In Langston Hughes’ story “Thank You M’am” Roger and Mrs. Jones share one meal together. After Roger’s failed attempt to steal her pocketbook, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones scrutinizes Roger’s condition. She notices he is unkempt and determines, upon questioning him, he has not eaten dinner even though it is late in the evening. She drags him home with her to a room in a local rooming house.
Prior to feeding him, she has him wash up and they have a quiet conversation in which Mrs. Jones reveals important details about her past.
When they finally sit down to eat the simple meal she prepared, their conversation focuses more on what is not said, than what is. Mrs. Jones does not ask Roger about his past or home life so that he will not feel uncomfortable. Instead, she describes her work as a beautician in a local hotel. She tells him about her clientele while impressing the importance of doing an honest day’s work. Roger does more listening than talking during the meal.
She heated some lima beans and ham she had in the icebox, made the cocoa, and set the table.
The woman did not ask the boy anything about where he lived, or his folks, or anything else that would embarrass him. Instead, as they ate, she told him about her job in a hotel beauty-shop that stayed open late, what the work was like, and how all kinds of women came in and out, blondes, red-heads, and Spanish. Then she cut him a half of her ten-cent cake.
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