Red Bowl Rules. Part II.

These are the continued rules that I wrote up while at work. Please abide by these rules if you ever come into Red Bowl, otherwise all employees will secretly hate you.

#22 Don't come up to us ten minutes after we tell you it'll be a 25 minute wait asking where you are on the list. We hate you.

#23 When making a reservation or telling the hostesses how many people are in your party, don't tell us you have a kid unless they need a booster or a high chair. We don't have kids menus.

#23.5 DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN STEAL, EAT, DROOL ON, OR BREAK THE CRAYONS WE GIVE TO THEM. By the end of the week all we have is poop brown or diarrhea brown. Or black. Or white.

#24 Don't put the sushi menus inside of the regular dinner menus. I know you think you're helping with our job, but you're not. If we wanted the sushi menus inside of the dinner menus, we would have put them there in the first place.

#25 When we are trying to sit a table or put a highchair around the table, and there is obviously no room for you to pass, PLEASE WAIT PATIENTLY. Don't waddle like a penguin trying to find a way to walk around me.

#26 I know that it's usually polite to respond with "You're Welcome" when someone says thank you. But typically hostesses like to hear a "thank you" in return rather than a "you're welcome."

#27 If I ask if you want to wait for a table or sit at the bar or sushi bar, or if you'd like an egg roll or spring roll, or if you'd like fried rice or white rice, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAKE UP YOUR MIND. PROMPTLY.

#28 Please stop talking on the phone or texting when you come up to the hostess stand. Let us seat you, then you may continue.

#29 If you see someone you know, PLEASE don't stop to talk to them until AFTER we have shown you to your table. Otherwise we have to stand there and wait until you're done talking. Waste. Of. Time.

#30 If we tell you it's a 15 to 20 minute wait, don't leave to go to another restaurant. By the time you drive to the next restaurant, you could have already been seated at Red Bowl. Waste of gas.

#31 Respond to us when we say "Thank you, have a good afternoon/night." Don't just ignore us. It's rude.

#32 Don't look at the hostess(es), then turn to the cashier and tell her "table for two." You OBVIOUSLY know that we are the ones who will be seating you. Y u do dat?

Red Bowl Rules.

These are rules that I and my previous co-worker Kaitlyn wrote up while at work. Please abide by these rules if you ever come into Red Bowl, otherwise all employees will secretly hate you.

#1 Yelling at me will not make me seat you faster. I can only ESTIMATE how long it will take for people to leave. Calm down.

#2 Looking at me for extended amounts of time but not saying a word makes you a chicken. Man up. I thought you were cute, too.

#3 Don't let your kid lick the glass after you just watched me clean it. If the windex shrinks his brain, I am not liable.

#4 Ming says don't call in with reservations for two. They are a waste of her time. Ha.

#5 Two messy children + a $60 check + great service and smiles = $3 tip. No, that is not how it works. Don't come back.

#6 Don't be super nice to me because you think I get some awesome discount that I will share. Because I don't. And I won't.

#7 When I ask for your name, it's not because I want to go to the movies with you, old man. I need it if you want a table.

#8 Just because I wear a name tag, it doesn't mean we are on a first name basis.

#9 Dear friends - The servers tell me if you are a terrible tipper...and I judge you.

#10 If you don't know Chinese don't expect to have a conversation with the chefs. Simon and Ming = translators.

#11 No, we do not have steaks and hamburgers. In case you didn't notice the sign, this is an ASIAN BISTRO.

#12 No, we do not do half orders. Complaining to Simon won't do anything, and neither will eating your soup poutily.

#13 If you're obviously older than us, don't call the hostesses "ma'am." We are too young for that. Just say please and thanks.

#14 Sometimes you just need to stop talking. Things get more awkward. I wish I could rewind and stuff my mouth with sushi.

#15 People who make rules for the employee discounts no longer applying to any sushi orders shall feel my wrath.

#16 Ming's words of wisdom while talking about someone who fake laughed: "I only like truth not fake." Always keep it real.

# 17 For the last time, NO, we are NOT a buffet. This isn't Amber, people. Red Bowl is clean, and classy. Oh, and better than Amber.

