Angels have been visiting me.

One week ago tonight something happened that I meant to write about, so I'm taking the opportunity to do that now.

It was a very slow night at work (Mondays usually are.) It was near the time for buffet to end, and I had a young couple and their son (probably about one and 1/2 year old) sit in my section. I did nothing extraordinary, but I was nice, as I usually am. Nice, as I try to be all of the time regardless. So, here I am waiting on them, and their son, who is young, makes about an average mess for a boy his age. Maybe even below average. It was certainly not the worst mess I've ever seen. It was probably one of the smaller messes. They left the restaurant after not being their very long at all. And so, I went to clean their table.

They left me a $20 with a note saying "Sorry for the mess."

I meant to write about that last Monday, but as it turned out, I didn't. I just continued to mean to write about it. The reason why I'm writing about it now is because tonight something else happened.

I waited on a woman and her son. I was nice as I could be. Nice, as I try to be all of the time. Regardless. They each ate about two plates of food from the buffet. I kept her drink filled, made sure her son's drink stayed filled. Kept the table clean. And then she gets ready to leave.

"You were our waitress, right?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Do you share your tips?"
"No, ma'am."

She hands me $25. I ask her if she's sure and say I can't take it. I tear up at her kindness. She reassures me that it's fine. She wants me to have it. And she fills out a customer comment card about me. A nice one, I hear.

Angels have been visiting me. They may just be people, but to me, they are angels. They bring a message to me that people are still good, kind, and generous. And they make all of the not-so-nice people worthwhile. God has been sending me angels. And I thought I would tell you about them.

Thank you so much, wherever you are.

Father's Day

Happy Father's day to all you dads out there. Step-dads and Granddads, too!

Thank you to the lady that went to the wrong store even though my phone greeting included what street we were on. Your pizza was delicious!

To the self-seaters that didn't leave me a tip: Trust me. I know better for next time.

Table of 8 that left me $3 - I'm cutting you some slack and just saying you weren't in a good state of mind considering. If it happens again, I'll know better.

To everyone else today: Thank you!

Zimbabwe

If you go to a building and it is locked, take a look at the door and see if hours are listed on it. If it is after the closing time, do not stand at the door, looking at the people inside, expecting them to come unlock it for you. The store, restaurant, whatever is closed. They are not expecting you; you are not some special person that gets to come in after hours because you are you. They want to go home and see their families, sleep, do anything other than be at work. Standing there and waiting until someone comes to tell you that the store is, in fact, closed just makes you look ignorant. Take a locked door as a hint. People don't lock doors for no reason.

That said:

To the people from Zimbabwe - Why here? The United States, sure. But why this town in this state? There have to be cooler places. Do you know how to play mancala? I sure wish you'd come back in so that, if you did know how to play, we could have like a tournament or something. Pretty awesome.

To the woman with the little girl (I'm assuming it was your daughter) - I'm sorry I gave you poor service. I was informed ahead of time that you don't tip. Instead of saying "I'm not wasting my time on you," I should have taken it as a challenge. I apologize.

Useful fact: If you don't tip at Pizza Hut, you might like to consider it seeing as they get paid the minimum wage for waiters and waitresses. Or servers, I guess. I did not know that until tonight.

Gas prices

If that BP gas station by my house is selling it's regular gas for $4.00 a gallon tomorrow morning when I wake up, I'm going to cease to drive until it goes back down to a more reasonable $3.90

To the table of four that looked at my Jesus ring: You were so nice. I just wanted to say thanks.

To Chelsea: Happy birthday. Do you girls wonder why I don't dance anymore? Because I wonder if you wonder.

To Cameron: I hope she doesn't ruin you. You're an intelligent girl with a lot of talent. Just don't get too close. Because the second you slip up...

My legs hurt and I have guests. It was a long day, but mostly uneventful.

And so it begins

In a bit of an attempt to save the people around me from hearing all about all of the things that I experience all of the time (most especially the people that I encounter at work) without exploding from keeping it all inside, I will be using this blog to tell about my life at that very moment. Hopefully.

It begins here with a list of things I would like to say to people that I will probably never see again.

To the table that sent the pizza back because it had two very small pieces of onions on it, even though you weren't allergic: it was delicious. And I was pretty hungry, too. So, thank you. I hope you made it where you were going safely. And I also hope your irrational fear of onions clears up soon.

To the party of 40 that sat downstairs rather than up: I hope you enjoyed your food and your experience, and I hope that your waitress took good care of you. I'm sorry the air conditioning was broken. It's fixed now. If only your party had been scheduled for tomorrow. I hope the girl whose graduation you were celebrating does very well in life and goes on to achieve all of her dreams. At any rate, if you hadn't eaten downstairs I never would have waited on my party of ten. Which brings me to the next one...

To my party of ten: Thanks for those three dollars that you left on the table. All said and done, with that three dollars included, it ended up being exactly what you were charged gratuity for originally. I'm sorry that you didn't know about the gratuity policy, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I guess I should have. But times are just as tough for me as they are for you - gas is not magically cheaper for be because I'm paid less per hour. That being said, thank you very much for not actually taking the tip that you had left on the table back. I'm sorry if things are tight for you. I'm praying that God blesses you for blessing me. Thank you.

To the couple by the window and the other couple with three children: You may be the nicest people around. You were definitely the nicest people in the restaurant tonight. You were a complete blessing and nothing less. I hope I get the pleasure of waiting on you again one night when it isn't so busy.

Dancing Never More

In my dreams, I am magic. I cannot help but move things with my mind and change things with my will. In my dreams I have power. And then I realize that I'm wretched and I renounce it. I give it up to be kind and good.