Why I Was Fired

So, okay. Here it is, the details of The Firing (for those who I either don't know in RL, or haven't seen in ages). And for those of you who have already heard the story, I apologize, hopefully I'll be able to spice it up with some crazy metaphors and a flying nun or two.

It was a relatively slow Friday night at the good ol' Restaurant and a table of 3 women (very Southern, very made-up, very middle-aged but playing the Kim Cattrall card)walks in and says that 11 others will be joining them later for a surprise birthday party. They have balloons, they have cakes, they are obnoxious. They bully the hostesses into getting two specific tables which are from two different sections (mine and another waiter's), so in order to be fair, the other waiter and I decide to split the table between us and share the tip. Insert first flying nun.

An 90 minutes go by, and by now only 2 more have come in and together they've racked up a bar tab of just under $100. The Other Waiter and I smile - at this rate or grat. tip will be huge. Throw in another flying nun. 30 minutes later the birthday girl and her husband show up and they tell us that that's it, no more people, topping it off at 7. Other wiater and i are now a bit miffed to say the least. With only 7 people we can't grat. and it makes taking tables out of each of our sections completely pointless, and so we lose money because of that, too. But whatev. It's a slow night anyway, we think, and the way these people are going, we might still make it out alright. They've been nice to us, chatting, making jokes. Generally a good atmosphere.

The table has been there for nearly three hours and we're about to close. They are drunk. Belligerent, millitant drunk (which, to be fair, shouldn't have happened. Other Waiter and I should have kept more of an eye on this). And they fight with us over the bill and don't apologize when they find out that we (the waiters) were in fact right. They hang around the table for a while longer and while clearing off some plates, Other Waiter sees the tip amount. Less than 10%. And that's between the two of us. Fuming, she comes to find me over at the bar and tells me and the two of us start laughing at the absurdity of the entire situation; a few nasty remarks were exchanged, the term "drunk bitches" may have been used. You may be able to see where this is going.....

We turn around and realize the Birthday girl's husband is sitting at the bar. Fuck. Us. Other Waiter and I run into the kitchen to hide, Birthday comes and actually tries to fight us, negotiations between her and the manager ensue, Other Waiter and I are fired.

We knew what we did was wrong, but the thing that made it bad was that we were the Good Girls, the ones the managers loved, the ones who never did anything wrong. And this has happened to a few other servers and they'd not been fired. Basically, we were being made examples of. Which blows.

What helps is when your manager calls you when you get home from being fired and tells you to come back and get your job back in a couple weeks. What makes it even better is when they call you and ask you to come back sooner.

And that's it, that's the story. Hope you enjoyed it. I could have peppered it with a few more flying nuns and maybe even thrown in a velociraptor for good measure, but I'm a little tired.

Burn, baby, burn

Every time I deliver a hot plate (lasagna, baked ravioli, chicken guadalupe, etc.) to a table with a baby in a sling at it, I think about what would happen if I accidentally tipped the plate of sizzling food onto the skin of the giggling little cherub. In a completely non-malicious way that has nothing to do with my aversion toward children.

I can see it all happening, the angle of the plate as I reach across the table, the widening eyes of the patrons as they see the 10-layer lasagna about to fall, the cry -oh, the cry- of the scalded infant. Jaws fall open, plates drop, onlookers turn their heads.

I think about it every. time.

Cracking open come windows

Every once in a great while that manner of posts is written that blemishes the face of this blog with doses of depressed maunderings and existential angst. That's right. The emo!post is back, so avert you eyes, ye who are easily annoyed.

I can say that at this moment I'm thoroughly disliking living in these apartments with so many other theatre majors, despite the fact that I normally relish the arrangement. Maybe it's that there are so many more of us than normal this year, and so many more of us over 21, which leads to more alcohol, which leads to more parties, which leads to more crazy and often awkward situations that could otherwise be avoided. I've had a blast, but now that I'm on the not-so-nice end of it, I'm changing my tune. I might just need to get away for a while. We are all so much a part of eachothers' lives that it can sometimes be stifling; the fact that we all know every single thing that happens with eachother the very minute that it happens can be intimidating. And frustrating. It's odd that I'm just now realizing it.

This semester has been a bit.....interesting for me, and I've learned some things about me, about other people, etc., and there's one big detail that won't even be shared here because it's just that much of A Big Deal. And that thing is good, so I suppose I'll keep it secret. Excuse me for being vague in those last couple sentences; I woke up this morning and decided I'd like to be cryptic.

I haven't gotten too personal here or on the good ol' Livejournal in a while. I wonder why that is. I need to get back to writing, it makes me feel good. Anyway, I'm just sending this all out into the void. So, have a good afternoon, dear void*; it's a nice day out, I'm going to go try and feel better.

*Yes, blatant reference to "You've Got Mail." It felt right, considering some other things.....

Book 7 wish list

I was laying in bed the other night and I couldn’t go to sleep because I was thinking about Harry Potter. Again. Not the person, but the series. There are times when I’ll be sitting, just staring off into space and suddenly I’ll shiver with excitement; if you ever see me do this, it means I was thinking about Book 7.

A British tabloid published a story not too long ago (which turned out to be false)in which J.K. Rowling stated that she’d written 750 pages of the final book and was about half way done. Personally, I’d be fine with a 1500 page Potter, as long as it was well written and I had something soft to rest it on. And that got me to thinking what I’d like to see in it.