#18 Do NOT put your hands on the glass doors. PLEASE. That goes for you AND your kids.

#19 Don't look around the restaurant, notice that we have no booths available, and then continue to ask "Do you have a booth?"

#20 No talking what-so-ever. Unless Simon is in the kitchen. (Simon if you're reading this PLEASE DON'T HATE ME ^_^)

#21 Never, EVER let Steigen drink anything but water while on the clock. Otherwise, you shall feel her wrath.

My trip to the British Isles.

So many of you have asked how my trip went. And with a combination of the story being WAY to long to explain over text, and the fact that I don't like having to keep repeating myself, I thought I would write a nice 'ole blog for you curious cats out there.

CAUTION: This is going to be a lengthy blog. So pull up a chair, grab some popcorn, and enjoy.

First off, just a few tips for when traveling that I learned from this trip:

1) Always know what you're getting into before you go on a trip. ESPECIALLY a trip with a guided tour.

2) If you like to go at a fast pace, do not travel with any large group of old people. They will slow you down.

3) If you're rooming with someone who snores, make sure you bring sleeping medicine and earplugs. Even then, they probably won't work.

4) Wash your hands, take a shit ton of vitamins, bring any and every kind of medicine you own, and heck, buy one of those stupid doctor masks everyone wore during the swine flu crisis. If even one person is sick, it WILL get to the rest of the group.

5) Just fyi for those who didn't know, Duty Free is only tax free when you're leaving the country. I found that out the hard way.

Those are my five main tips I guess. But now, onto the great story that is my trip to the British Isles.

To start, I'm going to be completely honest. I was already skeptical about traveling with this group, because I KNEW it was going to be a lot of old people who were going to slow down my desired pace. But, hell, it was FOUR COUNTRIES we were visiting. And it was a super gracious gift from my grandma. No way in hell I was going to pass up such a great opportunity. So, I braced myself as I rode up with the YMCA'S Silver Fox retirement group to the Charlotte-Douglas airport.

When we arrived, everything seemed to be going smoothly. We checked our bags and headed over to our gate. While waiting for our flight, I grabbed a couple of bites to eat. I walked around. Shopped around. Read my books. Etc. As it got closer and closer to our departure time, the sky outside gradually got darker and darker. Seemed clear, or so we thought. We soon found out that our flight was delayed from 6:20 to 7 something. Our connecting flight to London from Atlanta wasn't until 10:50, so we figured we had plenty of time. Our flight got pushed back even more, to 8 something. At this point, we are freaking out a little. Then, our flight got pushed back even MORE. At this point, Jimmy (head of the group) called the airport in Atlanta to see if there was any way to hold the plane for us.

There wasn't. We had lost our flight from Atlanta to London. Which meant one of two things: we simply lost an entire day of our trip, or we were't going on the trip at all. I'm sure you can guess which of the two happened. Jimmy, after making phone calls for like, three hours straight, got us a flight to New York the next day, and then a flight to London after a 12 hour layover. Which means...yup. We slept in Charlotte-Douglas that night. One of the most uncomfortable nights of sleep ever. Plus, during all of this worry and panic, there was a HUGE storm outside, tornado warnings all around, and the power went out in the airport three times. THREE TIMES. It takes A LOT for the power to go out IN AN AIRPORT.

Anyways.

After an overnight stay at Charlotte Douglas and a 12+ hour layover in NYC, we finally boarded our plane, followed by an eight hour flight to London. We didn't have assigned seats on this flight, so we were able to sit anywhere we want. (I always grab an isle seat so I can get up and down easily.) I found an isle seat next to this really quite scary looking person. I sat down next to him, and glanced over. He was looking down towards the window, obviously trying to avoid any kind of eye contact or conversation. BUT MY FRIENDS, NOT ALL HOPE WAS LOST. One of my grandma's friends, Missy, kindly asked if we could switch seats. My seat had a little bit more leg room than hers, but she still had an isle seat. I immediately said yes, not only because of the person I was sitting next to, but because of the person she was sitting next to. She was sitting next to a really good-looking guy who she acquainted me with. His name was John, and he was 28. He was visiting Utah for some kind of math conference. I have to say, it was the best flight I've ever been on. We joked around, attempted to speak each others accents (I tried a British accent and he tried an American one), talked about our hobbies, where we've been, etc. At the end of the flight, you could tell our goodbye was too short. I still to this day regret not getting his Facebook info.

