they say its forever... good thing we don't have forever
Big bang Theory plays in the background all night (right now leonard and penny are in vegas, preparing to elope, and amy just broke up with sheldon over video call.) the cast keeps me company when I'm awake at night.
I'm tired of going online and seeing psa after psa; products I avoid after getting cancer shows sponges.. laundry detergent.. non-stick cooking pans.../ this is what happened when I found out my memory foam mattress was filled with fiber glass shows bedroom covered in fiberglass / that video of the man who was proposing to his girlfriend while diving and died / does your hair/skin look this? you probably have ___. / this food company is being sued for having excessive pfas/bpa/phthalates/lead in their product bam bam bam.. simply orange, lindt dark chocolate, core power chocolate shakes/ only getting 6 hours of sleep a night? you have reduced your life span by 10 years / i didn't know what I wanted to do when I was 18.. little did I know that when I turned 21 I would be paralyzed. / salmonella recall again / the chickens - iykyk / plant based meats are NOT healthy for you, but neither is red meat / your sushi with a dash of mercury / clothes clothes clothes clothes so many clothes whereisitallgoingtogo / i went out in the sun every day for 40 years without sunscreen and I was completely shocked when they... / the man left for dead in the planet fitness tanning bed the girl who said she got scabies from one, the employee reassuring her that they clean them every night / ice cream machines, ice machines / hammocks can paralyze you too / i literally watched a video of someone in a plane right before it crashed and I heard them screaming /
I guess I'm tired of all the sharing and all the engagement. Don't get me wrong - I completely understand how, if someone is going through a life event that is very challenging or stressful for them, it can be very relieving to have people commiserate and relate with them. The internet connects almost everyone in the whole world at a touch of a button. billions of different lives. I personally really loved the youtube documentary Life In A Day when it was released in 2011.
But, my mind can't and won't comprehend it all. The information is overwhelming. It makes me think about every little decision I've ever made and the inevitable outcomes. It's like I'm a robot being force-fed entertainment but the worst part is, is that each time when they stop, I beg for more. my mind's not my own, no no.
A great thing about watching someone's else's life is that it takes you out of your own. I love watching people's travel videos, their day in the life. No one's life is all sunshine and rainbows though, no matter what filter you put on it, and then suddenly, wham. you're suddenly 15 minutes deep into their harrowing story, like an unpaid therapist or something.
ALSO while I'm complaining about that can I complain about something else
customers who are done eating but don't pay right away and I have to be like... hi... sorry to inconvenience you while you're talking with your friends but I like need you to pay??? I can't believe I have to verbally ask you for your money right now!! this is putting me in an awkward position, we're literally closed.
'I Want to order 2 beers!!!' proclaims the lady to me. 'the other one's not for my daughter sitting at our table, ha ha!' 'oh, I can bring you yours now, but I have to wait for the other person to show up for me to bring them an alcoholic beverage!!' shock 'If i went up to the bar right now they would give me the beers!!' smiles sweetly 'well, they're not supposed to!' yes, I could do what they ask - to no foul. I'm not stupid. the beers for her husband of 40 years - and break the law at the risk of my job and the restaurant but give me a good reason why. a really good one?
seriously, for what reason? so he gets the beer a minute faster?
Imagine the shock this lady will experience on march 1st when we implement mandatory ID checks for every purchase. I honestly have no idea how that's going to work. I serve over 100 people a day, and suddenly one day I'm going to start asking for everyone's IDs? brutalizing.
Immediately when her husband sits down, I hurry over like I'm being pursued. "a beer for you, sir?" "HAHA, am I old enough?!" smiles like he is the funniest man on earth. "I'll be back in a jiffy" I hurry away, pursued yet again.
ooh, their off sign is off..mayhap they forgot to turn it on? let us try the doors again! if not the front doors, perhaps the side door? ah! they're unlocked. there's no one inside in the immediate vicinity, I guess it's seat yourself... time is simply a concept, my stomach nor my mind acknowledges such an intangible thing as that..
A server (me) gazes at them, mouth dropping. It's not even my table. didn't we already do last calls...? who let this happen?
