Category: Beloved Co-workers
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A Day Before Christmas Eve Story
“I just want you to know,” said the elderly gentleman on a phone somewhere in very cold and very snowy Pennsylvania, “I am booking this family reunion party with you because you were the only one who took the time to listen to all our requests, and you obviously went out of your way to…
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Called In
A manager somewhere in D.C. at 9:45 a.m.: “Hello?” “Hey, you awake?” “Yep. What’s up?” “Can you come in to work? Gotta a no call, no show.” “Sure. Be there in half an hour.” “Thanks.” A manager somewhere in Key West at 9:45 a.m.: “Hello?” “Hey, you sober?” Pause. Laugh to self. “Yep. What’s up?”…
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Just Another Day
On a day when I discovered the frozen custard I ate for lunch poisoned me with wheat and soy, I did my best to push through the knife-in-the-stomach pains. On a day when my great guy finally got a job in Key West, I did my best to be thrilled. On a day when the…
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Gotta Play to Win
The shrill chirp of the second alarm clock was the sound that finally roused my Miami friend and former coworker at 4:15 a.m.–the time she wakes up every weekend morning to make the hour-and-a-half drive to work a double 6 a.m. breakfast-lunch shift, followed by a dinner shift. On this particular morning, she told me,…
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Please, enough of the “How to be a Perfect Server” commentary
Suddenly, everyday, I read or hear about yet another “What Servers Should Do” article, blog post, etc. Frankly, I am surprised that so many feel the topic important enough to speak about it in such inglorious, minute detail. (I did enjoy Waiter’s recent rebuttal, to one such article, however.) Why isn’t anyone writing about “100…
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Act 24, Scene 6
On the night when the bar fight broke out, on the same day when an older regular customer had gotten popped for a DUI, and when, before that, a co-worker had quite suddenly walked out, leaving me to either face another 7,000 doubles or try yet again to plug the holes in the dam with…
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Keys Karma and All Things Good
If I hadn’t wandered into a dive bar across the street from my Fort Lauderdale apartment a year ago, I wouldn’t know the very cool owner of that dive bar. I also would not have met the day-at-a-time boy who would break my heart a few months later. If my life in Fort Lauderdale had…
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Maybe You Should Stay Home….
I woke up this past Saturday morning with itchy eyes and a stuffy nose. Allergies, of course. No more Claritin in the house, of course. My guy and I decided there was no better way to spend a rainy Saturday morning in paradise than to shop every aisle at CVS. I needed the allergy meds.…
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Homecomings
At first, you have no clue who the person is who is standing in front of you with his hand extended. “Hey, Bruce Carlton. We had so many classes together in 7th grade.” You smile the dumb smile of one who has no clue, one that conveys that you pretend to have a clue, but…
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Eggs Over Done
“The money is good there,” said Upset Waitress a few weeks ago as we sat smoking cigarettes on my front porch. “As long as it’s good, use it. When the money stops being good, leave.” “Yeah,” I nodded. “But every day the new owners change something major, then the idiot manager doesn’t tell us, then…