Harry Potter and the End of the Whole Damn Mess, a wish list of sorts

**Warning to all who haven’t read all 6: here be spoilers!!!!**

1.) Voldemort’s defeat. I know this may seem obvious, but I’m writing it nonetheless. And I want it big. Explosions, deaths, hippogriffs, hexes. Think Jerry Bruskheimer. And edge of seat nail biting is always a good thing. And in the Final Battle I want the students fighting. They’ve earned it and they’re capable at this point. And if they aren’t, then that’ll make it all the more interesting. (note that this does not mean the return of OotP's CAPSLOCK!Harry)

2.) Not one of the Trio to die. In interview, JKR has ruled out Ron’s death, and I am therefore suspicious of Hermione. Now, while the idea of Emma Watson’s Hermione being killed off does put me in a fit of giggles and a satisfied grin on my face, I want canon Hermione to live. I relate most to her, and she’s part of the reason I read. Now, if one of them appears to be dead for a while, that’s a different story. And I think it might be interesting. erefore suspicious of Hermione. Now, while the idea of Emma Watson’s Hermione being killed off does put me in a fit of giggles and a satisfied grin on my face, I want canon Hermione to live. I relate most to her, and she’s part of the reason I read. Now, if one of them appears to be dead for a while, that’s a different story. And I think it might be interesting.

3.) Snape, Snape and lots of Snape. He’s my favorite character, and besides that, I think he deserves it, and the story needs it at this point. I’ll divide this into sub-categories:
A.) That we get clear and unequivocal knowledge as to Snape's ultimate loyalties (or indeed, lack of them). He does not have to be aligned either way for me, just so long as all ambiguity is at an end. That said, once we know, I'd like to know "why" for whatever. I do not particularly want a watertight backstory, but a set of key drivers to explain him might be nifty. I might sulk quite petulantly for about fifteen minutes if there should be a sentence towards the end, that says, "Harry realized there were so many things he would never understand about Snape." That's a headdesker.
B.) If Snape is supposed to be "good" then I want that pesky Emmeline Vance issue ironed out. If he did connive at/aid her murder then he is NOT good and cannot possibly be defined as such. He may still be playing for the side of the angels, but he's just not good. Sorry. It's more than possible that he is committed to he cause of the Order of the Phoenix for entirely nasty and selfish reasons. The world is NOT divided into nice people and Death Eaters, after all.
C.) I'd like Snape's death (assuming it happens, and I believe it will) to occur near the end, and be hugely crashy bangy.
D.) Snape and Lily. Either he was in love with her, or they were friends. I have a theory about it being her handwriting in that copy of “Advanced Potions Making” (remember Hermione did say she thought it looked like a girl’s and they should all be able to recognize Snapes’s by now. Not to mention Slughorn’s comments a bout how adept she was at potions). Lily and Snape could have been study partners.
E.) Why the fuck did Dumbledore trust him? And why did he turn away from Voldemort, if that is indeed what he really did. What did he do that made Dumbledore accept him back?


And for the record, I think Snape will turn out evil. Or if not evil, then just working for himself. This theory is not necessarily just based on canon, but more on what JKR has said in interviews over the years. But I still hope I’m wrong.

4.) Ideally, nail the Manipulative!Dumbledore as absolute crap. And he’s dead. And not coming back.

5.) A HUGE surprise, not necessarily at the end, but somewhere. I remember reading Books 1-3 and being completely thrown off kilter by events and characters at the end. 4 and 5 were fine, but I liked the big bang that came back during parts of 6, particularly toward the end. I know that in 7 JKR will be doing a lot of tying up of loose ends, but I’d still like for something to come and take me completely by surprise. Something that will leave me in the fan girl-ish state of OMG OMG OMFG, WTF !!!!!?!??!1111!

6.) Pettigrew. I want to know what he’s been doing, and if his life debt to Harry is going to come into play.

7.) Not so much shipping. I’m through with that after the veritable ship-fest that was HBP. Fine, yes, everyone is together, but I want the romance to be over and get back to the mystery, action and inner-torment of teen angst (though that is not to say that I want Emo!Harry back).

8.) That Harry should not die. I think if he did, it would be the easy way out. Everyone expects it, and I want something different. In this same vein, I don’t want Harry to be a Horcrux. Beside the fact that I have doubts as to according to the way a Horcrux works functions and Harry’s ability to defeat Voldemort if he was one, I think this would be going for the most obvious out.

9.) All the business with Aunt Petunia to be ironed out. "Remember my last" and all of that.

10.) Details on Harry’s parents, esp. Lily. JKR has stressed the importance of Harry’s eyes so many times, both in canon and in interviews. Maybe we’ll finally get some info. And Godric’s Hollow on The Night It All Happened. I think there’s more to it than what we know so far. And why did Lily end up with James if he were such an obnoxious prat?

11.) Death, lots of it (other than those already specified, of course). It’s inevitable, really. I think Lupin will live, so as to keep one Marauder still alive (and therefore Tonks will probably live, too). Same for Hagrid - JKR likes him too much. One (at least) of the Weaselys is a goner, my bet goes to one of the twins. I’m thinking lots of student death, and as far as faculty goes: Flitwick.

13.) That “triumphant look” in Dumbledore’s eyes when he realizes Voldemort can touch Harry. What’s that about? JKR says it’s important.

14.) A riveting read. I don’t think I’ll be disappointed with this.


And on a related note, that same British tabloid recently published pictures of JKR’s pooching tummy and reports that she’s been to the gyno several times recently. Assumption: preggers. This would make baby #4 for her. So apparently her marriage is a lot better than the last. And you know what that means:

It’ll take longer for Book 7 to be finished.

Selfish cow.