the starting line

I leave tomorrow.  Technically later today, and of course I can't sleep. I never can before a big trip, and as far as big trips, this ranks up there. I have all the essentials: wine key, and wedding dress, and the plan will be wear one and use the other. I know I am approaching this as a get away, and as a start of a new life. 

My last day at work was yesterday, and all those things you ever want to say table side, boy did it feel good to say. 
myself: "Hi how are you today?"
guest: "We're ready to order"
myself: "ok, we're going to play a call and response, I'm going to say how are you today, and you're going to say I am fine-then I say wonderful, offer beverages and when I have greeted the rest of my tables I will return to place your order"

 That was it, just that one day of brunch and  I left out the same back door I've been coming into for the past 2 and a half years. And that last shift was a doozy.

NO SMILE, NO TIP :)

Someone actually left that on a check yesterday. Keep in mind , I was actually not the person who spent the majority with the table, I had a 13 top outside and an 11 top in the dining room so I was a bit occupied. ON TOP of that I spent most of my time answering crazy questions they had. "What kind of salmon do you have, is it wild or farm raised, how long do you smoke it for, what kind of salt do you use?"

Listen to me. Brunch is hard. Brunch is hard on anyone who works it, and anyone who wants it, if you work it there are a few known facts. 1. You never have enough coffee. ever ever ever. You brew regular in the decaf but you still don't have enough. 2. You run out of everything: no, I'm sorry we don't have any more biscuits/jam/sausage/burgers/homefries. and 3. People who order brunch are either too hung over from the night before or are really hungry or are too lazy to cook eggs themselves. So take all those hungry, hungover lazy people and you put them all in the same room, and you ask them 3 times if they want anything with their coffee like cream or sugar and after the third time they've grumbled "no" at you, you walk away. Then then flag you down to say "uh, can I have cream?". That's brunch.

And it doesn't end! You bring coffee and make decaf cappuccinos (oh, you want air that doesn't taste like anything or do anything for you? coming right up.) and then you run around looking for more maple syrup and then someone asks for xtra hollandaise, and then someone asks for less hollandaise, and then someone says "instead of ham can I have canadian bacon?" and you say "of course", through gritted teeth even though you know you're going to bring them the ham it already has and they won't know the difference, and then you look down at your watch and it's 11 am. You feel like you've been there all day but truth is an hour and a half has gone by and you're already exhausted.

So, I will take my wine key to Italy tomorrow and as each bottle opens I will remember not only to be grateful for things, like the most amazing man I am about to marry, and the mother I will be vacationing with in Florence, but that as of yesterday, I don't have to work brunch.