Lunch Break.

Papers in hand, I waded through the sea of day-campers - careful not to trod on limbs, digits, and remnants of lunches. I was determined not to squander one of my few opportunities to use the facilities, so I stopped by the ladies room on my way to visit Bessie* the Copier.

Their faces gave them away immediately. They were busted. Doing what, I didn't know. The guiltiest of the guilty froze while their cohorts made a run for it, abandoning them to the wrath of the camp counselor. The two of them stared at me, wide-eyed and mouths agape, fearing the punishment that awaited them.

"Sarah. Jessica. Let's go out in the hallway and have a chat, " I ordered, my bladder pining for one of the stalls.

"Sarah. Why don't you start. What's going on?"

"You said you, like, hated me!" Sarah said to Jessica, through lisps and misty eyes, as though I wasn't even there.

"Well, you've been acting all, like, prissy, hanging out with your new friends, and, like, not even paying any attention to Stephanie."

"I thought Stephanie knew you did that..."

I let them talk it out, Middle-School Style, for a few minutes, until I determined that I'd gotten a grasp of the situation.

"So, What I'm hearing is - and stop me if I have this wrong. Jessica. You told Sarah that you hate her because she's not spending enough time with Stephanie. You want her to spend more time with Stephanie. And you spend a lot of time with Stephanie. Obviously because you care enough about her to stick up for her like this. Stephanie seems to be unaware of any of this (She nods). My question to you is: Why would Sarah want to be around both Stephanie and you - knowing that you 'hate' her?" (My shame in using air-quotes must not have been apparent.)

This had obviously not occurred to Jessica. It seemed I'd seen where she was coming from. Suddenly, I'd found a hole in her logic. Her smile dissolved from her face.

"Sarah. It seems are are doing what we've asked you to do at camp. Make new friends. Which is great. But I figure Jessica isn't imagining things. Could you be leaving your other friends behind?"

She shrugged. Then nodded. Then admitted, "Maybe."

"Do you think, maybe, you two can work something out where Sarah gets to spend time with her new friends without being made to feel bad, and not making her old friends feel bad either?"

They nodded.

"And next time, if Stephanie has a problem with Sarah, how about we let Stephanie and Sarah try to work it out?"

Jessica nodded. They went back to socializing with the rest of the campers.

I trudged upstairs and said hello to Bessie. She grappled out the copies I needed, and I rejoined the group downstairs, in time to start the second half of the day.

I never did get to use the facilities.

-------------------------------
*All names have been changed

Moving Right Along.

Gregory Hines, man. Wow.

I put him up because I'm sure it was kind of a bummer to pop over here and keep seeing "I lost my job" all the time. I'm not in that frame of mind, and my blog doesn't need to be either.

Many thanks to those who have asked about the specific location of the restaurant - either here or networking sites. Those people have asked simply out of concern, to boycott, or even just to raise a specific digit as they happen by the locale. I assure you, all of the "gestures" of support are greatly appreciated, and felt warmly - at least by me.

Seriously though, because there is a Part B to Restaurant-Gate to which I do not yet know the outcome (if any), I'd rather not be plastering nasty things about a place with its name attached. At least - not yet. jk! jk! Don't think I'm keeping it a secret though! If you don't want to spend your money there, I won't make ya!

In other news, I started the Kid-Related Theatre job this week. Wow. Kids. Wow. As of today, that is a positive "Kids. Wow." We've asked a lot of them in a couple of days - things I'm not sure I would have been willing and/or capable of doing when I was their age. They've risen to the challenges like champs.

It's going to be a crazy-busy few weeks - and I'm going to be EXHAUSTED - but I think it will be well worth it.

Because Who Doesn't Love Gregory Hines + Tappers in Tuxes?

So I lost my job.

You know the food service job that I just got? Yeah. Got fired. Never been fired before. This is a new one for me.

I was going to blog the whole story. I decided against it. It's just not fair to ruthlessly make fun of your old boss when they aren't here to defend themselves.

I will say this: My temper and penchant for backtalk isn't what got me fired. (I know, right?) It was my not-temper and not talking back that did it - apparently. I had been warned (a la CD Bales) by members of the staff not to ever contradict or argue. Thus, I did not. I made (what I thought was) a minor error, accepted my "punishment," and assured my boss it would not happen again. My agreeable response, in turn, led to me being told I had not taken the situation seriously enough. Thus, I was fired for my attitude.

???

I do not confirm nor deny that I didn't lose my sh*t after that.

Yeah. Who knows? It's Virginia. I can be fired for not ringing in water. Or for ringing it in, for that matter. It's free - printing it up wastes ink. "At-will" employment at it's finest.

All I know is - I swear, guys. I tried to do it right this time.

*****

That being said, I will still be a busy bee for a little bit. That theatrical-type job involving children starts up soon, I have to drive to Williamsburg to quickly bust out a setting of the Mass, plus I snagged another temporary job in the theatrical world. For a few weeks there, I'm not even sure if I have a day off.

I just hope the dollars add up.

Oddly enough, I think they just might.

I apologize in advance if I see anyone in person and give them anything thing other than a cheerful greeting. I'm kinda tired just thinking about everything that just popped up. And very thankful too. I love everyone - and will probably desire booze come the end of July.

Yes. Booze. On a beach, maybe? But I'll take a porch.

Nrrrd Grrrl Reporting for Duty.

So, I was going to share this with you, but then I found

THIS:

Accidental Week in Review

So holy crap it's almost June.

It's not like I'm doing anything. Well that's not true.

What did I do this week?

Monday: Memorial Day. Kind of a rough day on the heart. Had dinner with the siblings which is always awesome.

Tuesday: Started my first shift on the floor at my new food service job. Yup. Went back to waiting tables. Should bring a lot more interesting stories again. Apparently people like to come to this restaurant after voting on budgets for the city. Makes for lively conversation between guests. Especially including those not from Richmond.

Wednesday: More food service. Was sleepy after.

Thursday: Had a productive meeting for a theatrical-type job involving children. Good food involved. I made corn pudding. Was my first attempt at corn pudding. As far as I know, no one died. I chose the particular recipe because I didn't have to measure ANYTHING. Perfect.

Friday: Was that today? Had what felt like a long shift, though it was only 11 to 5. that last 2 hours on the back end feel really long when you're a) slow and b) don't know how to time out your closing sidework yet.

Still to come:

Saturday: Singing for the Anthem Stride Through Time. The Church for which I sing one of the historical stops, plus we have a water station set up. Some of the choir members are providing some music!

Also, more food service.

Sunday: Sing for Jesus. REST.

Enjoy your weekend, guys!

I Just Don't Like You Like That.

So, in case anyone was looking for random gift ideas. This will gladly be accepted.