Waitressing

I was waitressing a few nights ago. We have 9 tables that are our more private tables to sit at, in the Melting Pot, and these are the tables that have closeable curtains at the entrance. So basically no one can see into them. We always knock on the outside, before we open the curtains, because we've all heard the stories of servers who didn't, and opened the curtains to find an old woman under the table doing you know what, and similar stories like that. Use your imagination and I'm pretty sure it's been done.  Which is fine, just stop doing it when I show up. The section of tables I was serving a few nights ago was in the "curtains" as we call them. I've worked in them before and never really had any problems at all really. No awkward moments, nothing odd. Until a few nights ago.
One of the first couples I waited on was really nice. They introduced me to themselves by name and shook my hand, and basically treated me like a human being which is pretty nice when you're a waitress. We traded stories and were having a great time. Then the chocolate fondue came out and when I came back to check on how it was I knocked, but not loud enough because her neck was covered in chocolate and he was licking it off. I also walked in on them making out which honestly, I don't mind, it was just the first time I had done that  with any of the people I was waiting on.
So then I get the next group of people coming in. Again really nice and chatty, easy to please. There were 2 couples at this table so they entertained themselves which again, made my job a little easier. They were sitting at a booth with each couple on either side. So part way through their meal bring out salad's and as I'm setting them on the table the guys switch theirs. I thought they might have agreed to switch earlier and didn't really think anything of it until one of the guys asked for another drink. I asked if he wanted another Manhattan and he responded with no, that he was the one drinking beer. It was then that a little light bulb went on in my head (I'm not the sharpest crayon in the box sometimes, especially when I'm rushed or busy) and I realized that the husbands had switched spots at the table. They were wearing the same color shirts and looked sort of similar so that's why it took me a minute to figure out. And these guys had their hands on the new woman's thighs, just like they had with the woman they were sitting with before. These people were swingers!

 For some reason when ever someone says "swingers" I always envision people square dancing. Not really sure why, but they should look into changing what they call them selves for sure. I'd never really met any (at least that I knew of). That lifestyle isn't really for me, but I'm not one to judge anyone. They were really nice to me too and in my little waitressing world, that's really all I care about ha ha.

Big Girl

I finally broke down a few days ago and bought my first big girl purse. And by big girl purse I mean something an adult would wear... not a little purple one you get with an Easter outfit. I have been purse-less almost my whole life, with the exception of a few traveling trips when one was needed. I think the reason I don't like purses is because whenever I was a little girl, and I'd get A LOT of money ($40) for my birthday, holiday, or saved up, I would go shopping and I would put the money in whatever little purse I had at the time. I was not used to carrying a purse and so inevitably I would set it down somewhere and forget it. And someone would come along after me, find it, and take it. That's right, people steal from a 7 year-old's Hello Kitty purse. We all know where you're going when you die, mhmm.

So after a couple years (have I mentioned I am a slow, stubborn learner?) of losing my money this way, I decided to forget having purses in my life and went without one ever since. I told my co-workers I hadn't had a purse since I was about 8 or 9. She thought I meant 8th or 9th grade and was horrified. And basically couldn't believe me when I said no, age 8-9. I've just never really felt the need for one. I've had a wallet at some point, but never for very long. I basically take my money, ID, and debit card and put them in my back right pocket and call it good. I had this philosophy that if something didn't fit in my pockets, then I didn't need it.  Cell phone goes in my front right pocket, or back left if I'm wearing work pants, and keys in the front left pocket.

But, I finally decided that it wasn't enough (thanks to a couple surprise monthly visits) and decided that maybe having something I could carry half of my bathroom around in would be a good idea. So I went to Target and found this.

My new purse! And it's spent the past week hanging on the back of my door knob ha ha. I think I'll kind of ease myself into a using purse slowly... use it for special occasions or date nights out... give it a little test run and see how it goes :)

Moving Up

So despite the weather forecast for the part weekend, it was freakin HOT outside. It was right around 112 all weekend so needless to say I did not get to start running. I did, however, go swimming a bit and started working on getting a tan. My sister came to visit me earlier this summer and laughed when she saw me saying "Ha ha, you live in Arizona and you're not even tan!" Yes, it's true. I also don't have heat stroke, which to me is better than not having a tan. And I can be tan in the winter when her butt is freezing in the negative degree weather.

