Not Complaining

Day #1 of living with my boyfriend. Ahh, the romance I'm looking forward to. It's early, I wake up to soft kisses on my cheek and a quick warm back rub. He leans in softly and whispers in my ear, "Happy year and a half Baby..." My eyes are still shut but I can't control the muscles in my face. My smile is now from ear to ear. I slowly turn towards him anxious for God knows (well, if he doesn't know then you sure do ;P)...then he looks at me with his bright eyes and with his gentle voice says...(wait for it...) "I'm gonna go work on schedules now, ok?"

Alright, so living with the man of your dreams isn't always movie-like, even at first. I take things the wrong way sometimes. Those who think they know me best feel as though the word "sensitive" is not in my vocabulary. I come off strong, sarcastic, pessimistic...and it's not that I do a complete 180 with Jeff, believe me, he's seen that side of me. However, since he's my significant, he gets to see the other side of me too, and, since you kids know me in a certain light, I won't elaborate on the other side so as not to confuse you and make you look around as though the world is crashing in on you and I've changed drastically, which I haven't. =) Back to my point, I ended up thinking I've made a huge mistake, this is it. This is what my friends warned me about, this is really what it's gonna be like, "romance" isn't in my dictionary anymore; it grew wings and there it goes! Out the window! BUT! Apparently I was making too big a deal of that in the morning because I stepped out to the living room to find Jeff was indeed working on schedules but had made me breakfast and coffee and said, "I'm gonna finish these as soon as I can so we can spend the day together, just me and you." I hate the way my emotions/mind can take over everything and all in a matter of five minutes. Ladies, is this just something we do to ourselves? Why do we make mountains outta molehills? Or is it just me?

To my family at the Downey Carinos (yes, that's what I think of you): I got a job. I work at this chic sushi restaurant in Oceanside called Harney's (www.harneysushi.com) and it's exactly 55 minutes on the 5 freeway so y'all have no reason to not come and visit me! Let me tell you about my first night of training. For starters (and I will post pictures as soon as I can), the outfits.

Carinos: non-slip shoes that are highly unattractive, Long sleeve button up black shirt, black slacks with a black belt, hair up.

Harney's: black converse or vans shoes (and white designs are ok), and wear whatever you want as long as it's 80% black. Cute/sexy/funky outfits. Hair however you're comfortable wearing it. 

Sounds glam enough right? Now, they don't say it (because of legal issues, obviously) but Harney's consists of only female servers. Boy bussers, female hostesses, and male sushi chefs. With 5 yrs serving under my belt, I had to wipe that slate clean and learn (or unlearn) from scratch. The girls all have 5-7 tables and can easily make ...let's just say pretty decent cash flow a night. Tip out, however, is ridiculous and at times can seem like HALF of the tips you make. For example, last night one of the girls' sales were around $1,500.00+, and on her cashout report, it told her to set aside $107.00 JUST for tip out. I know what you're thinking, "WHAT THE FLYING EFF!" or "JESUS EFFING CHRIST!" You have to tip out the food expo (minimum 10 bucks) drink expo, bussers, water girl (no joke, she walks around and fills water...), and sushi chefs (who are already making-I heard-about $25+ an hour plus tips). It's almost sinful. We close at midnight, but stop serving/taking food orders at 11:30-ish. Oh and, gratuity is already included of parties of 5 or more AND it's up to the servers if they want to split checks or not. Can you believe that? We can tell a guest, "no" if we just don't feel like splitting your check. Unheard of, but kinda cool. 

Sidework there is kind of a joke. You empty out soy sauce bottles and put away edamame and garnishes for miso soup...and that task is for 8 girls to share...I know...and I have to admit I got quite frustrated. There was a point last night where I felt it necessary to fill water at my trainers table since the water girl was no where to be found, and in mid-fill the owner stops me and says either nicely or sternly (I couldn't frikkin tell), "That's not your job." So I stopped what I was doing and left the table. It was a weird feeling. Also, the ice bin was empty. It had been empty forever while four servers stood around it just chatting. So i took it upon myself to fill the ice and guess what? "Talia, that's not your job." At this point I went into the dry storage area and stared into space and almost had a nervous breakdown. I can't just stand around bored doing nothing! I understand people are designated to do certain things but...REALLY?!?! I am entirely too used to the working environment of, "if there's time to lean, there's time to clean", or "if there's time to lean, fuckin go do something productive", or "if there's time to lean...you're probably working at Carinos so go to the 'bat cave' and listen to the latest gossip this week of 'who's lesbian now!' or 'which three way happened this week!' or the daily, 'ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!' moments (which I miss and sadly, long for). So I took a few deep breaths and went outside and pretty much asked, "what can I do to help you?" for the remaining three hours. 

So when asked by the owners (who are actually the coolest owners I've ever met in a restaurant-EVER) how my night went, clearly I couldn't share all of that (I mean, they would've been like, "Please continue to describe this nasty slut whore Nancy who works at Carinos..."), I simply summed it up to, "UUMMM...it was different." And that is the honest truth. I don't know WHAT to feel about the place yet. But alas, at the end of the night there was promise and something to smile about. The manager went around to every single employee and said, "everyone place your orders with the bartenders whether it be a glass of wine or beer" Yeah, you read that sentence correctly. After every shift, we all hang out and wind down. It's amazing how a glass of cabernet will change my views on everything and each precious sip spoke to me. 

Sip#1 said: It's only your first night, it'll get better

Sip#2 told me: Relax, enjoy this place.

Sip#3 reminded me: There's a frikkin DJ here almost every night

Sip#4 ...well, wait I think it only took me 3 sips/gulps and I was finished with all 6 ounces of that first glass. 

SO! That's that. I hope you enjoyed reading this either before or after your morning poop. I'm only a phone call or text away, and remember that everything is just suddenly better with a glass of wine, preferably red. 

Love, Natalia