So, Alee, what year did you graduate from BHS?
2004.
Where do you work?
At the Revolver Restaurant, Findlay. I'm a waitress.
Tell me about the best tip you ever received.
We pool our tips. One night there was a guy who was showing off. He was with another couple. It might have been a business dinner. The dinner cost $150 and he tipped $200.
If you ever had a vanity plate, how would it read?
It would have something to do with cats. Maybe KTTY with a misplaced letter. Get it?
Yeah, I get it. What's your philosophy on life?
I have none.
If you could go to a concert tonight, what group would you like to hear perform?
The Strokes and I'd take Anne with me (daughter of the interviewer, who sat in while this interview took place. You'll hear her random-voice comments from time to time).
Why The Strokes?
They are a teeny-bop boys band. Girls have crushes on boy bands like them.
(Random voice in the background: They still are a boys' band.)
Do you miss anything from high school?
Well, fall makes me very nostalgic. It makes me miss high school. Like going to a football game. I recently got jealous, but I got over it. I miss how easy high school was. I really didn't realize it then.
Tell me about your travels. Where all have you been?
Switzerland, the Philippines, Canada, Mexico...
(Random background voice: Not the Bahamas)...That's right, not the Bahamas. California.
What's California like?
It's a beautiful state. Los Angeles is crap. People in Los Angeles make it crappy. Next month I'm going to Barcelona and Rome. I'm going with my family to take my step-father's ashes to Rome to his family mausoleum.
I thought Ray (your step-father) was from England?
He was, but his mother moved to Italy before she died.
What are you going to do in Rome?
I've been there before. I forgot about my first visit. I went in the sixth grade but didn't care. I'd have preferred to be with my friends. This time I want to see The Vatican. I saw the Pope at the Vatican on Christmas. It was cold. There were lots of people there. He gave Christmas greetings in so many languages.
What's it like being single in a small town?
It's fine. There aren't so many options, so I'm okay with it and I think of a serial monogamist.
Are you also a serial vegetarian?
No. I'm not a vegan. I'm not a vegetarian. Recently, in fact, I had pork bellies and lamb ribs. It was delicious.
What kind of coffee do you drink?
About two cups a day. I add one packet of sugar and some soymilk. I'm the only Common Grounds customer who asks for soymilk.
I guess you know why I ask you this. You seem to spend a lot of time in the coffee house.
Oh yeah! About 25 percent of my time. It's ridiculous. I think I may retire soon.
Random voice: What do you love most about Bluffton?
The first thing is the scenery, I guess. I like driving through the country. I want to find a city, where you could be in the wilderness in 20 minutes.
Your dad is the Bluffton postmaster. What's it like being the daughter of the town postmaster?
Kind of annoying. I'm not going to lie. People automatically know me. They say that I act and look like him. When I tell people that I'm the postmaster's daughter they say, "Oh, yeah." I can never get away with anything because he's going to find out.
What's one of the craziest things you've ever done?
I went to a music festival in the middle of the desert in Palm Springs, California.
Where did you go to college?
Woodbury University in California.
What was your major?
Communications and art history.
You're kidding!
No. I was thinking about majoring in fine arts, then I was undecided, then I took classes and changed to a fashion marketing major, then journalism, then art therapy, then my advisor told me it was time to pick a major. I'd taken a bunch of art history classes, so that became my minor.
At this point the interview faded into random directions and the note-taker stopped taking notes.
