My Yankee Connection

One of my faithful blog readers is a wonderful friend that has escaped the heat and humidity of the south, to return to her New York roots. She has three young kids and a wonderful husband.

She and I became acquainted when we worked together in a restaurant as the dayshift waitresses of a local restaurant. I had worked for the company for over ten years...moving from one store to another...managed one store for several years, and came to a new store that had opened since the owners had started to sell franchises.

We worked for a boss that can be summed up in two words..."BIN LADEN". He suffered from the Napoleon complex in a HUGE way (no pun intended....well, maybe a "little"...another pun)!!

He could be as sweet as silk..and then BAM!!! He could sling on that turban and seem to have an M-16 hanging over his shoulder in a matter of a few seconds.

Talk about a hot head!!

Needless to say, I enjoyed pushing his buttons more than I should have, and bore the brunt of his temper quite often.

We had liquor permits that we had to have on display...a drivers license size card that showed your picture and name.

I found a picture of ole Ossama Bin Laden one day in the paper that was the exact size of our liquor permit picture. I taped it over our boss's picture on his permit card.

Everyone that worked there thought it was not only hilarious, but VERY appropriate.

Our tyrant of a boss (who actually COULD be very nice, but had a fuse as short as his stature) took five dollars out of my paycheck for "tampering with the permits".

He should have known better, having known me for almost fifteen years.

I went right back to the newspaper, and found a picture of the pop star "prince" who was at the time going by a symbol instead of his name. When the press referred to him , they called him "The Artist Formerly Known As". By the way....How ridiculous was THAT?

So I find me a pic of Prince that exactly matched the size of my liquor permit photo...taped it over my own picture, and in the exact print that had shown my name on the card...taped over my name "The Waitress Formerly Known As".

BAM!! He took fifteen dollars out of my paycheck. And threatened to fire me if I touched another permit on the wall.

My friend and I had many , many hours of fun tormenting our "little" Napoleon. It was always on the sly and always just under the radar, so that we couldn't be fired.

She and I "ran" that place...we just let him "THINK" he was the boss. The bond that we formed in that short period of time will last a lifetime, and although she has moved miles and miles away from me...she will be close to my heart forever.

We had nicknames for all the regulars and other employees (only known to us) and shared a million laughs together.

She had a baby...moved back to New York...had two more babies...and is living out her dream of being a MOM...one that she was born for. She is a compassionate, articulate and intelligent woman, and I feel proud to call her my friend.

We speak to each other only once every year or so, but thanks to the internet, we have been keeping in touch more and more.

The years that I worked with and spent with her are precious to me. I can bust a gut thinking of some of our antics...and sometimes wonder if "OLE" Napoleon ever got over the anxiety that we inflicted on him on an almost daily basis.

Friends are a treasure to me that I will never take for granted. If you are my friend...you will be my friend for life. You will always be in my heart and soul.

If you are my friend...know that I will always love you and that I will always be there for you...now, tomorrow or ten years from tomorrow.

To my sweet "JO JO"... Thanks for the memories, thanks for loving me and thanks for reading my petty blog. You of all people know how much my writing means to me, how it fills me with satisfaction and gives me a place to show my heart.

I hope that every one has an outlet that they enjoy as much as I enjoy ... relish and appreciate... this vehicle, vice, space of my own, "my baby"...my BLOG.

Because of my friends, because of my family, because of my wacky interpretation of life... I am here...writing all of this to all of you!

And HEY !! Thanks for reading it. It means a lot to me...more than you could ever imagine.

Till next time...COTTON