Uncle Sal and the Mirthful Mascot (Episode 123)

As Uncle Sal and Alice walked downtown, he reached inside his Happy New Year sweater vest and removed his Walter Woodchuck toothpick holder from his shirt pocket. They stopped in front of the Hahn's Soul Oh! diner and Uncle Sal asked, "Didn't this used to be the schoolbook depository?"

"It sure did."

"An' now it's a soul food restaurant?"

"I'm surprised you haven't heard of it with as much as you like soul food."

"Yeah, me too." He leaned close to the placard that displayed the menu and said, "Boy, they got it all. Macaroni and cheese, collard greens, smothered pork chops. My mouth's waterin just standin here."

He was just about to make his way up the stairs when a costumed rodent burst through the door. The rodent carried a sign and went out to the street corner to try and attract traffic to the restaurant. "The heck is that? A giant rat? Why they'd have a giant rat as the mascot?"

"It's an otter."

"An otter? That don't make much more sense. Why an otter?"

"I suppose because otters eat mostly fish and this place specializes in catfish and oyster po'boys. And you'll never guess who's in that costume. You remember Cindy DuValliere?"

"Course I remember her. She was a big chief muckety-muck at the bank. You ain't tellin me she's dressed like a giant otter."

Alice nodded. "She was a big chief muckety-muck, but then when the economy went so bad, she was let go. That was seven months ago. She hasn't been able to find anything since then. She's lost her car, and I hear she's barely scraping by to keep her house. But then, she got this job and she's been telling anyone that'll listen that she's the one in the giant otter costume. She's just so thrilled to be employed. She'll take photos with anyone and she brags whenever she get the chance that she is the mascot for this place."

"I guess that goes to show you how bad things have gotten. She was a CEO and now she's proud to be the soul diner's otter."

This episode featured:
Barnard "Blue" Gill as Uncle Sal
Lawanda Gar as Alice
and
Jellybean Merengue as the Walter Woodchuck toothpick holder.

Tune in next week when Uncle Sal says, "You know where I can find Cuervo Jones?"