The Galaxy's Best Waitgirl
I'm employed again! I start orientation tomorrow at _____ on St. Charles. (Hey, I'm not about to be one of those bloggers who gets fired for talking about work.) Once I finish training, I'll be waitressing 4-10 Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. When I add this to my current schedule of grad school 4-6 Monday, Tuesday, and every other Friday, this means I'm pretty much free all day! The manager at _____ promised me lots of $$$ for few shifts. I hope I don't make as much as I did at my "real" job. Then I'll be really depressed.
This really takes me back to when I was working at Anthony's Lobster House, over two years ago. It was this restaurant near the convention center downtown, where one wall was made entirely of windows overlooking the Mississippi. During the day it was just barges and tankers. But at night the bridge would light up, and you could see the colors in the water, and you could stand there refilling the guests' water glasses and imagine... somewhere else. One night after waitressing, I came home and scribbled in my notebook a few paragraphs about a redheaded waitgirl who has a secret, a waitgirl who works in a place with a view. Only her view wasn't of the lights reflecting on the Mississippi: her view was of the skyway, the flare-lit road I imagined winding above a huge city on another planet, and the stars. And one night this waitgirl took off her apron, let down her hair from its ponytail, said, "Keep the change," and walked out.
Her name was Ari Kloss. And that scene was the beginning of my novel. Well, damn, it's funny where inspiration comes from. I'm going to go write.
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