The "first appearance of Mike." It wasn't a concious effort to have this guy return in later strips. It was only when I looked back on these strips half a year later that I realized that -- "Holy shit, that's Mike!"The inspiration for this was a job I had during University. In order to make ends meet, I worked at a Tim Horton's (for you poor fools who have never experienced Tim Horton's, it's a coffee stand located just about everywhere in Canada, and has the BEST cup of Joe I've ever experienced). I did everything there, from serve coffee, make muffins and baked goods, cleaning, etc. I had a manager by the name of Dave and he was just amazing to work with. Great fucking guy. After our shifts we'd cross the street to Ethel's Lounge (a fixture in the comic "Little White Lie") and drink Sleeman's Cream Ale, the world's FINEST brew. Oh, how my taste buds miss all that now.
But working was also (mostly) a blast. Here we were, in our polyester uniforms, working just slightly above minimum wage, really one of the lowest possible classes and still being employed. And the women that came in! In their halter tops, tank tops, sweating from the summer heat, asking for iced tea. Whenever a good looking woman came in, Dave would suddenly appear out of nowhere to serve her (there was a security camera he'd watch from the office). If she decided to sit in the eating area, that area would soon be spotless as we'd all run out taking turns cleaning the area so we'd get another glimpse of cleavage goodness. Those were the days.
However, later on, I was offered a management position. I had to decline it because the workers apparently hate their managers and they were beginning to direct some of that towards me. When I see "American Beauty" and see Lester flipping hamburgers happily because so little is expected of him, I know that feeling. Responsibility sucks. When you get some everything changes, and generally not for the better.
I recoloured this from the original greyscale because somewhere along the way I had lost the GIMP file so I decided to redo the colouring.
Strip Published Online: December 15, 1999.
Commentary Written: August 15, 2002.
