The Wait

Have you ever pondered the amount of time you spend waiting? Waiting for something to happen -- for the bus / train / plane to arrive, waiting in the supermarket check-out line (especially annoying when you're in the 10 Items Or Less line and everyone in front of you has twelve items and all you have is a bag of kitty litter), waiting at the dentist's office when your appointment is for 2:30 and you're now watching three o'clock approach. One of my particular favourites is going to the beer store at Christmas time and being in a line of people who've (a) never been in a beer store before and have no idea what they want and / or (b) don't really grasp the concept of the debit card.

It's a substantial waste of valuable time. Speaking of waiting, though (and here's a leap) what about waitressing? Oh, ah, right, they're not called waitresses any more, are they, they're called "servers." I can't get behind that, though, because to me a server is a computer or program that supplies data or resources to other machines on a network. So, to all of my friends in the hospitality industry who work as waitresses, i will take all of your slings and arrows.

But have you ever watched really good waitresses doing their thing? I was at my favourite pub the other day. It was the middle of the afternoon, usually a very quiet time, when they became busy unexpectedly: a party of thirty showed up (without a reservation). I won't say anything about how arrogant that is:  30 people? No problem! At McDonald's. But not everywhere is Micky Dee's.

Now, i won't mention the name of the pub (although you can find them on Twitter at @STFDKelseys) but i watched those girls go to work and it was like watching a well-executed football play. It was a delight to see such professionalism. (I think about the waitresses at the restaurant where i work -- they'd be wandering around, slack-jawed, wondering what to do next and crying for help; what a contrast.)

Anyway, thumbs up Jen, Catherine, April & Brittany: your tips that day were undoubtedly insufficient to compensate you for your work, and your art.

Oh, and here's the next bunch of CD covers -- we're in to the Tori Amos section:

And the playlist:

Yes - Going For The One
The Electric Prunes - Mass In F Minor
Kensington Market - Avenue Road
Thin Lizzy - Live At The Hammersmith Odeon
Colin James - Twentyfive Live
Al di Meola - Casino
10 c.c. -- Live In Santa Monica