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Damn the Bigots!
Monday, June 10, 2002

Ok, I have a dilemma of sorts. A few of the people working at O'Charley's have expressed racist tendencies. (This is NOT most people, and O'Charley's is not a racist organization. I want to make that clear so that I'm not commiting slander here.) In the past, I've heard jokes about various minorities. Other times, I've heard people groan about getting "another" table of Canadians. (Canadian is the code word for N****R.) One time in particular, back when I was working as a hostess, there was a guy who tried to refuse service to a party because he'd already had to deal with "their kind" that day. ... That comment made me want to vomit.

Now, I'm not so naive as to think there is no one in the world who is racist. What really gets under my skin about this, is their reasoning. They see black people as different because of how they act as customers. There are some African American people who will be more particular in their orders, ie. taking toppings off of salads, asking for special dressings, etc. Then they'll "run" you, asking for extras in sequence instead of all at once. Finally, they'll tip you less, sometimes not at all, EVEN when you've done everything right.

Ok, so there are plenty of white, hispanic, asian, whatever people who will also be difficult customers and then not tip. Also, some of my biggest tips have come from black families. In general, however, I must sadly admit that the majority of people who act like that ARE black. Now, I am NOT racist at ALL. I have black friends, I love the black people that I work with, and I would never-never-NEVER treat a customer differently based on race, gender, religion, or any other generalization. That is absolutely wrong.

Every time I hear snide comments from people, I imagine Jenn (a kick ass highschool bud who just happens to be black) standing there. She wouldn't stand for that shit. How can people be so caustic, shallow, and backward? This was the twenty-first century people! Dammit, maybe it's a southern thing. I don't know, but I don't like it. Any thoughts?

Oh, and for the record, these same people are typically snobby towards the hispanic people who work for us too. Immigrants who don't know English simply don't have many job options available to them. So, all our busers and dish washers are hispanic, except for two. People get impatient with them, and don't give them much respect. I'm trying to talk to them as much in spanish as I can remember. I'm thinking I'll refresh my memory this summer so that I can say more. ... Hey, the practice will probably even improve my grade in Spanish class next semester! I've always had more trouble with the listening portions. Anyway, I introduced myself to them, and I told Juan "buenos noches" before I left tonight. He smiled. I guess it IS the little things that are important. I don't want to sound like a goody-two-shoes or anything, but it's sad how nobody gives these people a chance. Busers work for a living just like anybody else, so who the hell are these servers to look down on them? ... Ok, I'll get off my soap box now. Good night, er, um, "Buenos noches!"

Random Musings
Saturday, June 8, 2002

I just bought this brand new leather chair. It is to DIE for! My old chair was cloth, and the height adjustment had broken, so that it was stuck at the lowest level. (The couple of times I tried to raise it, it would crash.) This one has a back rest that actually keeps my back straight, it has arm rests, the height adjustment works, and did I mention it's leather? Hehehe, all this for only bucks, tax included. I'm such a goober.

In other news, I went to Dancin' in the District again this week. Well, we weren't actually at Dancin' very long, we did GO dancin though. Once again, I was at Graham Central Station. (Hey, it's free.) There was one or two songs that sounded kinda techno. That was cool. Other than that it was all hip-hop bumping and grinding. It was ok. At least I went with a few of my highschool buds! Love ya Tiff and Con!

Well, off to watch the MTV Movie Awards. I missed them Thursday night, so I'm watching the rerun today. It looks like they were a lot of fun this year. How could they NOT be with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jack Black hosting!? Laterz pplz!

(BTW, Days of Our Lives is progressing nicely for the summer. Poor poor Lexi. Everyone thinks she's crazy just b'c she overturned the baptism water during a christening. How could they NOT know that the water was poisoned!? She was just trying to save her baby ... only it's actually Boe and Hope's baby. Oh, they know for sure that Boe is the father now. The paternity test results came in this week. All I can say about our high school drama buds, is that Chloe and Phillip better get back together. They're a much cuter couple than Sean and Belle anyway, imho. Besides, Sean was a bastard to Belle. He also believed that skank Jan when she said that Belle was responsible for her miscarriage. What a witch. I never liked her. Sigh*, so are the terrestrial revolutions of our impermanent existence.)

Girly Moment
Thursday, June 6, 2002

Ok, there's this dude that I work with named Brian that is SO HOT. He's tall and golden tan, like he's from California or something, only he actually hails from Canada. I hope I don't drool in any of my customers' food as he passes by. ;-) I don't have a crush on him or anything, though. (Thank God. I have this chronic inability to talk to guys that I'm crushing on. It's really pathetic.) It'll just be cool to work with him over the summer. Oh, and he seems like a nice guy too, and all. ;-)

Also cool about O'Charley's, I'm really liking the management there this summer. My favorite manager is Nancy. She doesn't seem as frantic or as reserved as the other managers, and we talk alot about random crap. It's nice to have a boss that you're comfortable with and get along with. Well, that's all for now. Laterz!

Confessions of a Closet Lexicographer
Wednesday, June 5, 2002

Don't know what a lexicographer is? Well, look it up in a lexicon why don'tcha? That's right, a lexicographer is someone who writes dictionaries. I'm writing a dictionary of my own. :-) ... Are you still reading?

