Imagine a Place Where the Cash Register is Never Closed Even If The Owner Isn't Around

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 03:45 AM

Have you ever thought that in today’s world, it seems you can no longer trust anyone?

That kind of thinking took a real shaking this past weekend when we strolled into Charlie's Lunch in Eastend, Saskatchewan.

To paint a picture for you, Eastend is located about 160 kilometers south of #1 highway about 60 kilometers north of the Montana border. It’s a town that got its name from being at the east end of the Cypress Hills. The town looks like it was taken out of the Gang Ranch and put in the area. Population, about 580 people.

They stage a motorcycle rally there every year and Macdonald and I got an invite during a trip to Mexico from Henry and Bev Wanlin to come up and attend this rally. They said (sarcastically) it compared to the bike rally in Sturgis. Well not quite. In Sturgis its "Show me your…." In Eastend its "Lift your pant leg and show me your socks."

Don’t get me wrong, no host could have been more gracious than the Wanlins' and the people of Eastend. If you ever want to meet some really good people, and be treated like family, head to Eastend for that rally.

But now back to the real reason for this piece.

Henry took me out for a coffee to "Charlie’s Lunch". Charlie has been in Eastend operating his café for the past 41 years. What's so unusual about that you ask?

Well as you see in the picture, Charlie never closes the cash register. That’s right, he leaves it open. You get a coffee or a burger and then you make the change in that drawer which is wide open. I thought when I paid for my coffee that there was about 400 or 500 bucks in the cash register and Charlie was no where to be seen. He was in the back room making burgers.

It doesn’t end there folks, when the locals head out for a coffee in the morning they go to Charlie’s. Charlie may still be in bed but the place is open. Make some coffee for yourself, grab some bread and make toast, the butter is in the fridge, and the jam is on the table. When you finished, pay for what you got and have a good day.

Charlie says he is going to retire, maybe this year , he has been at it long enough and by God he is one of a small group of people in this great country that still thinks the old way. Charlie says he will have to change the cash register when he sells cause he dosen't known where the key to it is.

It was a treat to see how he operated his restaurant; it was a bigger treat to talk to the guy. It also was a testament to the kind of people you will find in Eastend. Henry Wanlin says it's all about trust "When we go to a special function and the parking is tough, we leave our keys in the ignition, if someone has to leave before you, they just move the cars around so they can get out." I told him in PG if you leave your keys in the vehicle at a function like this you can rest assured when you all come out to climb into your rigs there won’t be one left.

As for the cash register, Charlie asked why I was laughing as we took the picture? I said I’m actually afraid to write the story, because I can just see someone heading over to your place of business to clean out that till before you get up in the morning.

Sometime folks, the new just simply isn’t as good as the old. Eastend may be a small town, but it has something special, something no development corporation or government can supply. It has heart and each and every one of those residents honour and protect that special commodity each time they fill up a cup of coffee, and make their own change in that till.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

Previous Story - Next Story

Email |

Print |

Facebook |

Twitter |

Digg |

Del.icio.us

Posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 03:45 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

Return to Home

Comments

Posted by: Eagleone on July 15 2008 5:39 AM

Well I don't know, I once worked with a guy that left the keys in his car because it was his only key and he worked on 1st avenue. He only had his car stolen once in 6-years I know of and the kid didn't make it further then the light at the bridge... but for 6-years every night his car sat there in the parking lot with the keys in the ignition. It wasn't flashy, so I guess the thieves weren't interested. Lots of people in PG do that all the time that I know of.

My pet peeve is I don't like how the gas stations are now legally bound to assume everyone is a thief. I go to the pay window and its like a ten step process to exchange the money, the change, and the goods. Or paying by cash for gas I used to just fill up, go in and put the money on the counter and gone. Now they make me wait in a line up to pay first, and if you put the money on the counter they won't start the pump till they have no customers in their line up... because the gas station nazi's need to not only teach you to pay first, but to wait in their extra slow line up for the honor.

In the past when we were assumed honest the gas station attendant could dilly dally on their own time, but now they do it on my time and it sucks... the BC liberals suck for causing this problem,. I worked in a gas station for 6-years and there is no need for it... and if there is, then make it a local policy. IMO its big government at its worst making the norm a society that assumes we are all thieves so we are treated and act the part. I think the ethical long term cost to society is too high for laws like that and that we should be striving to achieve a higher standard of normal transaction process that promotes the honest broker and not the role of a paranoid scary hypothetical process building future freedom nazi's from the ground level.

Posted by: govsux on July 15 2008 8:14 AM

My wife and I have been pleasantly surprise by honour systems at several businesses on some of the small islands around Vancouver Island. Its like a window into the past and it restores one's faith in humanity. The first time we entered one of these shops, I couldn't stop chuckling in disbelief.

Posted by: socredible on July 15 2008 8:30 AM

I think you're right, Eagle. If you treat people like they're all criminals, it won't be long until they will be. Of course, I think a lot depends on the actions of people like "Charlie", too. For I don't think we could say if any big Bank's vault was made out of cardboard that Bank would never be robbed. Nor that 'everyone' is going to be 'honest' when it come to remitting 'taxes. But maybe that's because the perception is there aren't any "Charlies" in 'banking' and 'government'.

Posted by: MrPG on July 15 2008 9:40 AM

Pay at the Pump.

Posted by: Harbinger on July 15 2008 10:06 AM

Pay at the pump? How about a gas Nazi? No gas for you !!

Posted by: socredible on July 15 2008 10:55 PM

Nein, nein, nein, mein Herr Harbinger, es ist, "Seig Higher!"

Posted by: caranmacil on July 16 2008 1:21 PM

I agree with eagle as well. The law is a stupid one. It is, however, less an evil plot of the liberals to tar us all as criminals than it is an attempt to appease grieving, very vocal parents of a son who dies doing something, well stupid. THere i said it. It was hard to argue that paying at the pump was not worth the life of even one person without sounding cold hearted or lazy. THe fact is, and was that if we are going to ban everything that could lead to crime, or injury, or death then we are not going to have many rights left.
I know i sound like a broken record on this issue folks but we are giving our rights away, one at a time. This is especially true when it comes to giving away the rights of others.
It is inaccurate to declare a democracy as a free society. THe two are not necessarily linked. As long as we have people who use the tyranny of the majority (or just the complacency of the majority) to pass laws restricting what people can do then we are on the road to a society none of us want. Ask yourself this: how many things i used to do, or my parents used to do are now forbidden on a local, provincila or federal level? Then ask yourself how these restrictions fit with our concept of a free country.