Life of the Bored and Taskless.

Friday, May 26, 2006

I never thought I would say this...
I'm a waitress now.

As much as I've tried to avoid taking on the family "business" (no, not the semi-profitable one), I've managed to slide right into the apron, only to don it most of the week during lunchtime. As uninspired I am by the concept (and as unmotivated as I am for the most part), I've actually been quite the worker. My OCD-esque habits have really aided in making time fly (am I having fun?), and I've turned into quite the Jacquie-of-all-trades. I wash dishes, waitress, bus tables, get drinks at times, and soon, Tod will be teaching me some prep techniques and I'll improve my (BIGG)KNIFE SKILLZ!

Working during the day is actually an enjoyable experience. Tod, who I've already mentioned, is the comic relief. Although my mom labelled him an "arrogant bastard" (that was actually a composite), he's good people. If you're generally pleasant to people, and unless they have a core of pure molten evil, they'll return the sentiment. I've probably found out more about the people who work there than my mother has, and she's been working there for months.

In fact, Tom, the...uh...ok, I'm not sure what he does exactly (he's like a manager) used to, and I believe still does, sing and play guitar in a heavy metal band. This guy isn't the typical metalhead. He's a perfectionist (a similarity we share), and is quite mild-mannered in the kitchen. He's kind of short, and does NOT have the big-boned, metal hair (metallic hair?) thing going on. His band, Misbehavin' (sp?) has opened for Blue Oyster Cult (to which I replied, "NO FREAKING WAY!), KISS, and a couple others. Not too shabby. In an MTV Contest (think early 90's), they came in 2nd place. The contest...win a chance to play for Cindy Crawford at the MTV Beach House. Tom made sure they would have a professional video made in order to be more...well, professional. Of course, he could be lying, but that's a fairly elaborate story and I'm not THAT gullible...

So basically, it's Tom, Tod and I plus a bartender (not my mom, thankfully) during the day.

Yesterday, however, I worked a double shift. Let me just...tell you...*dies*. I've never worked that hard in my life. Granted, I'm usually not a hard worker. But I can officially say that (drumroll)....I've busted my ass. It's one thing to work with a couple of guys, but it's a completely different ball game when there are 2 waitresses, a waiter, a hostess, and they all pretty much don't like you (that's the impression that I get).

Jenny, who I met when I bussed there once before, acted as if she's never seen me in her life. Kim, with whom I trained, is kind of new, and apparently is not yet jaded by other people. She was nice. Noel, one of the manager's sons, well, same thing. The hostess, Laura, was lukewarm. It was as if I didn't matter at all (technically speaking, I didn't. I was only training), which is one of the reasons why I felt the need to go to a small college. I can't stand to feel like an incredibly insignificant cog in a machine. Tom automatically repeated "You're doing fine" whenever he detected some sort of confusion or anxiousness in my expression.
Well, at least the customers liked me...I think...*sigh*, I mean, *smile*

In a little while, I'll head out to work a day shift again. A nice, comfortable day shift. After last night, washing dishes is a joyous proposition.

To everyone out there, enjoy your day, and I'll take the damage whenever you're ready.
Oh, and would you like some dess-no, the check. Ok, that's fine. I'll bring it right away.
Have a nice...forget it.

Thanks!
~ Jacquie (yes, that's really how I spell my name)

8:49 AM | Jacquie | 0 comments

Saturday, May 20, 2006

It's one of those rare occasions; I have a lot to write (type, rather) about and decent time for which to do such a thing. I'll do a little rewind back to last Friday.

"DAMN GOOD TIMES!"
I saw They Might Be Giants last week at the TLA with my good friends Zach, Marina, and Clint. Due to poor planning (on my part), we had to leave early, however, it was quite fantastic up to that dreaded point. Picture this: we were about 5 people away (think rows) from the stage. Meaning, I could see even see the wrinkles under John Linnell's eyes (they were lovely, by the way). Minus the obnoxious high school volleyball twits behind us, the concert was great. They played a lot of songs I knew plus many that I, as well as many, did not know, which only made me want to listen to more material by them (it did not have the usual isolating effect). In fact, I purchased one of their latest CD's and I'm listening to one of their Podcasts right now; weird, wild, scrumptious stuff. Experiencing live music is just one of those things which can never fully be explained and my inferior writing will never do it justice. I treasure my TMBG foam finger and will hopefully don it again in the near future.
P.S. The opening acts were surprisingly good. A shock, I know. A sincere guy with a ukelele and a band that performed songlets about Mr. T. I had a warm fuzzy feeling throughout the pre-TMBG goodness.

