A look inside the life of the man behind the Mac’s counter
Makena Lambert | Guest Writer
Most people even see him daily. He’s the guy behind the cashier with the blue shirt and “Alex” printed in bold on his nametag. He knows who needs a chocolate chip bagel with cream cheese every morning, who depends on a protein bar to fill their stomach until lunch and who buys multiple Tazo iced teas throughout the day, but does anyone know anything about him?
To his Menlo customers, it’s obvious that he has mastered the art of spreading cream cheese evenly across a bagel, but his talents extend much further than that. With a college degree in art, Alex has a passion for painting, graphic design and creating artwork out of recycled objects. He began listing his different projects, from abstract paintings to landscape sketches, to painting horses and even roosters, inspired by the ranch life style that he was exposed to growing up in a family of ranchers. Alex shrugged, struggling to turn the essence of his artwork into words. After hesitating initially, Alex said, “My brother died, so I draw a lot of skeletons, sometimes with my brother’s ghost in the background.” Then, without waiting for my reaction he quickly added, “It’s not creepy.” I asked him if he had a photo of one of his paintings on his phone or his computer that he could share with me, but he shook his head, “My brothers each have one.”
Alex isn’t just the “cool” uncle to his twelve nephews and four nieces. He’s also the middle child, with two sisters and six brothers, all of whom are “mama’s boys.” Their mother, Socorro, learned how to play the role of both parents while her children grew up without a father figure, so now that they’re adults, Alex and his siblings take care of her. I could tell his brain was working hard, trying to think of historic icons or someone significant who has influenced him. He scrunched his brow and folded his hands together, but after a lengthy pause he decided that his mother is his hero above anyone else and he bumped his fist down on the table to buzz in his final answer. For the responsibilities Socorro juggled in her life, including holding the family together, especially after his brother passed away, Alex is proud to call her his hero. Despite growing up in such a large family, Alex is the only one out of his siblings who has yet to build a family of his own. Before settling down and taking on the responsibility of a family he explained, “There’s so much more to do! I can just be me.”
When asked about his job, Alex explained that, “it is what it is,” and although he is content with his work at Mac’s, he is happiest when he can be deep in the woods or kayaking on the lake where stress from the real world is out of reach. “I can just be me,” he said adjusting his bright, blue, Sodexo shirt with big smile, explaining why he loves nature. Last year when spring turned into summer, Alex left his hometown, East Palo Alto and set out to live and work at a campsite on the Russian River for the three months that Menlo campus was virtually empty and there was no longer a need for him behind the Mac’s counter. His love of the outdoors is represented by a tattoo on the inside of his left arm depicting the Native American spirit of adventure, Kokopelli.
Oftentimes it’s easy to overlook the people we interact with every day, especially when those interactions are brief. Although starting a conversation may seem unnatural, whether it’s with the cashier at Safeway, the man writes your name on your Starbucks or with Alex behind the Mac’s counter, everyone has a story to tell if you listen. Alex’s ability to prepare the fastest bagels in the world may make him “the Mac’s man,” but it’s his passion for art, thirst for adventure and strong family values that make him Alex.
