In 1979 I went to the USA for the first time. I flew
Laker for £50 or something cheap like that from London to L.A. Talk about low fares! I brought my own food and drink like other passengers on the no frills nor basics airline.
I had been waitressing in
Covent Garden at a restaurant called
Penny's and saved up enough money to go to the States and stay for a while.
It was February and I arrived in sunny warm LAX with palm trees and wearing a sheep skin fur from Brick Lane Market. I had chronic bronchitis from living in London's East End in Acme housing for artists. Luckily I got a ride from some guys with a pick-up truck at 5 am. I sat in the back with the warm wind in my hair. They left me in a Dunkin' Donuts somewhere in OC! At 7am I called my host and they had trouble finding me I daresay!
"
Hi I am here! Where are you?
At Dunkin' Donuts! Which one?
Oh, is there more than one? Yes.
Oh. Let me ask the waitress..... She says it is in Orange County."
In any case after LA I went to NYC and instantly fell in love. Fell in love with the city. It was spring and it was lovely.It was 1979.
I got a job waitressing at the
Ear Inn on Spring St. They had music and poetry events on the weekends and the owner was a really nice guy,Richard Hayman, another redhead.The Ear Inn is still there and quite the same, which is remarkable. I got a tour of the basement which we had to go to to get supplies and they still do now, and it smelled exactly as I remembered 25 years ago. A Proustian Madeleine experience!
Here are photos of the Ear Inn today and it does look the same. The art work is an assemblage by
Sari Dienes made in 1979 a
Mandala for James Brown the original owner of this very old house.
The Ear Inn is well worth a visit.
PS I shall confess that I was not a very talented waitress but I felt very sunny at the time and got good tips. The kind owner gave me quarters for the juke box and I would play favourite records and dance to them as I worked!
