Category: Guests

  • Look West

    He is 95. He doesn’t look a day older than 70. I adore him. I am almost obsessed with him. When he says he’ll root for my horse in the Derby, I know he will. When he says he will take the “lunch,” I know he won’t eat it. When he says, “I have to…

  • Postcards I Forgot to Send

    I know. It’s been more than a month since I’ve written. I should have written! I meant to, but…but I didn’t. Guess I’ve been away far longer than I realized. But I wrote postcards! I know, I didn’t send them. Well, here they are as one, all those postcards that I really did mean to…

  • Here Come the Brides

    One day you’re having the experience of a lifetime during Kentucky Derby Week, and the day you return to work from the experience of a lifetime, your GM says this: “From now on, you’re doing all of our private events.” Oh. Okay. Okay? I have enjoyed the past three years working as a bartender and…

  • I’ll Have Another, Please

    I’d love to have another opportunity to visit the rolling hills surrounding Louisville, Kentucky, Derby Week or not. The gentility and hospitality of everyone we met matches the area’s beauty, and I could not help but say a thousand times or more, “I’m not in SoFla anymore.” I’d love to have another chance to spend…

  • Hell on Wheels

    The first time I served Maureen, it was on my second day on the floor at my current job, and I was warned: “She’ll run you and send back everything, and she doesn’t tip.” Apparently, everyone with whom I worked had served Maureen many times; no one with whom I worked could stand to serve…

  • First Time Here!

    They were a handsome family of four. They brought along a handsome friend to complete their party of five, one short of a six-top tag. They triggered my internal server alarm when the wide-smiling father gushed: “It’s our first time here!” “Welcome,” I said, matching his smile. “Do we get anything for that?” the father…

  • Sweetheart Tales

    Bye bye Valentine’s Day. Good riddance to your way-too-ramped-up symbolism that sends us frantically flailing about in retail hell and foists upon us the yearly notion that no matter how wonderful our relationship with our significant other, all hopes and dreams will be dashed if we fail to go out on this specific date for…

  • Holiday Cheer’s Tears

    ‘Twas the night before the night before Christmas and all through the restaurant, families broke bread together, then let their tears flow…and flow…. My Christmas wishes to each and every one of you who made someone cry tonight (and you are far too many for comfort!) are as follows: To the family of 10 assorted…

  • First Night Out

    The cab pulled up fast, then halted just as fast. Two heads in the back seat lurched forward. I think I saw two hands clutch the head rest of the front seat. Both back doors of the cab opened almost before the cab came to its quick, complete stop. Two men emerged, one clutching a…

  • Desperate Turkeys

    Two weeks ago, I bought a frozen Butterball turkey. If I buy it, I figured, they will come for dinner. Two weeks ago, the pleas from the various caterers I work with began in earnest: “$25 bonus to the first three servers who will work a Thanksgiving dinner in Delray.” “Extra $20 to anyone who…