finally over

the stretch of consecutive opening shifts...done for a while anyway!
whew, nice to know I can sleep in tomorrow...and will be in a much
better mood! Well, today turned out to be a pretty cool day at ye old
restaurant, we were busy, which I like...can't stand when it is slow,
you get bored, time doesn't move, you tend to eat more (hey, it's a
restaurant!). So busy is good. The bad thing about busy is when folks
come to visit you, there is little time to spend with them. Such was
the case when my friend Lola (mentioned in a previous posting)
came for breakfast with our mutual friend Mike and his significant
other. Mike was a student at our local university, and a restaurant
groupie; he went from customer to friend to groupie...even working
there for a spell after graduating. He then got a job out of the area,
but fortunately comes down to visit every couple of months. He was
another one who originally liked the food and prices, but soon
became addicted to the drama and storylines behind the scenes!
Even now when he visits, if we are busy, he jumps right in and
helps (as does Lola now when duty calls!). Customers often assume
we are related, as we both have very dark hair, but no, Mike is just
a dear and special friend. Great to see him and his S.O. (who is also
very cool and sweet) today. I do want to mention today the hostess
who has been working with me the last couple of days; she is
a waitress but due to some kind of wrist surgery can't hold or carry
trays laden with food for a spell, so she's hostessing for now. I'll
call her Beth here, and as she admits herself....she is a redneck.
Her pride and joy, other than her baby girl, is her pickup truck,
which I call redneckmobile. I will say it is a step up from the
previous redneckmobile she had, some old jacked up heap of
metal. And of course, her pickup is adorned with stickers, and
yes, some with Confederate flags. Beth herself is adorned with
tatoos and piercings, colored acrylic nails,and her natural hair
color hasn't been seen in years. She used to live in a trailer park,
but has since upgraded to a house! Ok, you can be critical of me
ragging on her, but the truth of the matter is that I really do like
her; she is a hard worker, reliable, on-time, works when called
in on her day off or stays later than her shift to help if we are
shorthanded. And she has improved several times over since we
first hired her (about 3 years ago), to the point that she is one of
our better servers. And she has done a good job hostessing too.
Of course she has drama in her life as well (what true redneck
doesn't?!?)...threats of eviction (the latest due to too many junk
heap cars in the yard....CLASSIC REDNECK!), the ex-husband
in and out of the local and state 'room and board', her current
boyfriend changes jobs more often than Beth changes her hair
and nail colors, and of course, the occasional requested day off
due to yet another court appearance! So refreshing that so many
of the restaurant staff have such great firsthand knowledge of
the legal system, a bunch of legal eagles!