Orande and I love roti. I had never tried it before I met him. There weren't many cultural cuisines in upstate NY other than Italian or Chinese growing up. If you have a great roti restaurant recommendation please drop me a line in the comments section. There's a delicious spot called Ali's Roti Shop in the Bronx. One Saturday, Orande wanted a buss up shot (or shut) for dinner and I wanted a veggie roti, so I call in the order over the phone. For those that aren't familiar, a buss up shot is essentially a paratha roti, but it's the name for Trinidadian flatbread. I go inside and remind the woman behind the counter of my order. She confirms and mentions the buss up shot last, a woman next to me asks what that is? In that moment for some reason I couldn't think of the definition I mentioned above, so I told her I don't know exactly but it's thin and flakier than roti. She was interested and said, "I'm going to google it". She did and showed me a picture to confirm that was what it looked like. We laughed at her looking it up but, she added it to her order.
Total of my order was $30.35. Due to my wallet not being able to fit in my small book bag, I only brought $30 in cash and my bank card. I went to give the woman my bank card but was told the establishment only accepts cash. Initially I thought "ok she's going to let me ride, because I'm only $.35 short." Do you think she did? If you answered yes then that's extremely optimistic of you. The woman not only said no, but added that there's an ATM next door in another food spot and to get money from there. I responded by telling her I'm not about to take $20 from an ATM with a fee of $2 just so I can give her $.35. I almost told her to take something out, when the woman I was speaking to about what a buss up shot was came up to the front and said "I don't know what the total is but I'll cover whatever it is she doesn't have". Shocked, I told her “no worries, I appreciate it but she can take something back or let me be ok without the $.35". The woman didn't want to hear that and told me the same again and asked the woman behind the counter how much more do I owe? When she heard $.35 she was more stunned than I was. She said she couldn't believe that they would make me go pull out $20 just to give $.35, thinking I owed an extra $5-10, not $.35. I thanked her for being so kind to offer to pay the amount I needed without knowing 1st and also for agreeing with me that that woman was being ridiculous.
It's nice to come across kind hearted strangers, especially in today’s world. In the words of Blockbuster, “Be Kind, Rewind”.
Don’t know what a buss up shot/shut looks like? Well here you go.