It's Such a Bonus to Love Your Job

They gave me my new uniform at work today...I think I look pretty good in it . I'm not too far from being a "Little blue haired Lady" anyhow.

It is so nice to laugh at work again. Being a server is nothing but sales and marketing and I am lucky to be marketing an excellent product.

Case in point: Tonight we had a party of 11 for the Dad's 88th birthday. He shuffled out into the hall on his walker and told me that he didn't care who tried to pay...HE WANTED TO! He said not to give anyone else the bill, he intended to pay the entire bill and leave us a 20% tip. That sealed the deal for me..."Let's get this party started!"

The birthday boy was sharp as a tack. He used a walker to get around but his mind was running full throttle. Before dinner he said he wanted to make a little speech and began "Four score and seven years ago I was brought forth into this world..." The whole room cracked up.

Then he opened his cards and began to read them aloud. "Dear Dad, you were a horrible father and made me grow up without loving me one bit."

Laughter broke out again.

The Dad and his wife were locals, the kids had come in from as far away as Alaska and California, bringing spouses and grand kids. As he was reading the last card I prompted him to hurry telling him the stripper would be there in five minutes. His wife, who is 21 years younger than him (smart man) told me to go easy... remember he's 88!

I quickly said "No worries, we booked Betty White."

They all raved about the food.

The birthday boy had the "Leonardo Cannelloni" a dish that the owner Len created . We make our own crepes in house and this particular one is filled with freshly ground chicken breast and Gorgonzola cheese topped with apples, walnuts and a brandy cream sauce. It is off the chain and different from anything you have ever tasted.

Sometimes I get a little burned out when I work shift after shift after shift. It's my fault, I am famous for picking up shifts from other servers but in my world, if you don't work you don't get paid.

The great thing is that I laugh so much at work that I almost feel guilty walking out the door with money too. Since there are no worries about "Corporate" and worries about being fired, they encourage you to be yourself as long as you do a good job. They let me be myself (the funniest person on the planet) and often laugh along with me.

Saturday night I was having some more fun with one of the newer servers. Every new server is terrified of Barb. I was when I first started, and I had known her for 13 years!

She rules the restaurant with an iron fist and I think sometimes Len is just as scared as us. She actually has a tremendously huge heart and just terrifies us to keep us on our toes. We servers could all try out for the Atlanta Ballet as toe dancers and probably make at least the first two cuts at audition.

My new favorite game is to go up to one of the newbies, let's call her Sybil... and say "Sybil, Barb is looking for you.' The panic stricken look on her face makes me laugh every time! After a few rounds of the game, she started to just say "Yeah, yeah...whatever."

You know me...I stepped it up a notch. I found Barb and told her about the game I was playing and asked her to join in. I said to go find Sybil and say "Did Kelly not tell you I was looking for you?"

That made us all laugh for another hour.

Once the night begins to wind down we are handed slips of paper when we are cut to tell us what our closing duties will be. Every one had theirs but Sybil, she was still rattled by our game and hers was sitting on the end of the service bar. Another server who is just as funny as me (great minds think alike) got a pen and at the end of Sybil's side work list wrote "See Barb."

It was slow in the restaurant by this time. That meant one thing..."Kick it up a notch!"

Sybil was still flustered (her FORTE) and had not picked up her slip from the service bar yet. I got a pen and added to her side work "Sexual favors for all male employees, just keep your eyes shut."

We were all laughing even harder now and a couple of the regulars at the bar were aware of our high jinks. One of the male servers even went up to Sybil and said "I'm gonna need you to get started on your side work."

Sybil was just so relieved to find out the "See Barb" was a joke that the rest didn't even matter to her. She is such a sweet girl and takes my kidding in just the way it is intended. If I don't like you, I don't kid around with you. The more I love you, the more I kid with you.

I love Sybil A LOT!

I love my job A LOT!

I've only been there a little over a year. I was at my last job for over thirteen years. I plan on keeping this job a lot longer. Think how funny I will be by the time they come to roll me out of the restaurant on a gurney when I am 88!

Til next time...come catch my act, I usually do nine or ten shows a week. I only give autographs on Sundays after the matinee performance.

CLOWN COTTON from COWETA COUNTY