"I GUESS EVIL DOES DIE..."
Fans of the ol' LOTBAT, I have some unfortunate news. Botulism, my beloved Polish great-grandmother, at whom we have had many a great laugh, passed away on Mother's Day. Dying and being born on holidays is, in fact, a family tradition, so I'm glad she at least respected the pattern. Pour moi, the funeral was a distant event. The only times in which I felt any sort of grief were when I thought about my uncle's funeral. This sounds rather harsh, but I believe I've gone over her various plesantries (intolerances) in the past, so it's old news by now. Anyway, I ended up doing a reading (my new thing is impulsive volunteering), and tried my best to be a sincere Catholic despite my true feelings. Anything for Botch. I wish I could find my copy of the passage, it was quite a doozie. Something about when we die, we are dying for Lord, and when we live, we live for the Lord. I said "the God" instead of "God" at one point, but apparently people were so enamored by my incredible speaking technique (I studied the dynamics between Scott and Tracey Baker for years) that they didn't remember whenever I instinctively brought it up as a response to compliments. Oh, and I also almost tripped down the altar steps. Go me. The day wrapped up with a wine and dine of sorts; we ate at a catering place ("The Chateau," pinkies up) then went home and my mom and grandmom drank wine, like they do.

WHAT'S WITH THE COMPLIMENTS?
On Thursday night, I went contra dancing at Glenside with Clint, Brittany and Bridget. It was the usual crowd, but for some reason, I was in the right element. I kept getting compliments about my dancing which has probably...yeah, never happened(i.e. "She's a really great dancer", "Do you do other types of dancing...oh, ballet (a whiiiile ago), must have paid off!"). I'm highly uncoordinated (see last passage) and for the most part lack grace. I guess I was doing something right. However, the one guy who kept winking at me was a tad bizarre...Brittany and Bridget took very well to Bruce, the resident transvestite, and everyone had a jolly good time. I ended up being too tired to drive (I'm not exaggerating; I started mumbling about Kennedy, the quirky MTV VJ from the 90's) so Brittany courageously commanded my minty fresh (222,000 miles fresh) Blazer.

SPEAKING OF WEIRDNESS...
Last night (at 12:06, more specifically), I received the most unusual text message ever. Ahem...
"Im (sic) going to be at the house naked waiting for you ok"
Needless to say, I sent a message back and called (Dan's suggestion), however, Mr. or Ms. Nekkid never got back to me, and was not receiving phone calls. I was kind of dissapointed; I was looking forward to Shirtless (and Pantless) O'Clock. Weeeeeeird...

Well, on that (very odd) note, this Blogcast will conclude.
"Goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow."

11:21 AM | Jacquie | 0 comments

Monday, May 01, 2006

Rabbit rabbit!

Well, now that I got that out of the way, I can continue blogging without having the fear that something bad will happen on this site in May. Not actually happen, mind you (the phrase was not the first thing I said today), but I figured that I should still do it in the blog-o-sphere.

Right now, this blog is the perfect vehicle for procrastination. Hm, what to talk about...ah, yes. This morning I gave a tour to approximately 15 8th graders. Can I just say one thi-HOLY CRAP, I WOULD NEVER WANT TO BE A MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER. EVER. *exhale* Some of the kids were not that bad (the girls), and some were (one kid quacked the entire time). I even tried to let them have a little fun; I took them to the field house and let them race on the indoor track. When we sat down near the library, one hustler kid (I think he was selling drugs? He should have given me some.) started to complain about the ants, I told him that I did not think the ants were the problem in this situation.

Now that the tour from Hades has completed, I have studying for stat to look forward to. Yeeeeeeeah...

I think I just have to keep telling myself "They Might Be Giants in 11 days" and "3 more days of school" and I'll be alright.