108
PARTISAN REVIEW
been another bad afternoon for a Greek owner of a Chelsea coffee shop
who must stand like a statue behind the cash register.
And he is remembering that when he still lived in Greece and
dreamed of America he would read guide books about New York. And
all of the books began, "New York is a city of immigrants." Only now,
in this city of immigrants, there are many other Greek coffee shops and
many other Greek coffee shop owners. Thirty years ago, New York
coffee shops were owned by Jews. But the Jews moved on, to
Mamaroneck and Great Neck, and the Greeks now owned the coffee
shops.
The Greek owner of the coffee shop sighs. In the library of a well–
known university in California, there are already two M . A. theses ex–
plaining why Greeks replaced Jews as owners of New York coffee shops.
But he does not know this. Even if he did, it would not matter that
one thesis proves that Greeks and Jews are similar immigrant groups and
the other proves that no two immigrant groups are more different than
Greeks and Jews.
Both agree that not all Greeks are the same and not all Greek
owners of coffee shops are the same. This Greek coffee shop owner
knows he is different. He has thought a great deal about what makes
him different and he has decided that he is more sensitive than other
Greek coffee shop owners are. At this moment, he is wondering what
new specials he should try to attract more customers. Despite the snow,
he can see into the Burger King across the avenue. The Burger King is
still more than half-full at two-thirty in the afternoon. His coffee shop
contains only the old man who comes in every day and the good-look–
ing woman in a cheny red ski jacket he has not seen before and a man
and a woman sitting at the counter.
The Greek owner sighs. He does not want to think about women.
He does not want to think about what his son does. He must think
about why those two in a booth at the rear and the two people sitting
at the counter, a man almost as old as the man in the booth and a
woman of fifty with dyed red hair cascading down her shoulders, are the
only customers in his coffee shop.
The Greek owner watches and thinks. He watches the Mexican bus–
boy hunched over a plate in the last booth to the rear, next to the air–
conditioning unit. The last booth is intended for those times the coffee
shop gets busy. Only now it is used for the Mexican busboy's lunch. The
Mexican busboy is eating pot roast and string beans and mashed pota–
toes. The Greek owner does not begrudge the Mexican busboy his
