Friday, April 15, 2005

Friday Feast

It's still Friday for another hour or so, and even though I'm absolutely stuffed from dinner, I'm going to submit my weekly Friday Feast! What yummies do we have today?

Appetizer: What Was Your First "Real" Job
I went out and got a "real" job on the first day I could legally work: my sixteenth birthday. I was hired to work in the dining room of a retirement center, and it was an experience I'll never forget. At the time, this particular facility was fairly new and somewhat upscale. But this didn't make the job any easier. In fact, we youngsters worked under an incredible amount of pressure, trying to seat, serve, bus and reset a meal at 5pm and again at 6pm.

Over the 18 months I worked there, I learned many important lessons:
  • You cannot seat, serve, bus and reset a meal in an hour. ESPECIALLY in a retirement center where it might take someone 15 minutes just to get themselves and their walkers in the door.
  • The people who take the longest to get themselves in the door are the ones who get the angriest when That bastard FRED from the second floor STOLE MY SEAT.
  • Everything is the waiters/waitresses' fault. From the illiterate cooks who cannot read meal slips to That bastard FRED from the second floor who STOLE MY SEAT.
  • Whiny behavior is not limited to pre-schoolers.
  • Some of the most interesting, caring and wonderful people you'll ever meet will be in their 70s, 80s, 90s and above.
But there were many important lessons I didn't learn until much later:
  • Life is more difficult and a bit sadder when a person is no longer able to enjoy the comfort and freedom of their own home, their own schedule and their own cooking, and the rest of us should cut them some slack.
  • No matter how annoying it can be to listen to whining and complaining, you'll always feel a hole in the pit of your stomach when that familiar face doesn't show up for dinner anymore. Even if it is That bastard FRED from the second floor.
  • We hid the weapons of mass destruction. That wasn't fruit cocktail in your jello.

Soup: Where would you go to spark your creativity?
Nowhere. Meaning, if I purposefully go someplace as if to say, "Ok, creativity. POOF! APPEAR! POOF! APPEAR!" Creativity is going to say, "Poof THIS, sucka." I think it's a lot better for creativity to come to me, and it usually comes when I am doing something mundane, like driving or walking or gardening or reading through a pile of music.


Salad: Complete this sentence, "I am embarrassed when..."
Geez, take your pick:
  • "In terms of timetables, as quickly as possible—whatever that means." (March, 16, 2005)
  • "This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table." (February 22, 2005)
  • "It's a time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of life." (December 21, 2004)
  • "Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat." (September 17, 2004)
  • "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYN's aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country." (September 6, 2004)

Main Course: What values did your parents instill in you?
There is no substitute for hard work, strong convictions, personal responsibility and a wicked sense of humor.


Dessert: Name Three Fads from your Teenage Years
I'm thinking if I have to ask my boyfriend about what might have been a fad when I was a teenager, it either wasn't faddish enough, or else (and more likely) I wasn't paying attention. Sadly, anything that was a fad back then has now come full circle and is cool, hip...and Retro! So I'm guessing this means low slung jeans, tunic shirts and long stringy hair. But you know, I didn't do it then and I don't do it now. Yuck.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I keep meaning to participate in Friday Feast as well, because it seems like so much fun, as memes go, but I never remember it until 2 AM on Saturday, at which time it's too late.

LOVE your answers to the embarrassment question, especially, and the rest in general.

Hope you're well.

Lora said...

I too worked in a "upscale" senior residence for a while and I absolutely love your commentary about it.

TVJ said...

First "real" job was a movie theatre (imagine that). Fad from my teen years? Hmmm. OP shorts? Wrap around pants? Embarrassment? Please, that's an endless list.

TVJ said...

First "real" job was a movie theatre (imagine that). Fad from my teen years? Hmmm. OP shorts? Wrap around pants? Embarrassment? Please, that's an endless list.

Anonymous said...

Oh, man, my boyfriend's been cheatin' on me? Hmm, if there's you, and there's me... I wonder how many more of us??

Anonymous said...

Hey your main course didn't include "LIFE ISN'T FAIR" - maybe they wore that one out on me :(
BSTuna