Tina Czaplinska News Editor   Lauren, with a Zooey Deschanel haircut and a ring of owl with red eyes on her right hand, takes the Dean’s Half&Half from the counter’s secret mini fridge and begins to walk over to her table until her co-worker drops the booster seats he is carrying and obstructs her path. The two exchange smiles and continue on their separate ways. After serving drinks, she sits back down with me, “Bill is my favorite costumer. He is actually sitting right over there,” she says as she points to the man she later describes as bald, English, and very friendly. “We get a lot people though. There is one lady that comes in everyday and orders a tunafish sandwich and fruit. On the side.” Lauren has been waitressing at Elly’s for a year and a half, though her waitressing experience spans almost six years. “There are some days where I don’t want to see another living person,” she admits, “And I could do without the khakis [as a part of my uniform]. And what probably bothers me the most [besides no tips] is that I practically have to scream to get the attention of the costumers that are glued to their phones. I’m a person too, you know? But I like it here. The other employees and I are kind of like a family. Yeah, I know it cheesey.” This detailed and borderline creepy attention to the life of someone I just met is a result of my undying curiosity regarding Elly’s weird one-day closing. To my surprise, the day long closing of Elly’s did not cause an immense panic up and down Clark Street, or even our hallways. To my great surprise, the big green sign on both doors that read, “Health Inspection Failed” also failed to grab the attention of many. To my even greater surprise, when I went to find out anyway about what was going on at this Latin favored establishment, the story proved to be very uninteresting. My attention to the details of Lauren’s life was my way of overcompensating. In short, at the end of October a health inspector came to Elly’s. Though stereotypically associated with something like rats in kitchen or Anti-freeze in batter, failing a health inspection doesn’t necessarily have to relate to food. In the case of the twenty-four hour diner on Clark and North Ave, the temporary cease of business was caused by a roof. Or lack of there of. According to IL law, basements in food establishments need special roofing that Elly’s did not have. So the day was spent remodeling the roof of the basement to protect the precious commodities it holds: napkins, among other things.]]>