I got promoted at the Melting Pot! I've only been there a couple months now, but management heard I was interested in being a supervisor, so they offered it to me, and I train all this weekend. Hopefully this leads to being considered as a manager in the future. I've worked in the food industry for about 8 years now and I'm finally getting my ass into gear about management. Sad, I know. I guess I always thought I'd be doing something else. But now that I know it's going to take awhile to get me through college... might as well work my way up and get good experience/pay along the way.

Training is going to be a bit rough. I have to close the restaurant friday, saturday, and sunday so I'll be working LATE. But it will be worth it. I'm considering quitting my other job at Barnes & Noble... unless I can talk them into letting me just work weekdays because it's just taking too much out of me on the weekends when the restaurant is super busy, and my man is off of work. I want to stay there though if I can because the girls there are good friends of mine. So I'll talk to the manager and see what we can work out.

I just need more time with the fiance honestly. He's doubled up on courses so he's always doing homework after work. Then my weekends are completely taken up with work, so something needs to be done. We had a huge fight this past weekend and it was partly due to stress on both of our sides, and just not getting much time together. So I'm feeling really great about this new step. Yes, I'll be working later some nights. But I'll be able to free up half of my weekends so it will be for the better.

Running

I am a running snob. There, I admitted it. Or at least that's what I'm going to call it instead of "I will make up almost any excuse to not run if there is one." I don't like treadmills, and I don't like running at tracks (both kind of make me feel like I'm not getting anywhere), and it's ALMOST cool enough so go running outside in the morning (basically below 100 degrees). And by morning I mean 9 am because I can't get up earlier than that to run. I used to try to get up earlier to go running in the morning... but when I'm laying in bed debating whether or not to go force my body to do what it really doesn't want to... or stay in the extremely comfortable bed and continue dreaming about kitties... dreaming about kitties always wins.

I also have this thing about not exercising when it's not fun. I used to run/walk up the canyon grade by my house in Idaho, but that's because it was with a group of girls and we'd gossip almost the whole time. I'll play volleyball, go swimming, whatever really as long as it's enjoyable. But try to get me into a gym if I'm by myself, and not in a yoga/pilates class, and it's probably not going to happen. Which makes it kind of hard to get any sympathy from my man because he's an amateur body builder and goes to the gym 5 days a week. Yah, no sympathy there.

So back to running. I can only really talk myself into it if it's perfect weather outside, which Phoenix has about 10 months out of the year, and it's not too early in the morning. Because then I love being outside and I actually enjoy it. And the back of my thighs will enjoy it too because the whole cottage cheese look just isn't doing it for me. The forecast for this weekend is below 100 degrees so wish me luck, I'm going to start running again. Hopefully.

Tipping your server.

Being a waitress I guess this topic was bound to come up at some point. I just hate being one of those negative servers who's always complaining about it. I'm a firm believer that if you don't dwell on the negative and talk about it excessively, it will effect you a lot less. But sometimes I just have to vent, ha ha.

I've been reading articles on the standards of tipping lately. Almost all of the articles were written be people who were never servers, which I found to be interesting. Including an article by this asshat, who admits to have never waited on tables, then tries to compare it to working at UPS. You don't like working with the public? Come try my job sometime, it will make you cry. Is it the hardest job in the world? Not by any means. Is it mentally, physically, and emotionally draining for money that's slightly better than minimum wage? Yes, it is.

I am a very attentive server. I really view people coming in as guests of mine, and I do my absolute best to make sure they never need anything, that their glasses are always full, and they are always satisfied with the food. I'm a people pleaser to the core, and I take it personal if people don't enjoy their meal. Which is what made my former job at Chili's so hard because a parent would have a hard day at home with their kids, wouldn't want to make dinner, drag their miserable butts in Chili's, and be as rude as possible to anyone they came into contact with because they had a bad day. Umm, I'm getting paid $3.35 an hour to be nice to you, and your $2 tip isn't really going to help that much. My dignity is worth more than that, and I won't be treated like a dog.

