Street: How long have you been working at the deli counter?
Lauren: A little over two years.
Street: Do lots of odd things happen here on a regular basis?
L: Well there's not too many people that come up and ask for interviews; that's kinda odd...
Street: What's like the weirdest thing you've ever gotten a request for?
L: On Monday, someone asked, "Can you put ketchup on that?"
Street: On a sandwich?
L: Yeah, on a hoagie.
Street: Weird. So, the announcements... how do we feel about them?
L: They get a little annoying to us, but for y'all, it's entertainment.
Street: Yeah, I don't know about that. They're up for like "24 hours!"
L: Well, you know, "Frogro is never ever ever ever closed!" That gets a little tiring.
Street: I can imagine. Is this your only job?
L: Right now yeah, but I used to work down at the Philadelphia Senior Center, working with the elderly, cooking food, entertaining them.
Street: Are you a singer?
L: Ohhh no, you are not going to try to get me to sing.
Street: Aw, come on.
L: No, if you come back tomorrow, you got Sierra in the bakery...
Street: Can she bust it out?
L: Oh yeah, she's pretty good... but I'm not singing. My singing voice is a secret. Nobody knows about it.
Street: What about your customers?
L: They just want their turkey sandwich. Xena, she comes in here, she's a nurse...She likes the turkey from over here. Honey-cured turkey, probably one of y'alls favorites. She gets tomato on the sandwich exactly the way she wants it. She only wants hot peppers and onions.
Street: I bet she's not shy about telling you if you get it wrong.
L: Oh, I'm the only one who can make it for her. We have a nice relationship: I fix her food and she tells me, "Have a nice day." At first I was like, this lady totally got a problem. But, you know, we kinda got close over the months, well, years.
Street: Do customers ever have really elaborate, annoying requests?
L: Of course! But all you do is smile and say, "I didn't quite hear what you said." and then they repeat themselves, and you say , "I didn't hear you! Can you say that again?"
Street: Is that only for Penn students?
L: No, y'all are not too bad. I did have one lady who was like, "Can I have low-salt turkey?" And I'm like, okay. I got her the low-salt turkey and then she asked me, "Is that low salt?" Yeah, it's low salt. "You're not just pulling my leg are you?"
Street: Doesn't that piss you off?
L: Yeah, but you can't do anything. You have to smile.
