The Lunch Date 1989

In Grand Central Terminal, a white woman collides with Clebert Ford’s character, the Man, who stands in the middle of the floor and tries to help her pick up her belongings. She protests the help, and the tense moment keeps her from catching her train. As she steps out of the station, she discovers that her wallet is nowhere to be found, setting a sense of unease that shadows the rest of the day.

She makes her way to a cafeteria, where she orders a salad and pays for it while informing Paul Sarnoff’s Waiter that she may not have enough money. The exchange is brief but telling, hinting at vulnerability in the face of a crowded city. After taking a seat, she realizes she has no cutlery, so she heads back to the service counter for a fork and returns to the table with a sense of determination to manage on her own.

Back at the table, she notices another African American man who appears to be homeless and who is sitting and eating a salad nearby. The Woman sits down and informs the man that that is her salad. He initially ignores her, then laughs at her continued protests, breaking the moment of tension with a harsh, almost mocking, sound. She experiments with reclaiming the food, snatching a piece of salad from the plate, and then doing it again when the plate is still within reach. The man does not stop her, and soon the two begin a tense, almost ritual dance of sharing the same plate as he mimics the way she eats. In a surprising turn, they finish the salad together, the hostility gradually giving way to a strange, wordless understanding.

The Man rises and returns with two cups—likely tea or coffee—and offers sugar, which she declines. He then reaches into his pocket and produces a packet, which she accepts, opens, and pours into her drink before taking a sip and leaving the restaurant.

Outside, she suddenly realizes that she no longer has her bags. She hurries back inside, only to find her bags missing from the booth where she had been sitting. Anxious and pacing, she overlooks that the bags are in the adjacent cubicle. When she finally notices, she also sees a salad sitting there, along with her bags. It becomes clear that the man never actually stole her salad; he was eating his own portion all along. Gripped by a mix of relief and laughter, she laughs loudly, gathers her bags, and walks away from the scene.