Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack 'Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me'

On Wednesday afternoon, I met Marcia Gan and Brad “Hinzy” Hines for lunch in downtown Greensboro. Marcia chose to meet up at Fincastle’s which was cool with me because I hadn’t eaten there yet. I have passed by there many times, but never took that step inside the doors.

We walked in and I had noticed everyone was sitting as far away from the counter as they could get. It was if the counter had been marked with a quarantine notice complete with flashing lights. There were no tables left in the place, so the three of us grabbed a spinning chair at the lunch counter. I told Marcia and Hinzy that the lunch counter at the old historic downtown Woolworth’s was the last time I had eaten anything at a counter. That does not include eating at a bar. I managed to pay a visit to that place before Woolworth’s closed up shop for good.

At Fincaste’s, it didn’t take me long to realize why everyone avoided the counter… There was a guy that was singing along with the jukebox and he really seemed to get off on Motown tunes. He was featured in the Greensboro News & Record a few months ago and I always made a point of trying to remember when the cat would be there. Not because I wanted to hear him sing while slinging plates, but because I could avoid him if I ever decided to bite the bullet and fill my gullet with hot dead cow and fries dripping with liquid heart-stopping goodness.

The cow was delicious, the fries weren’t as bad as I thought they would be… As a matter of fact, they went down and stayed down very easily. I only say this because a plate of my greasy faves from Long John Silver’s made me sick as a Nebraskan on their first deep-sea fishing trip last Friday.

What I couldn’t take was extended songs from the crooner behind the counter. It made me feel uneasy and I couldn’t hold a conversation with Marcia or Hinzy without it being interrupted by “Me And Mrs. Jones”.

I feel the same way at Japanese steakhouses. I can’t talk to my friends without being interrupted by a floor show from a chef whose swinging more blades around than a field full of John Deere’s. I feel like I have to make eye contact and be polite. I have to act like I’m enjoying the show. I also feel as if I should make small talk with the “performer” when all I really want to do is hang out with my friends.

Maybe that’s why everyone was staring at us when we walked in… They knew that we had no choice but to belly up to the counter and keep the singing man away from their tables. They all had the “pity” look in their eyes. At first, I thought that my fly was open and everyone was getting a good look at my little friend that I call “Tugboat”. I checked my fly as cool as I could and finally realized what the deal was when Mr. Counter Crooner started singing along with Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”.

Marcia seemed to enjoy it, but I think Hinzy was thinking the same thing that I was… “Maybe if we give him five bucks, he’ll leave us alone…”

But hey… If you enjoy that sort of thing, then Wednesday afternoons at Fincastle’s is the place for you.