Not that I am complaining...just whining a little. After all I am fifty, have a bad knee and carpal tunnel. Not to mention a back that aches on a daily basis and yesterday I weed eated the front of the subdivision before going into work and feel like someone tore my right shoulder out of it's socket from slinging that weed eater around for a hour and a half before going into work for the tenth day in a row.
I am going to have to remind the owner's that I am NOT a "Guillaume." That is their last name but I swear they work like they were all raised in a concentration camp in Germany or a diamond field in the Congo. Seven days a week they are there. The husband puts in at the minimum ninety hours a week. The wife is a close second but even when she isn't there we know she pulls all the tickets and audits us like she is checking for a "spy" or someone who is costing her a quarter.
That's the way you HAVE to be when running a business, especially in this economy. It took me a while to win the wife over, she's a hard sell but seems to genuinely love me now and it's a daily banter back and forth. She rags on her husband and I cheerfully agree until he walks by. Then I am all about pumping him up.
When you own a business and spend more time there than you do your own home, it's a conundrum.
You can be every one's friend or you can take care of your business.
They take care of their business and I highly respect them for their devotion and for the way they can scream at each other in times of stress and demand, but at the same time act as one working for the same goal...success.
They feed me and love me. They treat me like family (I am going to have to remind them I'm not blood related) and have given me the chance to help my family make it through this time in our lives. I like to call it "this time" instead of "The biggest hell I have ever been through."
If I hadn't gotten this job my family would be living under a bridge by Turner Field. They have helped me out time and time again in the short time I have worked for them and I have more respect for them than any other employer I have ever worked for.
I have been working since I was 14 years old. I have always been an honest person . I have always been a hard working person. I have always been a person that wears my heart on my sleeve. Sometimes it comes back to bite me in the butt .
I am also a believer in Karma. What goes around comes aorund.
These people, this family... gave me a chance when my former employers told me I was a liabilty, a risk... a person that they didn't want to employ any longer.
Even after working all these days in a row...it is a pleasure to get up scrambling running late and fatigued to go into a job that appreciates me.
I left work tonight after a 12 hour shift.
I was driving down the road and saw a star streaking across the sky. I closed my eyes and made a wish.
Before I even opened my eyes my wish came true.
I am in a place that loves me. I am in a place that cares about not only me but my entire family. I am in a place where I can be myself and be appreciated for being a hard worker. I have found a place that I can call home and a place that I FEEL at home.
It's a wonderful feeling to wake up and not think "This is day ten" but think "Thank God I landed here."
If you are ever on the south side of Atlanta...come into "Mama Lucia's" for the best Italian food and the feeling of knowing you are wanted and appreciated.
A shout out to the owner's...you are amazing. You are crazy, but I still wonder how you do it?
You have been MY shooting star...you have been my saving salvation. More than that, you are hands down the best restaurant I have ever worked for .
Now I am also lucky enough to say I work for "Ya'll."
Til next time...COTTON
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