I Stare At People

Now, you will soon find out why I am obsessed with the cafe culture and painting in coffee houses.

During the late 70’s, I worked at the now-defunct, legendary coffee house,  Les Amis.  Les Amis was ahead of its time, and I often wonder what it would be like if it had survived the expansion of the Starbuck kingdom (Les Amis was torn down and a Starbucks was built on top of the site).  Being young, dumb, and useless, I had quit a good job at Austin’s PBS affiliate as a secretary in the Publicity Office.  Coinciding with this event, I had loaned my ’71 VW beetle to a friend, who totaled it.  I was unemployed, on foot, and aimless.  Les Amis was located one street over from the PBS station where I used to work.  Luckily, Newman (the manager) thought that I was cute enough to hire (he only chose waitresses that the customers could flirt with), so I went home with a job that day.

I wasn’t going to make enough money to pay the rent, so I went one block over to Valentine’s, the local discotheque, and also got a job there as a cocktail waitress.

My roommate moved out to live with her boyfriend, and I couldn’t afford the garage apt. on my own.  My best friend’s sister lived at the Texas Federation of Women’s Club House.  She spoke to the manager, and I got a room, there.  It was originally a dressing room behind the stage and ballroom.

To be Continued…

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