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private | unhackable:
written: 12/28
It's been my third Christmas here, my third New Years Eve. I know it's a little bit soon to be looking that far ahead, but July will be my third year here, and that's the longest that I've spent in one place since we moved from Odessa. Not for lack of trying, but that doesn't change fact. It's almost weird to think that someplace that isn't actually my home has been more of a consistent home than someplace that's supposed to be. But when I start thinking about that, it's easy to start thinking about what's actually going on back there, and not just with the whole heroes vs. villains thing. More like the Mom and Dad getting divorced thing, the Nathan being gone thing. The Meredith being gone thing.
You're supposed to have resolutions when New Years comes around, and last year I did have some. I can't even remember without looking back at the entry what they were. Something about running, and delivering coffee. I think I've at least held up those two ends of the bargain, even if what I've been doing is technically a little bit different, especially with Mindy. It's strange to think how much can change over the course of a year, has changed, how much I've changed. How different I am from when I got here two-and-a-half years ago.
Change is supposed to be good - at least that's what people say - and for someone who's not going to be changing very much over the next infinite number of years (probably), it is good, but for as much as things change, I can't really help but stop and wonder how long things are going to stay the way they are, how long it's going to be before they change again. Maybe when you get used to being static yourself, you get the expectation that everything around you will stay static, too. But I know it doesn't work that way, and I should know better. Like I said, just looking back over the course of the year has proved that much.
There have been bad changes and good changes, just like there always are with this place. Or any place. People who showed up and people who left. People who came and people who went. People who... brought vegetables and left without. Last year around Thanksgiving, everyone was disappearing. Two years before that, Dad was here and disappearing. Last year around Christmastime, Peter was here, and now he's gone. Rosella has a point in saying that it's worth it to learn to remember people without missing them. I used to miss people so much that sometimes it hurt to breathe, but now I think I'm okay with just remembering and knowing, or at least believing, that the majority of us will find each other again, somehow. Even if it means putting in a Star Wars DVD.
So that's my New Years Resolution in a roundabout way, as cheesy as it might sound. Be happy. After three years of hell here and at home, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I've got some kind of right to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop or for a scale to somehow balance.
J'aurai aime, right? Or something along those lines.
written 12/30:
Resolution shaken but still valiantly pressing on.
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private to Ginny | unhackable:
So are we still broken up or what?
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I've been waiting tables at The Blue Light for a year now. That's a pretty long time, considering the jobs that I had before that never really worked out or lasted as long as I would've liked them to. I know serving isn't exactly the dream job, but in a place like this it actually works out. Most of the people that come in are great, we've got lots of regulars (easy when we're all stuck here), and save for awkward curses that make me want to bleach the inside of my mouth, the management staff is pretty good, too. However, there are certain individuals whose names I can't repeat despite really wanting to so I can get them blacklisted by every server in the City who apparently have proved to me that everyone in every world needs a little bit of education on what being a good customer means. So let me tell you.
01. Did you know that waitresses don't make minimum wage? I don't even know what minimum wage is supposed to be here, but we don't make it. That's why tipping is important. It's not like we're making money on top of money, you know. And waiting tables is a lot harder than you probably think it is. I mean, it's not brain surgery, but it's not like we just sit around doing nothing.
02. Usually, people will tell you that 15% of your total bill is a good tip. Sure. Okay. That's technically fine. But 15% is just if the service wasn't bad but wasn't very good either. Really, you should be tipping 20% at the bare minimum, and it should just go up from there. Set 25% as your bare minimum, actually. It's the holidays! If you tip under 15% then you're a jerk. If you tip 10% then you're really a jerk. If you don't tip at all, then you've obviously been going around collecting souls because you're Satan.a. Sometimes you don't have enough money left over after paying your bill to leave a tip. There's a logical solution to this, though: don't go out if you don't have the money.
03. When your server is busy with other tables, don't hassle them for not getting your refill right away. She's trying, okay? Or he's trying. The same goes for the bartenders even Amory. Don't start docking percentages every time someone doesn't answer to you snapping your fingers or yelling 'Hey, can I get a little service over here?' That's not to say some of us aren't ignoring you on purpose, but... well, that's beside the point. The point is you haven't been forgotten.
04. Don't table camp. If you're going to table camp, make sure you make up for it by tipping really well. Actually, you should just tip really well no matter what. That's the moral of the story.
05. Be nice. Seriously, there's no reason for rudeness. Especially when we're all being as nice as we can be to you. So you tip us.
This post brought to you by the Satan guy who didn't tip me after taking up my table for four hours. I don't know who you are or where you went, but I'm going to find you.
And just so I'm not completely raining on any holiday parades... Thanks so much again for the gifts on Christmas, if I haven't gotten a chance to say so personally. I really hope everyone had a good holiday, and hopefully New Years Eve goes off without a hitch. Around here that's probably just asking to jinx it, but I'm choosing to believe that it'll work because it's genuine. Good intentions always pay off, right?
[ooc: apologies for general slow/dropped things. I've had a long, long drive and have to leave for work shortly ;_;]