Waitress Character Analysis

When, as an adult teaching at a Midwestern university, the narrator goes out to an all-night restaurant, he usually sees the same waitress and has the same conversation. She comments it must be cold out because he has tears in his eyes. The waitress provides an outside perspective, pointing out that the narrator is crying but not realizing that it’s because he’s getting emotional about his memories. The waitress also echoes his sisters, who worked as waitresses themselves when they were young.