Author: Restaurant Gal
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Three’s the Charm
I have taken a third job, which means I now work eight shifts, with two as doubles. I am not complaining at all. I am grateful to be working and finally paying my bills with a little left over. I have many stories in mind, however. Soon, I know, I will eek out the time…
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Hot and Cold
“I’m gonna smack the first person who says it’s too hot when August rolls around,” said one of my regulars during the first week of March, when we shivered again in the seemingly never-ending below-normal temps. “Damn, it’s too hot for June,” he said two days ago. So it is that we feel cheated again…
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Stress-Free Living
“You must live the most stress-free life down here!” commented a customer to the bartender at an outdoor spot, where my great guy and I had just met after our many multiples of work shifts for the week. My great guy and I exchanged glances as we sipped our cocktails. The bartender saw us exchange…
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Choices
It was his 75th birthday. His 75th birthday dinner date had cancelled on him three weeks ago. My great guy and I finally had one full day off together on his 75th birthday. We had an opportunity to go fishing on our one day off together on his 75th birthday. “Is there a birthday boy…
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The Day the Stars Danced
If only I had known the secret sooner, who knows what might have been these past few work weeks. Had I had known that leaving my house at 26 minutes after the hour meant that I would reach the draw bridge just as the gates went up and the lights turned green, I never would…
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Living Amongst Ph.Ds
The bar was sticky with splashed beer and spilled booze. Ashtrays were washed and stacked, except the ones that weren’t. Limes and lemons rotted in the hand-washing sink. Dirty beer mugs lay on their sides in the “wash” compartment. Straws and peanut shells and bev naps and a dime or two were trapped at awkward…
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Overheard on Mothers Day
I told both RG Daughter and RG Son that they didn’t have to worry about calling me today, since I had to work. They called anyway, one after the other, as soon as my shift began early this morning. God love them. Thus, I have a measure of hope that they will never have a…
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She Works Hard for the Money
Words a bartender never wants to hear: “I’m really broke, so I’ll drink the cheapest draft you have ’till my money’s gone.” Then they ask to bum one of your cigarettes. I understand being broke. I am broke. But if I am going out, I plan for enough money to cover my tab AND a…
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Wheels
How can you tell it’s happy hour at a Keys bar? The bike rack is full. My work life is filled with “givens.” It is a given that my two Nam vets and my part-time co-worker will be sitting outside on the deck when I arrive to open. It is a given that the first…
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Painting Away a Day
Oh no, not again, I thought as I watched him hoist his paints and brushes and head toward the front door. Predictably, the moment he took two steps away from his car, it began: the high-pitched whining and barking that would not cease until he packed up his paints and his brushes and went home.…