AGH!
the man stares at his bank statement in dismay whilst laying in bed, app open. lights off, face illuminated. how did I end up spending $400 at this restaurant? Returns to the restaurant next day - I gave the server a 50 tip on top of gratuity! That was a mistake. I didn't know he added gratuity to the bill. The man waves the receipt in front of the manager, the gratuity amount highlighted in bright blue. Ah, well, our servers are trained to verbally tell the customer. Did he not do this? you know.. I can't recall. Was I even listening to him? I think he did talk to me once or twice that night. Was he even a he? I simply signed the receipt without looking at what I was signing I could have sold away my soul for all I know
HelloOooOOO!! I am Ready to Order!
their hands reach out, but they can not catch me. I skillfully evade
"Oh! I completeeeely understand!" I say, as I wave the credit cards I am holding in my hand in the air like a dancer. I lean on the door jab like no one's business, all attention. I go to retrieve my notepad out of my apron with my non-dominant hand because I have the memory of a goldfish. "Are you still waiting on your other person?" I ask. "Oh yes," they say, "But I'm going to order anyway." "Alright! annnndd What would you like?" it's not an interrogation but it sure as well might be.
stares at me
stares back
stares at me
"and what would you like to order tonight?" I say, softly.
Hands flutter to the menu, eyes in a tizzy
"Well then, if you're not ready, I can come back in only 2 min-"
I do a little wave with the cards, smiling obligingly, turning to leave -
"NO! no, I am ready to order." they stare at me like they will never see me again. it has to be now. if not now, then never
"Okaaaaay!"
"I guess I'll just get this," they say, pointing to a menu item as if the menu is a roulette board.
May i please see your ID..,niewnasdkljf4bu3uhe
oh of course...ifj3oen kflqdw
your ID is expired.
It has my age right there. pointing to his birthdate. they served me... at the... other place.
do my ears deceive me? my eyes certainly don't. perhaps this will be a situation that finally fuels him to acquire a valid ID if he ever, like, wants to do anything. like drive a car.
Honorable mentions; parents that don't think of their children as people who take up physical space. "We have a party of 10" when in fact it's a party of 15. Like if someone is under the age of 5 we have a portable room that attaches to a table to make more space or something.
Including but not any less honorable; families that get grated for being a family of six even though they have four children and must have the 18% taken off because it is just so diabolical. Yes, I don't agree with the tipping culture either but it is a legal service charge, stated on the menu. And YES your children are people, people.
Including; folks who spend hundreds of dollars, pay, and sit at the table for an extra two hours and can't tip the server the 20%, which is why we have gratuity. we could talk about "good service and bad service" but let's say in this scenario the server did their job to the max they could.
It's just math, in the end. The servers tip out of a certain percentage of their sales to their support staff. so, you sell 2,000, but perhaps some people didn't tip you. you have to tip out 85 of your tips. you have 200 in credit card sales before tip out, but it should have been 300 if everyone had tipped you 20%. I am still expected to tip the busser/expo in cash as well every shift, but not required like I am when I am doing my paperwork for the tip out for sales.
I am an exception because I work at a highly grossing restaurant and we make a lot more than other servers do in our city (but not comparable to some bartenders.) so even if we may not get tipped 20% every time we still make a good amount of money because we have such an influx of customers every day. But if I only got paid my hourly, I would make a non-livable wage. It can be difficult for servers to get 40 hours a week during the off season, so say we worked 30 hours a week. our pay would be 700 every 2 weeks before taxes.
I never like the fact that I feel people are overpaying but eating out is, in the first place, overpaying.
I know it's ironic that I went on and on about oversharing while earlier I was saying that I'm tired of hearing people overshare but I personally feel like blogs and youtube videos are different than what I was specifically talking about (reels, you know. browsing through reels is a cacophony of chaos.)
I may sound all brittle and strict right now but I swear I'm usually only amused by people's antics, not really angry or frustrated. I go along with it. If anyone has a question as to why I need to do something I tell them why and if they refute me i seriously consider it and alter the outcome if I can. Some things I can't be swayed upon though, like alcohol laws. Stuff that I could lose a job over.
One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever. One knows it sometimes when one gets up at the tender solemn dawn-time and goes out and stands out and throws one's head far back and looks up and up and watches the pale sky slowly changing and flushing and marvelous unknown things happening until the East almost makes one cry out and one's heart stands still at the strange unchanging majesty of the rising of the sun--which has been happening every morning for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. One knows it then for a moment or so. And one knows it sometimes when one stands by oneself in a wood at sunset and the mysterious deep gold stillness slanting through and under the branches seems to be saying slowly again and again something one cannot quite hear, however much one tries. Then sometimes the immense quiet of the dark blue at night with the millions of stars waiting and watching makes one sure; and sometimes a sound of far-off music makes it true; and sometimes a look in someone's eyes
the secret garden