I'd hate it when I would be working at Chili's, have 6 tables seated in my section (instead of the standard 4 because we were short staffed), and have a mom who was glaring at me because her kids chocolate milks (which take awhile to make because they are handmade) were empty AGAIN because the little turds would slurp them down within 15 seconds of me putting them down. And after making them 5 times, I have more important things to attend to (like the OTHER 20 customers relying on me for service) than to make chocolate milks all day. I'm sorry.

I read that a lot of times, the service doesn't even reflect the amount people tip. They just always tip the same. I think this is true for maybe half of people. I had some people come in one night, keep me there an hour past when we closed to wait on them, raved to the manager how good all the food was and how great I was as a server, then left me a 10% tip. Which after I tip out 4% to the server assistant, meant I walked home with a 6% tip. Sad.

Another thing I read, that I thought was hilarious, was that if waitresses (women) put a smiley face on the check at the end, it increased their tip. But it waiters (men) put one on the check, it decreased the tip! I always thought the smiley faces were tacky ha ha.

The Melting Pot is really much better than Chili's though. The people coming in are much more pleasant, and in much better moods. I really do enjoy waiting on people and talking to them. I love meeting new people and talking about different things with them. And quite honestly, I would rather be treated nicely and tipped decently, then be treated badly and tipped  really well.

Difficult things

Things have been a little stressful lately. For one, my brother is having a hard time dealing with losing his fingers. Which I completely understand, it's a very difficult thing to deal with. I think he's hit a very low point though now, and when he talks to me about it I feel so helpless. He's my little brother that I would give anything for to protect and keep safe, and I can't really DO anything to help him. I can listen and offer advice, but in the end it is he who will have to decide how to deal with it. It's just so frustrating seeing him struggle with it. It's his birthday today and he's off to see his friends who were deployed with him. He hasn't seen them since the accident so I'm really praying that things go well, and none of them says anything stupid.

My man has also been having a hard time with his PTSD.  He is one of the sweetest men I know, and I can't stand when he has a flashback or nightmare and see him struggling with that. It's not fair that he has it from being a police officer, and it's not fair that the men in the military get it. War and violence are such horrendous things and continue to rob the lives of those it touches, long after it is finished.

I'm just starting to feel a little drained. I'm a peacemaker, it's how I've always been. I always try to make people happy and I'll give up anything to see the ones I love content. I just need to realize that I can't control everything and not everyone can be happy all the time. Sometimes, doing my best just means being there for someone, even if I can't fix the problem.

The Year of the Phoenix

Labor day marks the man and I's 2 year anniversary, and my one year anniversary of moving to Phoenix. Time went quick, especially the last half of the year. We made it through a year of long distance dating (NEVER AGAIN), and then a year of going from long distance to living together. Which surprisingly went smoother than I thought it would. We had out typical up and downs and all that but we made it and we're happy so that's what counts.

We were talking about how it did go pretty smooth and we were both surprised, looking back. We've both been pretty flexible and are willing to look at each others points of views and that really helps a lot (unless we're in a good argument, then that all goes out the window until we cool down ha ha). We signed a 9 month lease for the apartment we're in, with the plan to save money so we can get into a house when it is up. We're also saving to put money down to reserve the reception venue we finally found for our wedding. It was so funny because I took him to see the place, I wasn't so sure about it but the pics looked fairly decent and the price was ridiculously cheap. So we get there and start looking around and it's prettier than the pictures, really elegant. So we sit down with the woman showing us around, and start talking about the price for the venue, catering, alcohol, decorations, flowers, ect. And each time she tells us the price my fiance kept saying "WOW, that's a really good price." (Not quite as adamant as the Staples commercial, thank god) Well yeah... you remember the TWO weeks I spent on the internet? It was making sure we found the best place ha ha. I think he's a little more impressed with my skills now.

So this is my first year here. I made it through the summer, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Although the backs of my thighs are turning to jello from not running so fall really can't get here fast enough. I got engaged to the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. I've made some unique friends that I really treasure. I can't wait to see what the next year brings :)