Sunday

Sleeping in a little to late, I jumped out of bed around nine and rushed down to work. I really didn't need to, however, as it seems that many were like me and the diner was fairly dead. This always bugs me when I have a full crew and seemingly nothing to do. I set many to cleaning as we waited for the anticipated rush.



I went back to the office to go over the previous days receipts, not realizing that the diner was quickly filling up with hungry eaters. I came out to get some change for the cashier and ended up diving in to the business. Busing tables, sitting people, sorting plates, clearing and wiping down the pass bar and counter, and pouring coffee. Actually, when this is all running smooth, it is my favorite part of the job. The time flys by while you are doing what you enjoy.



I am not sure if it was Saturday or Sunday, but one of those days, I noticed a family in one of the slower waitresses section. I wasn't quite sure if they had been served or not so I kept watching to insure that they had been seen and greeted. I noticed that the waitress had passed by them without comment so I went over to the table and asked if they had been served. They said no. I moved to insure that they were taken care of and may have had a different server handle them. I may have even used this table to do another thing. I am constantly lecturing my crew that we must be always on the alert to get to our customers as soon as possible. In doing so, I might have brought even more attention to that particular table, I am not sure. But, evidently, I brought to much attention to the table as I was later accused of discrimination by staring. Wow.



The crowd started to thin earlier than normal and around noon, we contemplated sending some of the staff home. Judy stayed while I went out to Jayden's football game. The Jake's Diner Bucs were meeting with the biggest and best team in the league, the Cowboys. Although they were clearly out manned, the Bucs held on. Their defense, at times, was great but they could not put together enough offensive strings to score. The one play that looked to be a score was called back when the ref claimed our guy was out of bounds. I know that it was close but the line was very vague and as you can guess, us parents thought better but were outvoted. We lost the game 13-0. Jayden seemed tentative in his tackling almost patting the runner on the back as he ran by as my daughter observed. It is funny since in practice, he is pretty solid.

After the game, I went back to the diner to help close and helped the cook pull out the grills to clean behind them. Closing earlier on Sundays has allowed us to an easier maintenance schedule and since the floor cleaner was in this evening, we took the advantage to clean behind the grills also. Things seem to build up quickly at times when you are busy. I helped Kevin, the cook, unhook the appliances and left him scraping the backs of the grills. I had him call me when he and the floor man were done so that I could come in and set the security.

I drove home to get ready for our family BBQ since Casey, the wanderer, was home. While I waited, Jay asked me to come out in the back yard and throw him a few baseballs. While we played, I told him of what I had observed in his play on the football field. He said, "I know, Papa, I want to tackle better and I think I am going to tackle them and they just run by me.". I told him that he needs to just tackle on instinct instead of thinking about it. I reminded him of a game where the other team intercepted a pass thrown his way. He promptly put the receiver down. That was instinct. He said that he would try and I left it at that not wanting to look like I was putting him down. We enjoyed the baseball while we waited for everyone to arrive.

Jay and I lit the BBQ and he helped me cook up a great dinner of hamburger, steak, bratwurst, and hot dogs. We enjoyed each others company and a great meal. Shortly afterwards, Trin and I drove down to the diner and checked things before we set the alarms.

Trin wanted to watch a movie with us all picking out "A nightmare on elm street". I was just too tired and excused myself to a nice warm bed with another very full day behind me.