still feelin' really good about everything :D in Not-So-Hum-Dingers

Hi friends!

Life has been going along beautifully for this dude, I must say. I have been the most reliable employee at the restaurant, and the sad-stoner-really-bad-cook is finally gone!

You see, last Thursday was the last day that she worked, and she was quite obviously inebriated in the morning (she had the stink of alcohol wafting off of her right from the get-go). She had a lot of trouble keeping up with the orders coming in and Laurie was too busy to do much other than cook and work (essentially) alone. When Meredith finally made my salad (I got up here with my food and sat with Sezzie and Ashley at 11:45 AM!), the veggie burger she smushed into the lettuce was still cold and squishy, so I ate the pasta fagioli soup that Barb made the night before along with the cup of pea soup that I couldn’t finish from the day before that and had a very unsatisfying lunch.

I went back down to work for 12 noon (since I didn’t have much eating to do anyway) and I informed Laurie about the disgusting-ness of my lunch. Laurie said something to Meredith and Meredith’s response was a red-eyed, “But I microwaved it for a minute…” That’s the first step, but then you’re supposed to throw it on the griddle and brown it up and get it nice and hot rather than have it cold and smeared onto some lettuce like a really weird toothpaste. I was justifiably pissed, and I didn’t hide it, but I just got back to work.

Laurie sent Meredith on her break and she came back a half-hour later all kinds of messed up. The rest of the afternoon was a fiasco that had Meredith seeming to have every item in the kitchen strewn about the cooking area and her slumping around like a panicked zombie. It was really unsettling and one of the most unpleasant work days I’ve ever had, but thankfully I kept kicking ass at my work.

That was the last day that I saw Meredith. I don’t know if she showed up to work last weekend, but I assume that she didn’t because when I went in on Monday she wasn’t there and she wasn’t there Tuesday, either. I finally asked Barb yesterday if Meredith was finally fired and she said, “Yes, and isn’t it about time!”

I was obviously relieved, both for myself and not having to endure another horribly-prepared lunch, but also for Barb, Russ, and Laurie who have to handle people like that all too often. I’m just so giddy to be rid of her.

Today was awesome. I worked with Laurie (whom I now call “Woogie” because that’s what Ashley calls her), Brianna (who was just a waitress but is now the helper-cook), Raquel, and Talia. I love working with a whole bunch of rockin’ females. I got a salad with a veggie burger (because I have faith in Brianna, and I know Woogie wouldn’t let anything lame happen again) and it came out absolutely perfectly. My work-life has finally come back to being absolutely-awesome-nothing-to-complain-about. Woogie told me that I am the hardest worker there, and that I’m consistently very good at what I do, and that made me feel pretty damn good. She said I was the only one who really cared about the role I play there, and I told her that’s because I was raised by my mom and dad who have both been working hard for their entire lives.

I love that all I have to do is keep doing what I’m doing, and that’ll keep everybody good and happy.

I’m amazed that it’s already Thursday night. And that in less than a month we’ll be down in Oz for a good, long holiday vacation.

Life rules when it makes every deep breath feel amazing.