Waiting on Hipsters

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I've waited on a lot of different types of people.

In fact, just the other day I had three tables at the start of lunch: a table of 3 guys in their late twenties that run a gym and eat obnoxiously healthy but drink enough coffee to balance it out, a group of 4 elderly women that call themselves "the church ladies" and honestly expel compliments like carbon dioxide, and 4 teenaged girls that were clearly skipping class and I thought would be massively annoying but was pleasantly surprised by their abundance of "please"s and "thank you"s. That's diversity and it makes life interesting... well, on that day at least.

However other days, for example when tables come in all at once and Serious Bridget gets overwhelmed and thinks the world is ending, diversity sucks.

Let us just hop, skip, and jump back to a couple fridays ago and we are on one of those days.

It was a beautifully cold day and life wasn't so bad from what I remember. I had had a good breakfast crowd and the day was over halfway done with lunch already passing by. Then I looked up and down the (what sometimes feels like) mile-long restaurant came the crowd of plaid wearing hipsters acting like they own the place.

No, no, no. Just because you can quote J.D. Salinger and somehow live without ever eating a burger doesn't mean you're friends with everybody you've deemed cool enough to associate with since they enhance your intellectual superiority. Nope.

Also, please speak up because I can't hear you and I don't want to mess up your order, despite the indications of this post. Socially awkward isn't cute in this situation and also doesn't make sense when you're surrounded by 8 of your friends.

Moving along, we use an iphone app at the cafe. Using it is basically abuse, in my opinion. Since I don't have my own iphone and wouldn't want to use my own at the restaurant even if I did, I use an old one provided by my lovely employers (who I do like but simply disagree with about this smartphone thing.) I have to look at the screen rather than at my customers when they talk and this makes it harder for me to commit their orders to memory. Furthermore, if they change their minds it is back to square one (no pun intended) and I usually have to go over all their modifications again on the menu.

Well, this Day of the Hipster proved my abuse theory once again. After about ten minutes of standing at the table dealing with drinks, late arrivals of other guests, and excessive orders of the "half and half"... about 5 out of 9 of them changed their minds on what they wanted as their halves (for those who don't know, a "half and half" is any combination of 2 given: sandwich, salad, and soup.)

So as I said, I basically had to start over. Frustrated as I was, I realized I needed to walk away and go write it all down as best I could by memory. Which I did. And then realized I couldn't remember everything. Damn.

"Hey guys! Sorry about this but the iphone app is freaking out and I need to just go back and verify your orders so I can get it right for everybody. I hope you don't mind." Man, talk about socially awkward.

Then a glasses-wearing fellow said, "Of course it's the iphone's fault. It's a 3G."

Really? We're going to go there now? I never like going to 3G/4G Land in normal conversation let alone right now, sir.

Finally I decided to go verbally give the order to the amazing cook with great patience for my impatience while I waited for technology to catch up. Then my coworker delivered the food while I attended to other tables. God bless good people.

Upon leaving everyone decided to have separate checks and pay with cards. For meals under $10. I take care of this on the iphone at the table so there went another 15 minutes of my time waiting on the service to kick in and the hipsters to check out.

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When that was through I was talking with my boss about the technical problems and the main boy that frequents the cafe (and was the mastermind behind the gathering) swooped in next to me and cut me off. I knew by that point his words were of great power and I should just shy away. So I walked outside for fresh air and to tempt myself with running away.

When I returned my dear co-worker shook a bottle of rum at me and simply said, "Want some?" Yes.

**Please do not be offended if you are a hipster. I like plaid.

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Getting Real on Being Happy

Somehow two months have passed since I last wrote an entry. In that time I've suffered a horrible stomach flu, a persistently abusive cold, a lack of money despite excessive days of consecutive work, car issues, and discovering I have a medical ailment. Winter has never been my favorite season. 

BUT it is a new year and I'm determined to make this one a healthier and happier one. And it has already started as such due to multiple things.... 

1. My "ailment" as I so dramatically called it to lure you into my tale is hypothyroidism. Already this year* I have successfully received medicine for it and hopefully within the next few weeks can see an improvement in my health.  This will significantly improve my life in multiple ways. Energy levels increase, weight gain decreases and life is less unpredictable and hopefully by default, easier.

2. The holidays have passed so my income is finally going into my bank account rather than to gifts for my annoyingly huge and loving family. Granted I was indebted to people so I had to work for awhile just to get back to zero. Thanks again amazing family and friends that lent me those dolla dolla bills. 

3. I'm much less the "new girl" at my two jobs that I foolishly started at the same time. Still the "kinda new girl that doesn't know everything and my coworkers shadily watch to make sure I'm doing things correctly" but not the "obvious new girl" anymore! 

4. I probably have antibodies galore from my month of extreme sicknesses! So yea News, keep laying on the flu horror stories because I'm not scared at all. 

5. The days have officially started getting longer! Can we tell yet? Not really. But it's happening. Kinda like when you grow up. That's happening to me too. I can tell because I'm finally confident with the idea of being a writer and being one as a career. I'm excited for internships that will barely pay me but offer me a chance to be around words. So excited that I just couldn't wait and started writing my first novel. It's been over a week and I only have 500 words.. well, 502 words but the first page is done. And in my experience, the beginning is always the hardest part. Now it's time to write my story and start living one while I'm at it. 

I never thought I'd be in this place, even when I started this blog. It's interesting the way days go by and things get put off. It's maybe even more interesting the way certain things don't.

*I've been suffering symptoms for over a year and a half. So it's not like I aggressively attacked this thing. In fact, I didn't know what it was, yet convinced myself more than once that I had some terminal illness, however, I continually ignored it on days when symptoms weren't bad. In my defense, I did try going to the doctor's while I was still in school but that was inconclusive and it was my senior year of college so what was I gonna do... pursue it? I didn't have time for that. Then I graduated and didn't have time because I was busy lying in the sun. Finally I chose the holidays when i worked every day to figure out what was wrong with me.

P.S. Never again will two months go by without some life lessons learned the hard way by this 20-something ;]

P.P.S. Wanted to post these pictures to remind myself that while I had the gnarliest cold on New Year's Eve, I also had the biggest smiles with my best friends as we started the year spreading germs and cheer. Happy New Year everyone. I hope it brings you happiness and health, both in abundance.