‘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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Monday is not normally my busy night, but yesterday was. Monday night is not a shift I expect to make much money, but I had the potential to make much last night. “We’ll be 7 or 8 when everyone gets here at 6:30,” said the man struggling to pull two of my best tables together. [...]
Who doesn’t take stock of life’s antics on one’s birthday? Sure, you pretend this insignificant, utterly forgettable birthday is insignificant and forgettable enough to stop the reflective thoughts as they creep up over your morning coffee and spill forth with the force of a rogue wave by happy hour. Thus, if the thoughts are there, [...]
Dad had on his Duke T-shirt. Mom sported an Ivy League someplace hoodie. Son wore his Ice Bowl hockey tee. Daughter and two other college-age kids chose to remain mysterious, wearing plain, logo-less tops. “Morning folks, how is everyone today?” I smiled at the handsome group of six, and not just because my gratuity was [...]
I should have written this post a month ago, when season really ended, but for reasons that have no reason, I continue to work many hours, although my pay has diminished to half since Mother’s Day. Anyone who has worked the SoFla or Keys hospitality gig knows this season of riches/summertime slumber routine. I’ve been [...]
No one forgets their senior prom–the dress, the dinner, the anticipation fraught with drama. I, however, have no prom memories, because I never went to one. Before anyone feels sorry for a Restaurant Gal who was left home alone on one of the crucial archetypal moments of passage in a teenage gal’s almost grown-up world, [...]
She always takes a spring break, and always at the height of season when throngs of college kids and families and everyone else in between vies for a coveted spot on the soft white SoFla sand. “I don’t know why I still take a vacation in March,” she said on day two of her stay. [...]
When you work outside, no matter how great the view, you have to contend with the local wildlife. Where I work, the wildlife basically means the scrawny little black birds sporting an occasional splash of yellow that have figured out that our outdoor seating area presents a veritable bird’s smorgasbord. “They’re so cute!” someone or [...]