Some random thoughts....

So i'm in a contemplative mood today. I've got two more shifts at the Roadhouse (at least for now) and i have some thoughts on people going out to eat, and some observances. First of all, and the big one... If you don't have the money to tip your server at least 15% then don't go out to eat. The old saying, Servers live and die by their tips is true. I make $2.13 an hour, I work about 21 hours a week, which should equal $84 every two weeks, but I claim my tips at the end of the night, and the governement takes taxes out of my paycheck for those. usually my paychecks are between $4 and $7.

Wednesday I got $8 on $96 and $0 on $27. I believe myself to be a pretty good server. I feel like I'm attentive, sometimes I'm scatterbrained and will occassionally forget something that a customer asks me for, but they usually remind me, I apologize, and I get it right away. I once got a crappy tip becuase the customer had to ask for a refill. I had three other tables, and because they had to ask me for a refill (at the end of their meal, after they were done, I might add) they only gave me like 5%. People who demand perfection of their servers will usually get disappointed. I try my hardest to be the best for my customers because ultimately they decide my future, which is a scary thought. Your livelihood depends on complete strangers and you being nice to them. I think that is kind of a lesson for life. The golden rule at it's finest, treat others as you would want to be treated.

How people treat their servers. That's a different story all together. I have my share of fun and nice customers. For example, last night a man and his wife came in and we kind of laughed and joked around, and when i ran his credit card I looked at the name (I try and call people by their names when I return their card, if i can pronounce it). His name was John Johns. When I asked him about it, he started laughing, which made me and his wife laugh. It was a good way to end the night, with a good laugh.

Also, last week, I had 4 guys come in from Louisville, they were in town on business, Jerry, Joey, Mike, and I forget the 4th. Anyways, They came in right as I got closed, so when I got done with my cloisng stuff (and even during) I just chatted with them. Well this week, they came in again, and I saw them as I was checking out, so After I clocked out I went over to say hey, and they were like, can we buy you a beer? so I chatted with them again. They came in again last night, also, right as I got off, so I sat and chatted with them. Customers like that, who are fun to hang with are so cool.

But what goes around comes around, and every once in a while you get those customers who you just want to strangle. You get those people who come in and think they are better than you because you are serving them. There's a saying in the industry, if you get a compliment, then you get a cheap tip. There are exceptions to the rule, but usually if someone is like, oh you were a great server we loved you, etc... they give you 10% or less, it's like they believe the compliment is part of your tip, or they feel guilty because they can't really tip that much. Then you get the people who hardley talk to you. Before you even greet them, they're already telling you what they want to drink and eat, or they're on the phone holding up a finger. If you go out to eat, stay off your phone... that's just as rude as talking on the phone at the dinner table at home!

My biggest pet peeve, although I don't get this as much in Evansville as I did in Memphis, but it still does happen every once in a while, happen during Sunday morning shifts. Now, I am a Christian, I have been all my life. At Texas Roadhouse, you have to be able to work a Sunday shift, either morning or afternoon, because no one wants to work them. Well I can't work the nigth shift, so I work the morning shift. Family, I love you, and I don't mean this to be offensive or mean in anyway, but churchgoers are the WORST cumtomers to have! I would say about 9 out of 10 churchgoers are 10% tippers, act like they're better than everyone else, and leave you little pamphlets that say "have you found God?" I'm sorry, but just because I work Sunday mornings does not mean I am a horrible person. Like I said, i don't get that as much in Evansville as I did in Memphis. In Memphis, you'd be lucky to walk out of a Sunday shift (morning or night) with more than $30 and less than 4 flyers. In Evansville, I can usually walk out of the morning shift with at least $50 and no flyers, so that's nice.

Those are just some of my thoughts on serving. Things I've noticed and stuff. I have a lot more as well actually, but I think I'll leave those for another day. Have a great Friday!

retreat and stuff

So anyone who knows me, knows that softball is my favorite thing the entire world. When I was in my wreck and couldn't play anymore it literally tore my heart in two. I was miserable. When I came to college, and I found out there was a softball intramural, I of course wanted to play. i was kind of nervous because I hadn't thrown since my junior year, but I was able to throw the ball, not very well (obviously 2 years of not doing it will do that to you). I was so excited. The next year I wasn't able to play b/c I broke my ankle playing floor hockey. I was so mad. I told people to let me be catcher. I didn't have to run around for that, but apparently that's not allowed. Lol.