ANYWAY. Back to the reality of the trip that quickly popped my dream bubble.

Once we arrived in London, we got our bags and immediately had to get on a bus, only to DRIVE another six hours to our first hotel (since we missed our first actual day in London) with only one stop on the way. We got to our hotel just in time for me to shower before the welcome drink and dinner.

By the way, did I mention I was LEGAL OVER THERE? ALL FOUR COUNTRIES, BITCHES.

For the welcome drink they didn't even card me, but I didn't care. I drank this drink called WKD (pronounced "Wicked" which I didn't find out until we got to freaking Ireland, the 3rd country we visited -.-) and it tasted basically like a fizzy blue Popsicle with 4% vodka. It was delicious, and it was basically what I had almost the entire trip, aside from the small shot glass of Guinness I had in Ireland.

I'm not going to do a day-by-day of every country, by the way. I'm just going along with significant happenings. Such as the first official day of my trip. You see, the tour director gave us seating assignments. Each day you move up three seats from where you were sitting on one side, and on the other side you move three seats back. That way everyone had a chance to sit at the front of the bus for better picture taking. Well, I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but I get carsick VERY easily, so I kindly asked the tour director if I could sit at the front of the bus. The first day I tried to sit at the front, and this couple that was with our group kind of bitched me out. Not the couple, just the husband. I was very polite and tried to tell the husband that I got carsick easily and needed to sit at the front. He replied with "Well I get carsick too! This isn't right" blah blah blah and then pretty much tattled on me to the tour director. I'm assuming he thought I was going to get an attitude, so I moved back a row so that I didn't cause problems, and I got to sit in the second row for the rest of the trip. Take that, ya douche.

Going from country to country I saw a lot of rolling plains. Lots of cows, lots of sheep. After we were done with England, we went to Scotland where we visited one of the two castles that inspired JK Rowling with her Harry Potter series. After the castle, me and the other two granddaughters on the trip were able to find H&M and the Swatch store (the two stores we were desperately waiting to go to) right next to each other. H&M was disappointing, but the swatch store on the other hand, was not. That is until I owned the zebra print watch I'd purchased for only a day until the zebra print started wearing off. NO BIG DEAL, JUST ABOUT A 55 DOLLAR WATCH.

Anyway. About that castle we visited? I pretty much skimmed the entire landscape. I wasn't interested so much in the architecture as much as I was in the accents and culture. BUT, what I DID find fascinating in this castle was this group of french boys. One in particular. He was Asian. A french Asian. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who was so amazed by this, does that make me racist? He was one of the biggest contradictions I'd ever seen, aside from the Scotch-Korean guy in that Starburst commercial.

MOVING ON. The last good thing that happened in Scotland was visiting someone's farm for a full three course dinner. We had cream of vegetable soup as the appetizer, lamb as the main course, and then this macaroon sort of desert. It was all so very delicious. During the course of this dining experience there was a lot of singing and beating of a Scottish drum? Irish drum? I don't know, but it was intense. Then our giant group was split up into two sides, and we each had to memorize a chorus to a song and whichever team was better got a prize. The team I was on was totally loud and upbeat, we even jumped out of our chairs at one point, while the other team sat down the entire time and was totally unimpressive. Can you guess which team won the prize? NOT OURS, DARN IT. The prize ended up being a sample bottle of Irish Whiskey though, which was awarded to the leader of the other team. I didn't feel so defeated after all.

I'm totally lying. I was pissed our team didn't win.

ON TO IRELAND! We had to take a faerie to and from Ireland, about three hours long each way. I get car sick easily, and I also get sea sick easily. But I made it out alright. I've got to say, Ireland was probably my least favorite country to visit. It didn't have anything to do with the actual country, but the fact that I knew I was in a country that was basically a large island. That made me feel stranded. Does that make me weird? I assume so. Ireland was pretty much the only country that we had a leisurely day to shop and do whatever we wanted. Know what I did on that day? I found a piercing parlor, and was SUPER CLOSE to getting my nose pierced. The only reason I didn't was because the air pressure from the flights back home probably would've made my piercing swell to the point of exploding all over my face. That'd be a cool story to tell. NOT.

