But of course none of the Rittos would think about this. Both worlds were too aught up in their jobs to be bothered by mere tile. And neither were the managers concerned – as long as both worlds continued the process.

            The managers were a different breed entirely. There were two: Carlos and Ray. Carlos obviously had more power, for he was the proprietor – he owned the building. However, Ray Urban had more influence. It was these two men who ran the entire process; the whole show; the big enchilada. “Jefe,” as he was known to the Mexicans, “Carlitos,” as he was known affectionately to the front of the house staff, Carlos Cuadros dealt with all of the “big” problems. He would deal with agitated customers, and so , as one can imagine, he was not apt to hear the words, “Carlos, can you go talk to table 24? Their chicken parm came out late, and I think you should go deal with it.” He was always dealing with it. It could be cold soup, late ticket times, the smell in the restaurant is unappetizing, the problem is with the server, the drink is too strong, this drink is too weak, Can you take this off my ticket?, this fork is dirty, this table is off balance…

            And Carlos dealt with it. And Ray did, too. And that was their job. They would both mediate between servers and other servers, servers and Mexicans, servers and busers, servers and guests, servers and…