There's this crispness in the air signaling my favorite time of year. It's the crunching of leaves and the turn of the colors. It's the cool breeze and the perfect "sweatshirt" weather.

It takes me back to all those nights laying out, looking up the stars, and wondering what I will be doing and where I will be and what was I meant to do in this life.

We spend a lifetime trying to figure out what our purpose is here. Some people never figure out.

When it's all said and done, you may still never figure out what that purpose was, but you should be able to look back and say you had a good life and the road along the way was fun.

Two days ago, I turned 23. I never would have thought that I would be where I am right now. We have these plans and ideals of ourselves but they can change so quickly.

I really can't complain about anything right now. I'm surrounded by people who love and support me and who won't judge me.

But it doesn't make it less frustrating. I feel like I'm stuck here, and if it doesn't change soon, I'm afraid I'll be here forever.

Here's to hoping it's not.

RGPG

I think everyone should be a server at some point of their lives. It certainly tests your patience. If people really understood what servers go through just so that you can have a  fine dining experience, people would always be courteous if anything at all.

There is no reason to be rude.

There is also no reason to NOT tip. Because, you could just eat at your house. When you dine out at a restaurant, it is a chance to sit back, relax, enjoy the time with friends...of course, the food is mandatory. You have to pay for it. Well, I guess you don't have to, since all three of us tonight had walk outs at some point during the night. Mine ended up being $30, but some had greater walk out tabs than that. If you don't pay, you better believe that we remember who you are, and next time (if we decide to let you in)..actually scratch that. There won't be a next time. You can just turn around now, (cuz you're not welcome anymore) as Gloria Gaynor would say, because we will let you rot and sit there until you decide to walk out. Some people don't realize that we are NOT making minimum wage. The minimum in the state of Tennessee is...$7 something. We make $2.13.
We rely solely on your tips. I still ended up doing fine tip wise at the end of the night despite my walk out, but just think...that could have been a little extra revenue.

And I don't want to stereotype. But I'm sure you all know that there are certain groups of people that don't tip at all. I had a customer that wanted his 20 cents back. REALLY? And the way they say, "Here honey, keep the change." Thanks for the penny, asshole.

I was supposed to be out of there at 9 p.m. Nine hours later, I'm finally home. We were a full house and then some.

Despite the walk out, it was a fairly drama-free shift (for me, anyways).  I had a guy who was there from 4:00-1300.  He just wanted to take in the crowd and have someone to talk to every now and then. He said he would be back. I had a table full of Union fraternity boys who certainly kept my night amusing. They were all doing karaoke, and when I cheered for one of them while they were singing, he yelled, "YEA! That's our waitress! She's awesome!" And before they left, one of them said that they hoped to have me as their server again the next time. One of them kept saying I was beautiful, but I told him it was just the alcohol talking. But it is nice to hear.

HAH.

So..moral of the lesson...tip your waiters/waitresses. And stop being so damn picky. AND TIP, damn it.

RGPG

We had a perfect weekend.
Salsa dancing on Friday.
Rodrigo y Gabriela concert on Saturday.
A lot of lazing around and just enjoying the moment.
Time just flies by when I'm with you.
It seems I never have enough.