On one of our last days going from Ireland to Wales, I realize that I'm beginning to not feel so well. I knew there was a sickness going around the bus, so I'd been popping vitamin pills like I was a complete addict. But they were no match for the viral infection I received. Luckily I brought my Mucinex and Ban Lan Gen tea with me, and took these remedies as well as my daily vitamins. I slept as much as I possibly could, and honestly the sickness stopped quicker than it would have had I not brought the mucinex and tea. Also, the flights home were so much more smooth than the flights coming to London. We had no delays, no missed flights, nothing. All flights were in order and on time.

When we arrived back in Rock Hill, it was literally in the knick of time, because right after everyone had gathered their bags and we were headed outside to the bus, we saw huge lightning bolts across the sky and heard loud thunder claps shortly after. I can manage having delayed flights going to our destination, but having problems when you're trying to return home? Oh, I would've cried if I'd been stuck for even another hour.

All in all, a worth wile tripe. I was able to get my dad some Irish Whiskey, and I got my mom a really beautiful Waterford Crystal sunflower. I'm pretty sure I hit all of the main points. If not, I can always come back and add more. :3

My Uncle.

I'd thought about writing a blog about my thoughts about my uncle and his death, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. So, here it goes.

Honestly, I didn't know my uncle as well as I'd like to think I did. I saw him a little more than occasionally, meaning on holidays and randomly when my dad would decide to make steak dinners. It's funny, though. Because even though we didn't hang out so often, my uncle Lars knew the perfect gifts to give to me on holidays and birthdays. On my birthday he gave me a picture with the five elements of Feng Shui in the original Kanji characters. I'm a freak about anything Asian, so the fact that he knew I would like it shows something.

It's saddening to think that some people I have met who were friends with him probably knew him better than I did. (Seriously, no offense to anyone I've met. I appreciate you all and I KNOW you loved my uncle, and you love my dad as well as Jeanne-Marie, and I can't thank you enough for loving them when I'm not there.) I know nieces and nephews aren't SUPPOSED to know everything about their uncles and aunts, though. My uncle loved me, and I loved him. Because blood is thick.

Even so, it kills me the most for not getting to know him because it was the same situation when my grandpa died. My grandpa died in 2001 (I believe) from Leukemia, and I've always regretted not getting to know him. And it's the same thing with my uncle Lars. It's worse because we knew he had cancer for a while before he died, and I didn't utilize all of the time I could have to see him more. Everyone has regrets, and that will always be one of mine.

I'm sad he's gone. I'm sad I didn't know him better. But I am mostly saddened for everyone around me. Especially my grandma and my dad. Especially especially my dad. My grandma was ready for the suffering to stop, and though my dad knew it was coming, he wasn't ready to let go of his (literal) life-long best friend. My uncle died on my grandma's birthday (isn't that some shit?) so that wasn't so convenient, but in a way, his death was a gift to himself as it was to her. He's in a better place, and she can take comfort in that fact. I'm sure my dad realizes this too, but I guess it's hard to actually wrap your brain around the fact that someone is gone.

Which brings me to my next point. My dad has a regret worse than mine.

A long time ago whenever Lars went to the doctor the first time for his problems, the doctor misdiagnosed him, telling him it was simply his hemorrhages. So he left it be, for a very, very long time. By the time his body had gotten worse, he went back to the doctor to find that he had stage 4/5 colon cancer. The doctors removed the large tumor with most of the cancer in it, but by that time it was already too late. There were spots of the cancer in other parts of his body. We went to different doctors after that, we even brought him up to Duke. But you know that when Duke can't do much for you, there isn't much you can do except wait. So, Lars did. He waited. He took chemotherapy for quite a while, but eventually he figured there was no point if he was going to be waiting either way.

My dad will always regret not getting a second opinion. Always. I think we will all have that thought haunting the back of our minds for the rest of our lives. The best I could tell my dad was that everything happens for a reason. There must've been a reason we didn't think to get a second opinion. Lars was a great man, and he deserved to go to heaven when he did. He's on to greater and higher things. Who would want to stay on this cruddy earth? He's with his father and grandparents now, and he's looking down on us hoping we will soon push through this tragedy.

