#75 The Naked Mole Rat

The Naked Mole Rat promises a letter is forthcoming.  Often reserved, soft-spoken, the Naked Mole Rat has been more or less forced to acknowledge the fact that the service at Cheron’s Dine and Eat has become near intolerable.  The servers, he finds, are downright rude.  Hateful, even.  The Naked Mole Rat, for the most part, keeps to himself.  He works from home.  He cooks most of his meals, or eats them cold.  He’s not particularly interested in relationships, romantic or otherwise.  But every now and then, he reasons, one must go out, if only to maintain a socially acceptable level of sanity.  The Naked Mole Rat finds Cheron’s Dine and Eat to be the most accessible restaurant on the block and the most affordable.  He likes the arrangement of the tables and chairs.  He likes the look of the menu.  There are a variety of edible textures to choose from, and texture is something he thinks very much about.  He has never ordered anything complicated or asked for any kind of special treatment.  But the wait-staff at Cheron’s Dine and Eat prefer to treat him as a burden, rather than a paying customer.  He is often left standing at the front door for twenty minutes or more, on nights that are not particularly busy or crowded, while the wait staff passes him by, over and over again.  The Naked Mole Rat blames his size.  He blames his looks.  The Naked Mole Rat is not a handsome man or a charming man or a friendly man or an interesting man or a bothersome man.  The Naked Mole Rat does not even see himself as a man.  The Naked Mole Rat feels the wait-staff at Cheron’s Dine and Eat also see him this way, as not even a man.  This makes it very hard for the Naked Mole Rat to go back, time and again, as he does, when it feels right to do so.  It feels right to do so, but he is afraid.  Afraid to be mistreated.  The Naked Mole Rat resents being made to live in fear.  The Naked Mole Rat went back to Cheron’s Dine and Eat thinking, this time, it will be different.  He waited to be seated for nearly fifteen minutes.  A waitress passed and he said, excuse me, Miss.  The waitress turned, but did not stop walking.  Sir…,she said.  She nodded once, her eyes fixed on the Naked Mole Rat.  The Naked Mole Rat promises a letter forthcoming.  This is intolerable, he thinks.  This is intolerable, he will write.  Just as soon as it feels right to do so.