Humans of Cleveland — Lee Clarion

Having gone to many local business, parks and even just the streets of downtown Cleveland last semester, we have had to go out of the box a bit in our search for humans to talk with.

From the local Raceway to a kind woman selling flowers in Bonlife, we have visited places where mundane, day-to-day routines take place. We search for real people who have lived real lives, in order to tell their real yet beautiful stories.

With this vision in mind, I ventured out this week to a place that is no doubt a significant part of many communities'Waffle House.

After consuming an obscene amount of delicious breakfast food, I had the honor of getting to know Shannon Lucas, a waitress at the Georgetown Rd. location off 25th Street.

'Where are you from originally?'

'I'm from Cincinnati. I've pretty much moved all over the country, but I've been here for 27 years. I stopped here and liked it, so I've been here ever since.'

What brought you to Cleveland?

'Something new. I just wanted something different.'

"What are some of your hobbies or interests?"

'I don't really have any hobbies cause I haven't had time in years. I've taken care of all the elderly people in the family till they passed away. The last one was my mom who has dementia. I'm her medical guardian. And since she went into a nursing home and my kids are grown I got bored and came back to work. Cause it's lonely.'

'Is there anything unique about you?'

'I rescue animals! I've rescued animals for probably 30-something years. My latest one was an adoptee from the shelter. He was on death row at Tractor Supply, and I put over 2,000 dollars in him.'

'I bed them, fix them, and then try to find them homes. I personally have four. I had five but one had to be put to sleep a couple months ago.'

'So just dogs and cats?'

'Anything. I just took a nest of baby squirrels down to the Chattanooga Zoo. They were so young they didn't even have their eyes open. We were having trees dropped and they were in the top of a tree.'

'What would you say you love most about animals?'

'Unconditional love and appreciation. They can't talk and tell you things but you can tell that they appreciate it. They're true to their feelings'they don't fake it.'

So next time you go in to Waffle House for those smothered, covered, scattered, and chopped hashbrowns, take a minute to get to know your server a bit. You won't regret it!