My dad also told me that he was hoping for some kind of sign that Lars is around. Jeanne-Marie told him that she waited for signs like that with her family members (who also died of cancer) and that it just wasn't going to happen. I followed her statement with the fact that if Lars DID give him some kind of sign, he would be a ghost. He would be a lingering soul who hadn't gone to heaven, still searching for his purpose. I told my father he didn't WANT a sign from Lars. Eventually when time has passed and numbed our hearts it will be more comforting to understand this.

Bottom line: we all loved you, Lars. And you WILL be missed, every day.

PS, now that he's up in heaven, I always imagine him watching over me all the time, and I feel like he's judging my actions. I'd better spruce up! ;D

Biggest disappointment in a while. But not really.

So, I'm taking a fencing class this semester. Yes, it's totally fun, regardless of how bad I actually suck at the sport. I'm one of the three girls in the entire class, the rest of the class are males. (Note, this is a class of around 20 people.) So even though I suck, I still feel like a total badass for being a girl taking fencing.

ANYWAYS. To the point.

SO there's this guy in my fencing class. I won't say his name, and if he reads this then it is NOT going to be good. BUT! He's kind of cute. And it's SO obvious that we flirt (or so I thought). Like, SUPER obvious (or so I thought). It's not just flirting because we are flirtatious people (or so I thought) but it seemed like actual interest flirting (OR. SO. I. THOUGHT.).

This I was excited for. (NOT ANYMORE)

So recently, I added him on Facebook, thinking perhaps this would open a door to more communication. Maybe he would ask for my number. Or maybe we could just be better friends. WRONG-O. I added him, and not only did I find out he'd been in a relationship for over two years, but he is engaged.

Engaged.

Engaged....

ENGAGED!?! WHAT THE HECK! ENGAGED?!?!! LIKE, GOING TO MARRY SOMEONE ENGAGED!? FIANCÉE SOON TO BE HUSBAND AND WIFE ENGAGED???????

I am sorry sir, but if you are going to be engaged then you need to control your flirtatious habits and just not talk to me. You are in your early twenties and engaged. You are not fully grown yet. You should have shed your flirtatious ways by now if you're ready to make a huge commitment.

At first I took the engagement for (translation: desperately hoping for) one of those silly best friend relationship/engagements/marriages. Ones that aren't legit. You know, the kind where you're like, "Oh let's be married on Facebook tehehehehehe and see if people believe us teheheheheheeh~~~~."

Nope.

After doing some further Facebook stalking I realized that he had pictures of him and his [nngh] fiancée posted way back in 2008, and they looked very happy and lovey-dovey. And don't get me wrong, I am happy for him.

But don't flirt with me. Or the other two girls in the fencing class. Flirt with your FIANCÉE, DAMNIT.

I received an award almost two months ago!

I didn't even realize it, but fellow blogger She Looks Like a Haddock gave me a "Life is Good" award on February 1st, 2011. Thank you so much! I also give the reward back to her, because all of her posts are freaking hilarious. I will post the response questions at the end.

I haven't blogged in so long. I've been busy with school and work and Facebook and whatnot. I also haven't been able to keep up with my 365 project, which is a HUGE disappointment. I recently sold my Canon Rebel Xsi, and I just purchased a Canon Rebel T1i that should be arriving in the mail in two weeks tops.

I'll cut to a chase and tell you a funny joke that I heard from my friend O'Shay.

Ahem.

"So these two guys walk into a bar. The first guy says, 'I'd like some H2O, please.' And the bartender gives him the drink. The second guy says, 'I'd like some H2O, too.' The bar tender gave him the drink, and he died."

The joke is better when it's spoken aloud. H2O is water, obviously. But H2O2 is Hydrogen Peroxide, which can kill you.

Here's another joke!

Ahem.

"There are three guys. The first two walk into a bar. The third one ducks."

HA! That's a knee slapper right there......I didn't get it the first time I was told that joke.

1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this? If you aren't anonymous, do you wish you started out anonymously, so that you could be anonymous now?