See, I'm this geeky English major chick, that really wants to write well, and I've decided to expand my vocab. I don't like using polysyllabic words in everyday speech (like, for example, "polysyllabic") because it either sounds silly or people think you're trying to insult them or show off. If I get out of practice with using those words though, I know I'll lose the knowledge. Plus, there are so many words that I don't know. Besides that, many words had interesting births, and one of the Word-A-Day's I'm subscribed to right now also goes into etymology (the study of word origins). ... Are you still reading?

I have three on-line subscriptions, plus an old Word-A-Day calander that i haven't finished yet. Every time I come across a word I don't know, it gets added to the list to look up later. There are three online dictionaries I use: Dictionary.com , Merriam-Webster Online , and The Encarta Dictionary . When one explanation is unclear, I use the others to refine the definition. I think the list of defined words is now close to ten pages long ... in size nine type ... with four columns ... and the borders stretched as far as they can go. To make it even MORE frightening, I just subscribed to a monthly newsletter on etymology and recent additions to the English language. ... Are you still reading, now? Wow, you're a brave soul.

So, in case you're ever wondering the meaning of words like "eleemosynary," "schlimazel," "kleptocracy," "dendrochronology," "triskaidekaphobia," "ecdysiast," or "femtosecond," now you know where to turn ... or who to turn and run from. Whatever works for you. :-)

I Love You .... NOT!!
Tuesday, June 4, 2002

Damn that "I Love You" virus. It's become more virulent since last I met up with it (or so it seems). I think Erica downloaded a song with .vbs extention not realizing that a virus was attached. Either that, or someone opened an e-mail that they shouldn't have. Grrrrr, anyway, this time the virus is preventing the download of anti-virus software, so I'm having much more trouble getting rid of it.

I went ahead and searched for all the files with the *.vbs extension. I've deleted the ones associated with music, video and graphics, and will be doing a more thorough search shortly. This time I'll go through the hidden and system files. Problem is, I know that the *.vbs script itself isn't the source of the problem, and I'm afraid it will all be back next time we restart the computer. Sigh*, can anybody offer any advice here?

Blatant Begging for Server Sympathy
Sunday, June 2, 2002

Ok people, I know YOU GUYS would never screw over a hard-core working girl like myself, but you might know one of those freaks of nature who would. I'm going to provide you with plenty of ammo in case you should ever desire to set those ungrateful, lousy tipping, biznatchs straight.

Top 4 Facts You NEED to Know About Your Friendly Neighborhood Waiter or Waitress
1. The standard wages for a server is .13 per hour. Yes, minimum wage is supposed to be .15 per hour, but the establishment assumes you're getting tipped, so they can get away with hiring for slave wages. This is why tips are asked to be at least 15% of the bill.

2. When you sit at your table for an hour after your meal is finished, you are costing the waiter money. It's perfectly fine to relax after dinner; however, if you are going to use a table for twice the normal time, please take that into consideration when you tip. After all, a paying customer could have been there.

3. Waiters don't get to keep all their tips. Hosts/hostesses, busers and food runners take a bit of your pay every day. The more you sell, the more you owe for the tip pool. You end up losing between and every day. That's a hell of a lot of money in a year, and you never get it back.

4. "Side work" is the bane of existence. Being "cut" means that you cannot get any more customers sat at your tables. After being cut, a waiter still has side work to complete that takes at least one hour, if not two. This includes thoroughly cleaning their tables, replacing sugar packets, filling the salt and pepper shakers, rolling 80 sets of silverware, plus whatever other random crap they assign you to for that day. They don't hire other people to do all this, b'c using their .13 per hour slaves instead is cheaper.

Adventures in the District
Saturday, June 1, 2002

Thursday night I went to Dancin' in the District with my sister Carly. Normally I go with highschool buds, and we show up really late, but she wanted to see Ingrim Hill so we got there with a couple of her friends around 7:00. Carly had talked to the band before and promised to bring as many people to see them as she could. Anyway, it was fun. I actually know some of their songs now (I saw them when they opened for Stroke 9 in Cookville a few months back).

I didn't really care for the bands after Ingrim Hill, so I walked around a bit. There was a ledge near the riverfront away from the concert that I sat on and just kinda chilled. It was nice to have a break day, away from the stress of work. I love just kicking back and relaxing. As I sat there and stretched, an interesting thing happened. People starting coming up to me to ask if I was alright. One girl even broke from her group to make sure I was "happy". Then she shouted back, "See! She's not dangerous!" I was like, what that hell? That's the first time anybody's ever suspected me of being some kind of threat. Guess the sitting by yourself during a social event thing threw them off, but I was content where I was. Guess that random moodiness thing was kicking in. Anyway, I needed to be away from the noise to make a few phone calls. (Then my phone battery died on me, which killed any chance I had of meeting up with high school peoples. Drat!) Well, a few minutes later a friend of mine from grade school, Lauren, showed up. To the same group that had just sent out their scout (in case I wasn't "safe") Lauren shouted: "Hey! It's Anna! Do you guys know Anna Matsen?" Heh, small world. They stood quiet in apparent disbelief. I hopped down off the ledge, chit chatted with Lauren for a bit, then walked some more before rejoining Carly and her friends.

Later that night we went to Graham Central Station (ladies get in free on Thursdays). Now I can officially say I've been hoochie dancing with my sister ... I never thought I would say that. Ah well, it was fun. I also bought a butterfly necklace and a pretty blue-green ring while I was in the District. Five bucks each, not too bad. I love treating myself to jewelery when I can. :-) Laterz!

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