The reason I tell that story is because, now I can tell this story. Last year, when I was on executive board of my sorority, i found out that our chapter adviser was head coach of a local high school softball team. It was going to be her first year. I really wanted to see if I could help out, so I finally got up the courage to ask if she needed any help. The answer was yes! I got to be an assistant coach for Mater Dei High School Softball team. I got to coach first in JV games, and I had a blast. It was weird thought, because I was still pretty young, and I was used to playing, never coaching. I didn't speak up very much, just kind of observed. I knew all the players, but they didn't really know me. I had so much fun seeing this team do well though. The year before they had only won like 6 games. The won 15 games last year.



This year, I had planned to do it again, and so when Shelly asked, I was all over it. I did have to work this semester, so i couldn't attend all the practices. I attended maybe 2 a week starting in February. My last day at work is this Sunday, and after that I will be able to make most practices and games. We started practicing outside after I got back from Spring Break. That's when I met the other coaches. There's Shelly (who I already knew) the head Coach, Bill, the Assistant Varsity coach, Kyle, the head JV coach, and me, the assistant JV coach. This basically means I'm the lowest of the coaches, but I'm still a coach, so I don't care



This week is Mater Dei's Spring Break, and so they had a softball retreat. We went to Camp Ondessank in Ozark, IL and did some low ropes stuff and then stayed the night. We left around 9 am on Monday (I got to drive a huge van, it was like an 15 passenger with some seats missing, it was so weird), and got there a little before 11. We ate some lunch (PB&J and chips), then we headed out to the course. The first element they did was they all stood on a log and had to switch places so the weren't standing next to the same people. You couldn't touch the ground or else you had to start over. They got that pretty quickly. Next we moved to the wheel. They had to get everyone over a wheel (which turned) that was about 5 feet off the ground, and they had to stay connected the entire time. If they got disconnected, they had to start over. This one took a while for them to get. At one point we made them stop, and talk it out so everyone was on the same page. After that, they got it. It still took a while for them to do it, but they did it.



The last element the did was fun to watch. They had to get across a wire, that was about 6 in off the ground using only ropes hanging down, and once a rope was touched, it had to be continuously touched or else they would lose it. This one took a while as well, but only because people kept falling off, and they had to start over. Also, the juniors and seniors weren't allowed to talk during this time. After that, they sat in a circle and discussed the things they did that day and what they learned. Apparently last year they didn't get as much out of it, too many leaders and not enough people to step back. This year they enjoyed it a lot more.



After that we went back to the cabins, which they call tree houses. There's a picture below, but it's a cabin on stilts with one wall missing. It was interesting. Not what I was expecting at all. Of course the beds were very uncomfortable, so I didn't sleep that well, but it was great being outdoors. :) We had a campfire that night where we listened to stories, sang some songs (or therefore attempted to), and ate foil burgers, made s'mores, and roasted peeps. Lol. Of course the girls were up most of the night, and we left the next morning. Oh, and within the first 15 minutes of being there, one of girls got hurt. Kim Butts, one of our catchers, who is probably already out half the season because she is having rotater cuff issues. Anyways, she tripped (and not even overly tripped, she just kinda went down on one knee) and about 5 minutes later she came over and was like, I'm bleeding. Her leg was covered in blood, and she had a huge gash in her knee. It was so deep, it didn't bleed that much. She got to go to the hospital with Shelly and get internal and external stitches. So she had a good retreat.



I'm really excited about this season. We have a small team (only 19, minus two players, one for injury, one for grades, and so we're down to 17) so we probably won't be able to play a full JV schedule which stinks for the freshmen. Our first game is April 4, a week from Saturday (the morning after Phi Mu's formal) so that should be fun. Anyways, here's some pics form the retreat. Enjoy.

