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Goodbye,
Dahhling
Turn-over rates are an amazing thing. One minute you're working with
someone, the next they and three others have left and some stranger is
clocking in beside you. This never bothered me before, because I either get
to know the newbies, or act surprised when someone says, "Yeah, Nick quit."
This Nick has no face, no funny side stories, nothing. Was he fat, thin,
stupid, really stupid? Now he/she's just another name X'd out on the
schedule. Basically the restaurant is constantly hiring and servers are
constantly quitting. The only few of us who stick around do so because…
because? Damn, let's play MadLibs. We stick around because _______. I
have no idea why.
Yet
this week I've run into a server leaving that I just can't shrug off. My
best friend Julia moved away to share a home with her fiancé. I'm happy for
her, really, for Aaron is an incredible guy. He's loyal, handsome, funny,
supportive of her and just the kind of guy I would have handpicked for her
if he was in a catalog of eligible bachelors. Together they'll have a big
house in a cute neighbourhood so she won't be cramped in a tiny apartment in
what is slowly becoming the ghetto of my Mayberry. He can take care of her,
for she tends to lock her keys in her car a lot and can't show up anywhere
on time to save her life. He has a nice car, a great job and a decent head
on his shoulders so I know she'll never wonder where he is at 3am. With
Aaron and this house she'll get French doors, and what can be better than
living with your main squeeze AND having French doors? She's always wanted
to be closer to him, for he is her soulmate and there is nothing more
beautiful than seeing two people together who were made to be side by side.
And a fireplace. I almost forgot she'll have a soulmate, French doors and a
fireplace. *le sigh*.
But
I'm still sad. I don't notice it when I'm busy, but when I'm first arriving
to work and thinking about everything I have to remember to tell her… yet
don't remember she's not going to be inside those doors anymore, ugh. And
when three or four people ask me how she is, and normally I'd know because
we'd have talked and talked and talked the day or night before, but now I
don't, ouch. 90% of me is ecstatic she finally got out of the restaurant
and is getting everything she truly deserves, but that 10% is wishing she'd
be stuck here with me so we can groan it out together.
There
are so many memories and funtimes we had in this place. Today, a few of us
were talking about her as if she was way off in Texas or something.
"Remember when that ceiling light crashed down on the two of you, Angela?",
"I miss the way you two cheerleaded for the bartender." Damn, the more I
write this, the more it sounds as if I'm in mourning, or just broke up with
her. (Because NO ONE breaks up with ME, damnit!). The funny thing is, as I
told her goodbye after a party we threw for her at the bar, I told her I
loved her and meant it. Obviously not in the amorous sense, but in that way
two good friends do. You know, you hug good bye and just say "Take care, I
love you, girl." Just like Thelma and Louise. I'd follow Julia off a
cliff… for good reason. It better be a damn good reason, but I'd do it.
Hells, it better involve us escaping zombies, werewolves and mummies and not
just cops, but I'd be there gripping her hand as her Saturn plummeted down
the gorge. Yeah, we'd take her car because it has a sun roof and you can
smoke it in.
So in
a sense, this is more of a tribute then an article. Just a little vignette
about two girls who met, worked together, found a lot in common and became
inseparable… for awhile. So "Dahhhling", if you're reading this, you're
very much missed by all of your co-workers. Especially me. |