I don't blog anonymously. Sometimes I wish I had started out anonymously, sometimes it's more fun that way. But I'm glad I stuck with writing as myself and not some anonymous creeper on the internet.


2. Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side.

I refuse to walk back from my car by myself when I am at USC. I always need my friends Logan or Will to walk me back, because I always get back late at night, and it's dark and scary in Columbia at night.

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?

What kind of question is this? I see myself.

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?

Frozen Lemonade from Panera Bread.


5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?

I nap. I watch TV. But mostly I take pictures.

6. Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life?

Finish college, get a great job, move somewhere more interesting, get married, have ONE child, have a husky, so many things in so little time.


7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person, or always ditching?

I was definitely the shy person. I still am. Anytime the teacher calls on me to answer a question, even if I know the answer my face will turn beat red.


8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?

I don't know what poignant is. Pass.


9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog, or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people and events?

I am not uncomfortable writing about myself, but normally I prefer to write about things that happen to me, and if they happen to involved other people, then so be it.


10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

Sit down and read a book. I hate talking on the phone.

My dad is funny.

Seriously. When he drinks he starts shouting in German, it's hilarious.

But what is REALLY funny is when I talk about how I have my mom's nose, and not his. He completely flips out. Everything else on my face is almost identical to his : same eyes, same mouth, same facial structure, etc. But he CAN NOT, WILL NOT, and SHALL NOT admit that I have my mother's nose. He has a very straight nose, with no bridge, and it's pretty much even. My nose, like my mom's, has a defined bridge towards the top, perfect for glasses to sit on. It also gets narrower towards the top as well.

No. My dad simply will not have it. He will get my step mom to look at the both of us in profile multiple times, and the answer is the same every time, "No, she doesn't have your nose, Steig." And my dad replies, "NO STINKIN' WAY! SCHEIßE!" ("scheiße: means "shit" in German, for those who didn't know.)

:D

Dreams.

This is such a common subject, but what are the craziest dreams you've ever had that you remember?

I've had so many. Dreams, nightmares, night terrors, etc. Dreams where I wished they weren't dreams. Dreams I wish I hadn't dreamed. Dreams that were foreshadows of things that happened in the near future. Dreams about people I didn't even think about until I dreamed about it. And so on and so forth.

Most commonly I have dreams that end in me jolting awake from my sleep because I tripped on something or stepped off a ledge and was about to fall. Those just plain suck.

One night a long time ago I had a night terror. I can't even remember what the dream was about, but I remember dreaming that I was vomiting (I'm sure you wanted to know that), and even though it was a dream I actually FELT like I was getting sick. (This is really bad because I have emetophobia: fear of vomiting). All I remember aside from that was falling (as mentioned earlier) and I jolted awake, sweating pools of sweat and crying as if I were about to face a painful death. I didn't even want to go back to sleep regardless of the fact that it was still dark outside.

This next dream in particular was really weird. I just remember one night dreaming that I was about to go to work. I got in my car, and it wouldn't start because the battery was dead. The next morning (I'm awake at this point) I was about to leave for my lunch shift at Red Bowl, and when I tried to start the car, guess what? You guessed it. The battery was dead. I'd accidentally left my car charger plugged in and it sucked up the rest of my battery's life.

Last night, I had an amazing dream. It was a dream that made me want to write this blog. Now that I'm writing about it almost 12 hours after I had it, I won't be able to give a lot of details. But I just remember someone granting me the ability to breath underwater, and I swam into the depths of a bathtub at my grandparents home, and I swam very deep into this bathtub. And towards the bottom (which was a lot deeper than any normal bathtub) there was this giant glowing ball. It was a beautiful purpley-pink color, and I broke through the exterior of this globe into some kind of magical world. I wanted to stay, but I remember having to come back up to the real world because we were having some kind of family reunion. At one point I went back and someone was trying to destroy my newly discovered "Atlantis," one of my former babysitters actually, and I remember the soft purpley-pink glow being gone and me not being able to break through the exterior into the world, as well as losing my ability to breath underwater. At the very end of my dream, I had just saved it and burst through the exterior back into the world, and I woke up.

I was so disappointed. I wanted to stay in this dream forever and ever.