Spring Break Recap

Spring Break was an amazing time. I honestly can't remember a time when I had so much fun! We left on Saturday morning around 9am and drove all the way to Lake City, FL. On the way we stopped in Chattanooga, TN so I could see Rachel, one of my best friends, and I saw her house, which is really nice. We stopped in Atlanta, GA to pick up our fourth person, she was flying in from North Carolina, and we stopped in Macon, GA at Weslyean College, where Phi Mu was founded. :) Noelle, was the one coming in from North Carolina. She graduated in December, but had already planned to go on Spring Break with us, even though her Spring Break was this week, not last. She told all her professors that she was going to a wedding, and she was the maid of honor, and so she wouldn't be in class. So for anyone who read my note on Facebook and was confused, that was the 'wedding" and we just decided to run with it one night so we came up with a whole back story.

Anyways, Sunday we left Lake City around 8am and got to Key West around 8 that night. :) We went to Ihop, went to the liquor store, and went back to our hotel. We met some people staying in the room across from us and we went to their room and hung out with them until like 2 am. Monday we got up and went to the beach for the afternoon. It was gorgeous. Every once in a while the clouds would cover the sun, and it would get kinda cold, but nothing too bad. :) That night we went down to Mallory Square and Duval St. to watch the street performers at sunset. We also ate two 1/2lb cookies. We went back to the hotel, grabbed some fast food, and got ready to go out that night. That night we went down to Duval St. We hit up Sloppy Joe's where we were the youngest ones there by about 10 years. Lol. Then we went over to Rick's which is a place with like 5 different areas to hang and listen to music. We started off at the pool table, and then we went dancing. It was a great night. We all poured ourselves into bed the next moring for a few hours.

Tuesday we went to the beach again, and pretty much slept there. There were less clouds that day. That night we got dressed up, and went to the Southern Most Point, got our pictures taken. Then we went to a nice dinner. Our waiter, Kevin, was awesome. After dinner we went back to the hotel, and got ready to go out again. That night we went to the Lazy Gecko and Rick's on Duval St. Katy and I danced the night away, and Noelle and Stephy just hung out. We stayed up all night again. Wednesday morning we left for Miami. We went to Bahia Honda beach which is about half way b/t Key West and Miami. We were only there for about 2 hours, and then we went the rest of the way to Miami. We got in around 7 and checked into our hostel. Then we walked to a Chinese place, and got some food to go. We were so tired, we all just went to bed that night. We were all passed out by midnight. The next day we got up and Stephy and Noelle went to the beach and katy and I went shopping. We met them for lunch at a place called The Big Pink, and then we went to the beach for about an hour, but clouds were coming, and it was cold, so we all went shopping. That was fun. :)

That night we went out for pizza, and as we were walking back we decided that we were going to play out this Wedding thing and have a bachelorette party, so we got Stephy a crown that said bride to be and a $10 ring, and we came up with a back story, and we all had fake names and such. It was fun. So that night we went out to a place called The Mansion. We were only there for like 2 hours because it was so expensive, and pretty lame. we had more fun on the walk back to hostel because we kept running into some interesting people. So we went to bed that night. In the morning we got up and went to the beach. It was gorgeous. No clouds, a slight breeze. It was awesome. I decided to take some surf lessons. I got about 2 hours worth of lessons. it was awesome. I got up and everything. I had so much fun.

Then we laid on the beach for about another hour. That night we got dressed up again and went to dinner. No one really wanted to go out that night because were leaving at 4:30 the next morning. I was like, there is no way we're not going out our last night. So we walked down to ocean drive to a place called Wet Willie's and got some cool daquaris. Then Stephy and Katy went to bed. I went downstairs to play pool with Noelle, but while she was changing, the bartender asked if I would play him, so Noelle came down and watched me beat the bartender, and then said she was going to bed. We played another game and then I just chilled at the bar and talked to him until he closed at 2am. Then I went to bed for an hour or so.

Saturday moring we got up at 4 am and drove back to Evansville. We stopped in Atlanta to drop Noelle off so she could catch her flight back, and then we drove the rest of the way. By the time we got back to Evansville (after 20 hours of driving) we were pretty slap happy. I proceeded to put my suitcase in my room, grab a quick shower just to rinse off and then go to bed. I was exhausted. Sunday was spent doing chores: cleaning, shopping, laundry, etc... Then Monday it was back to classes. Now it's Tuesday and I'm slowly starting to get back into a routine. Spring Break '09 was amazing. I can't believe it happened, and I can't believe it's over. I keep expecting to wake up and it's still February. Lol.