Oops!

"Do the best you can, and don't take life too seriously."

Will Rogers

While on vacation with my family several years ago, I noticed on successive nights two busboys drop plates and glasses while clearing tables, and I remembered my own embarrassment when that happened to me as a teenage busboy at The Magic Pan.

It was hard, dirty work that kept me in motion every moment of my shift. My mother used to say I came home with the sleeves of my dress shirt drenched in coffee.

The restaurant was especially busy the day I “met” Beau Bridges. Actually, I just poured him a glass of water. I always thought it was cool that there were lots of celebrities who dined at The Magic Pan. That day, I was working the Garden Room, which was beautifully styled like a French atrium. It was packed as I rushed about, clearing tables with a large round tray.

Beau was sitting alone, his back to the table I was clearing, which had just been vacated by a jovial party of six. As I lifted the tray, I noticed that Beau was just about to take a sip of wine. My hand slipped on the tray, and a dozen dishes, water and wine glasses crashed onto the glass tabletop, cast iron chairs, and hard marble floor directly behind Beau.

The successive crashes instantly quieted the boisterous room. But Beau continued to sip his wine without any reaction at all, not even turning to look. After a few moments, the crowd resumed its roar. I cleaned up the mess, and Beau kept sipping his wine. His calmness surprised me as much as the crash.

Years later, I actually met him when a mutual friend suggested he might write a testimonial for my first book. I reminded him of the day I created havoc behind him at The Magic Pan and asked him how he had stayed so calm. He surprised me again when, for a reply, he just gave a little laugh and an enigmatic smile.

-Hank

"Oops!" from The Saturday Morning Post, at hankfrazee.com