Moving Out

I am currently sitting on my bed, looking over all of the stuff in my room. I'm moving in with AJ in the next few weeks (hopefully by Thanksgiving), and we're working hard to try to get his small apartment ready for both of us. I think we have it all worked out. We lucked out because my mom's company is going to give us free long-term storage for some of the furniture that we need to get out of there because it doesn't fit.
So far I've been really good about parting with stuff that I don't need anymore. I threw away three boxes full of stuff last month, and I've got a few more to go through. I think the main problem is going to be all of my clothes and my books. There's only one, small closet in the apartment, so AJ said that we can take the alcove, which already has my vanity sitting in it, and make it into my closet. I'm going to buy a freestanding closet from Walmart and take the wire shelves I have now and make it work. But my books, and the DVDs we have. That's going to take some organizing.
Well, here's what I have to get through by Saturday so that we can move my furniture down. 

Oh boy

So I ended up calling out for my last shift on Saturday.

I was at the Y, and I got a text message from the girl who was supposed to come in after me, saying that she was really sick, and asking if I could stay and cover her shift from 1-6. As I was typing "I'm sorry, I can't, I have to work at the restaurant," I stopped and though about it.
I could either say "no," and make her come in and work when she's not feeling well, go to The Office, work for six or so hours, have no tables because they stuck me in the side section that they really only use if the restaurant is overcrowded, be miserable, be late and have to rush to get down to Superstar, and maybe make $20 for the day, OR I could stay at the Y, help someone out, have an enjoyable day, have enough time to leave work, change, eat, and still get to Superstar before they start, and make a guaranteed $37.

I called the manager at The Office and pretended I had a migraine . I deserve an Oscar for that performance :)

My Last Shift

So tonight is my last shift at The Office, and I couldn't be happier.
Asside from the horrible money and the sheer pointlessness of my being there, it was a social nightmare for me. I've always been shy and slow to make friends, but I've gotten a lot better about it recently. I've made so many new friends working on Jesus Christ Superstar. But the atmosphere at The Office was just different.
It was like being back in high school. I was the loser no one wanted around, and they were all the cool, popular kids. I mean, only one or two people have been outrightly rude to me, and one or two are really nice and I feel like I could have become friends with, but the rest seemed to just tollerate my existence there. They'd only talk to me if they needed something or wanted me to do something. I've lost count of the number of times I've walked into the kitchen in the middle of two people having a conversation and the person talking looked at me and said "I'll tell you later" before walking away.
I don't even know how many of them know I'm leaving; I only told two other servers.
AJ thinks that I should just go down the line tonight telling them all to fuck off. If they act the way they've been acting, I just might.

Also, look at the "script" they hung up in the kitchen for us. This is what they want us to say when we get to a table.

Are they serious? This is the corniest thing I've ever read in my life! And I've done commercials!!!!! You really want me to go up to a table and say that a burger is "fun to bite into"? Or rather than describing how something tastes, to actually say "yum"? Like I'm thinking about it?
This "script" takes two full minutes to say outloud when you include the specials and the descriptions. If my server came up to the table and said this, I'd tune out somewhere around the tuna tower. At the end of the two minutes, I'd just be staring at them with a half glazed, half seriously worried for their sanity look on my face.
When I go up to a table, I introduce myself, ask if they've seen the new menu. If they have, I ask them if they'd like to hear tonight's specials. If not, I give them a quick (QUICK) overview of the things we've added and the things we've kept the same; Tell them that all of our burgers are now certified angus beef, and that all of our meat is now hand cut and everything is no longer frozen, but brough in fresh every day. And then I mention the specials. If they ask how something is or for my recomendation, I'm more than happy to oblige them, but I'm not going to stand there and without them asking, give them a "favorite" of mine from every category on the menu. I also don't lie, and I don't recomend things that I don't eat. I'm not going to "personally recomend" the creole Pasta, because I don't eat shrimp or sausage.
And if you give every server a script to stick to, where's their personality, their individuality? Aren't the customers going to get a little suspicious when they hear the server at the table behind them say the EXACT same thing their server said to them, right down to the supposedly treasuered childhood memory of dunking their grilled cheese sandwich into their tomato soup?

I am going to dance for joy when I leave there tonight.

Well, yesterday I quit The Office. It was tough, because I felt bad, but I'm really glad I did.
Last night as soon as I got in, everyone was rushing around like crazy, because the manager kept saying "You guys are gonna be really busy tonight", "It's gonna be packed tonight". I pulled her aside and told her that I just couldn't keep trying to work three jobs; I'd end up putting myself in the hospital. She said she understood. "I could be a bitch and tell you you can't go because we need you, which we do, but you've got to do what's best for you." She had no idea that I was working two other jobs, she just thought it was one. So she said "The least I ask is that you give us two weeks, so that we can find someone else", and I said "Of course", and then went back to work.

Later on that night, Matt, who had been filling in as manager for a few weeks, pulled me aside and said "So I hear you're leaving us?" And I explained to him that I was getting exhausted, and out of the three jobs, this was the one I was making the least at, so this is the one I had to give up. He told me "Well if you ever need a reference or anything, please let me know, I would be happy to give it to you. You're good people, and I want you to know that." He almost made me cry.

Oh yeah, and last night's "really busy" night, I had five tables and made $25. That's a busy night for them. Didn't make me regret quitting at all.

Decisions, Decisions

So this morning, sitting at the Y, I'm seriously considering just quitting The Office. Claire told me about a week ago that her primary assistant had to quit, so if I wanted to become her primary, she'd be able to give me a lot more hours. The company that runs the personal assistant program is changing, and the new company runs cash model, so she'd also be able to pay me more.
Right now with tips at The Office, I'm making maybe $100 a week. Right now, I get paid a little over $9 an hour with Claire. If I worked with her five days a week, even if only for four hours, that's about $180. So even before my rate went up, I'd be making much more money than I am waitressing.
I was trying to look and see if maybe there were any other restaurants in the area that were hiring, but there really aren't. The closest one is on Rt. 18 in East Brunswick, and that's a 25 minute drive from AJ's, without taking into account the traffic that Rt. 18 is notorious for.
Claire's flexabilty is also a huge plus. I really do need to get out and start going on auditions again, and if I'm constantly worried about my schedule, that won't happen. I can't call the restaurant an hour before my shift starts and say "Hey my audition is running late I can't make it tonight." At least, not more than once. But Claire is so flexable, and she completely understands the difference between part time job and career. She told me she has a few other secondary on call assistants that she can call if I can't work. And we can work the schedule around what we already have planned. That means if I'm going on vacation I don't have to worry about who's taking my shifts. Or when things pop up like Dad wanting to take me to see Mary Badham, I don't have to worry that I may not be able to go. And no working on major holidays (serously, who goes to a restaurant on Thanksgiving anyway?). And it would also mean having a social life agian.