i walk by, i can't help but stop. i smile. i know them. not them exactly, but the people who rattle the walls inside restaurants. the ones that wake at the crack of dawn to start bread, place orders and meet delivery trucks. the ones that do the line checks, the floor sweeps, and the restocks. they sweat real sweat, some days they even cry real tears, they laugh a lot, get mad a lot, swear A LOT. they can be the strangest, the funniest, and the craziest people you may ever meet. add to that the most loyal, fiercely loyal. shirt of their back type. see, when you are in those walls, behind the line, or out front,you become family. i can't explain the phenom or reasons behind it all, but i know it to be true. my very best friends are my restaurant friends. perhaps it is because of the insane hours, the never having a holiday or weekend off ever, the fact that you DO wind up seeing those people way more than your actual family.. that could be a huge part of it. either way, i do know we may not see or speak to each other for years some times, but when we do happen to run into each other, it's like no time passed at all. we share all the same crazy stories, we still talk about the regulars, the time we ran out of eggs on the mother's day brunch, the time the power went out... we know each others secrets. we kissed a few. dated a few. heck i even married one. ;) i have not worked that life for 2 years now. i still miss some of it. (not all of it. it is hard work. and well i am a lot older than i was.) i miss the socialness of it. the exhilaration of banging out a great night. the commiserating over the god awful ones. the satisfaction one gets from being completely buried and then getting out of "the weeds". the family.
tonight as i walked a dark street and saw the familiar glow of the kitchen window and the life humming along behind the glass, i stopped and smiled and clicked this shot. i hope tonight is one of those good nights for them. i imagine them all sitting at the bar after the last guest leaves, pouring a round of beers and sharing the stories of the day. those are good times.... really good times.
Friday, November 04, 2011
stories
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3 comments:
I know what you mean I work in a cafe and there is such a camaraderie that is unlike anything else in my life. You can't help but smile when you think of those crazy people you work with.
This takes me back to the days I worked in a café. You somehow have reminded me only of the good things and not of the bad (there were those, too!)
all I can think about is the "chits" Bergman used to hang for us at service bar! xoxo
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