there is a connection present. It feels like seeing distant cousins at a reunion or family wedding.

       During our last visit, Pattie engaged us with a smile and told us that she had dreamed of us lately. In her night visage, we had apparently asked Pattie to come and live with us after she retired.  During the dream state conversation, Pattie said that she offered to “do all of the cooking” for us. She said our reply was “But we don’t ever cook anything, Pattie. We eat at Panera all of the time.”  I guess that ended the dream.

      We laughed along with Pattie, enjoying what must be “Panera Humor,” to those kind souls who work there. But, we were touched by the sentiment involved. Another human being had said that she enjoyed our company well enough to propose sharing living quarters with us. If you aren’t personally flattered by the sentiment of such a compliment, then you have either developed a very hard bark or had a very unpleasant experience living with in-laws. Our bark is still soft enough to appreciate such warm-hearted sentiment. 

           Hereafter, whenever we stop by Panera’s for coffee, we will look for Pattie or Chris and again appreciate the warmth of interacting with cheerful people like them. They do indeed make the world a better and happier place, for the many customers that stop by daily. Thanks for the chuckle and the compliment, Pattie.

                                             -30-

                                      Joseph Xavier Martin