Expect the Unexpected

You know those sayings that your mother always tells you growing up..."If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all," "Elbows off the table," and "Mind your p's and q's." Living with my parents this summer, I have learned that "mom-isms" still exist; they have just changed a little.

New Momism: "Don't buy the first couch you see."
I will soon be moving into my first house after college, and I have been looking for furniture to have in my new house. I found this pretty creme colored couch that I really liked, but it was huge, heavy, and a little too pricey. Driving back home, my mom could tell I was a little bummed that it wasn't the perfect couch, and she offered this advice of don't buy the first couch you see...her new mom-ism for this twenty-something. I took her advice and a few days later found the perfect couch! It is even better than the first one.

New Momism: "Expect the unexpected"
Not to be a "Debby Downer," but I was scheduled to work the entire 4th of July weekend. I was not happy about this, mostly because the 4th of July is my favorite holiday. Before I left for my first shift on Friday, my mom, trying to cheer me up, said "expect the unexpected." I think she meant that work might be better than I was anticipating it to be. Work was absolutely crazy and unexpected this weekend! Once again...Mom was right!

Friday at work, we had a main water line break and it shorted out the electricity. The fire alarms were going off, then the air conditioner broke, then the electricity went off in the kitchen. It was madness in the restaurant, and I got the pleasure of informing the guests waiting for tables about the problem. We were not seating guests for 2 hours while people were fixing the problem. Once we opened back up, everyone was a little upset. Usually, I am never praised for being a hostess. In fact, I usually leave feeling like the worst hostess ever. I constantly get in trouble for not handing guests the menus, not washing the windows correctly, not walking fast enough, not standing up straight, not holding the door open for guests, not offering a bag for to-go boxes, talking to the other hostesses, etc. Basically I feel like Cinderella...sometimes I even sing "In my own little corner, in my own little world" to myself. Okay so enough feeling sorry for myself. In our restaurant, you can be "caught giving exemplary servce" by the managers. Now, I've never been "caught giving exemplary service," but on Friday night I was! I was so happy! Definetly Unexpected!!

Saturday at work...more unexpecteds! I enjoy speaking in Spanish; we were not busy, so the bussers and I began talking to each other. I would ask them what words were in Spanish and they would ask me what words were in English...pretty fun! Then a storm came through, and once again I was at the restaurant working. It was so windy and the rain was coming down in sheets. The restuarant began leaking in numerous spots. Then, a guest informs the hostess stand that there is water standing in between the front doors. I opened the first set of doors to find about 6 inches of standing water. I got the pleasure of squeegee-ing the water from the front doors. I had never used a squeegee before, so another unexpected. Because of the rain, several of the firework shows were cancelled. This means that I still get to see fireworks tonight!!

Expect the unexpected...so true! I have learned that your plans never go as expected, and I have learned that that is the fun part of life! Sometimes what may seem like a bad thing can turn out to be great!