Minding the shop

Deepa Bharath

Two days after opening the doors of the first business he ever owned,

Doug Baggett shipped out to Iraq.

It was like leaving behind a newborn. It was like the golden key

that you clutch for a whole second before it falls on a drain cover

and dangles precariously between the rusted iron bars.

For 25-year-old U.S. Marine Sgt. Baggett, the American Roadhouse

Coffee Shop he opened on the Balboa Peninsula was going to be that

magic key -- to his dreams and his future.

He started the business in January with longtime friend Steve

Honig, who with other friends has been trying to keep the place up

and running. But as luck would have it, Honig came down with an

illness early Tuesday and will have to be hospitalized at least for

two weeks.

So what happens to the American Roadhouse?

It’s not going down -- if Baggett’s friends can help it.

Nick Fainbarg says he and his buddies, who’ve known Baggett for

several years, have been working shifts to keep the place afloat.

“We’re about 25 of us and we’re taking time off our jobs to work

the shifts here,” he said. “It sounds like a lot of people, but we

can use more hands.”

Fainbarg said he believes “living Marines” don’t get the attention

they deserve.

“When a Marine dies, we shower their families with checks and

flowers,” he said. “But what do we do for those who live, for those

who are struggling?”

Baggett lives in Garden Grove, but most of his friends are in

Newport-Mesa, his mother, Roxy Baggett, said.

“I’m just amazed at what they’re doing for Doug,” she said. “They

just don’t want him to lose this place.”

Doug Baggett almost lost his life Wednesday when he received an

overdose of pain medication at a hospital in Iraq, Fainbarg said.

“He’s in very serious condition,” he said. “We’re hoping and

praying that he returns safely.”

Doug Baggett didn’t just hang out with friends, but was part of a

“secret society” of men who helped each other, Tony San Miguel said.

Doug Baggett was a big part of the informal group started by San

Miguel simply called Monday Night, he said. The guys hung out and

talked about their problems.

“I want him back,” he said. “We all miss him very much.”

Mark Hardy said Doug Baggett is “close to his heart.”

“We’ve been sending him care packages, too,” he said. “But we’re

hoping he’ll be back before the next package reaches him.”

Fainbarg said the friends are “soaking all our money into the

business.”

“But we’re running out of time and money,” he said. “If the

business continues to lose money, we’re going to have to shut this

place down in a week.”

They are doing everything they can to make a few extra bucks, he

said.

“We’re selling these patriotic pins at he counter,” Fainbarg said.

“Anything to help pay the bills and keep it alive.”