When a free sandwich costs five bucks and is worth it

I've been working on this $20 gift certificate to the Emporium for awhile now. First it was misplaced, then after it was found, I had to remember to use it. I alternate between this one and another I have to Current Cuisine. I usually only carry one with me at a time. So today, while I was waiting for the office computer to boot up (this usually takes about a half-hour), I decided to walk over to the emporium and get a sandwich. It was about ten minutes till noon when I got there, but there were no sandwiches in the case.

"They're not ready yet," the gal at the register said. "She's in the back making them now. Try back in about ten minutes."

I didn't have my Current Cuisine certificate with me and I had vowed not to spend any more money on lunch until I had used up the two of them, so I wandered over to Dark Star to pick up a paper back. On Wednesday, I am driving a friend to Miami Valley Hospital for out-patient surgery, so I thought I would pick up a used book to read while I wait for her.

Back in the paperback literature section, I was having trouble finding anything interesting until I picked up a collection of pieces by Mike Royko. The name struck a chord - a newspaper man, I thought. I was right.

The book was in a special celluloid wrapper and the price tag read $5.00. A used paperback for five bucks..? The original price was $1.75. Must be something special I thought.

I asked the girl in the store, "Why so expensive?"

"Must be a first edition," she said.

I thought it rather odd that a first edition paperback would have any value. After perusing the cover, I decided to buy it anyway.

It was now a few minutes after noon. I went back to the Emporium, but there were still no sandwiches in the case.

"She's still making them," the girl at the register said.

"It's already after twelve," I said. "Could you go back there and get one for me."

"Okay, what kind do you want."

"Turkey and Swiss with a little mayo."

She went into the back and came out a few minutes later. She was not carrying a sandwich.

"She'll bring it out when it's ready," she said.

I used the gift certificate to pay for it and waited. One of the guys that works there offered to go back and "bring it out as soon as it's ready." He came back a couple minutes later with no sandwich.

"It takes awhile," he said. "She has to wash the lettuce and all that. But she's working on your sandwich now."

A few minutes later the guy who is always on the bench in front of the Emporium emerged from the back with my sandwich.

"No wonder," someone groaned. "He was back there with her."

Eating the sandwich in my office, I read through a couple of Royko's stories. Then I realized where I must have heard the name. When I was a kid, I used to listen to Jean Shepherd on the radio late at night. Shepherd was cut from the same mold and probably was about the same age as Royko, maybe a little younger. Shepherd had to have paid homage to him at one time or another, either on the radio or in one of his many short story collections.

The title of the book is Slats Grobnik and some other friends. It is a collection of short pieces from the Chicago newpapers he worked for (there were three of them) as a syndicated coumnist. It is far from a first edition, but it is in good condition and it is a little gem.