I had never spent a New Years in New York, having been frightened by the shots of Time Square full of millions of people. Then I remembered that I don't like going to Time Square any time of year, so it might be kind of fun to be in the city. It turns out that with a job like I've got, if you're around for a holiday, you're expected to work that holiday; the only way to get out of it is to buy a plane ticket out of town before any of your coworkers do. So when one of my fellow waiters announced plans to go to New Orleans, the two of us who had just inadvertently signed up to work that night congratulated her and quietly kicked ourselves for the procrastination. So I spent all afternoon in my restaurant, prepping for what was shaping up to be a very busy night, taking phone calls like this one:
Customer: Do you have any availability for tonight for six people?
Me: No sir, I'm sorry we're booked to capacity for the night.
C: Really? It says on the internet I can still make a reservation.
M: Yes, that happens sometimes, but I can assure you there are no tables available that can seat six people.
C: But it says here on the internet that there are tables.
M: Yes sir, I'm sorry about that
C: So should I just reserve a table?
M:....Um....you can, but it won't be available. Because it's booked. Like all the other tables.
B: But it says here that it's available...
Like every 5 minutes I had a slight variation on this conversation.
After the reservation shenanigans, dinner came and went without incident, and though the people were filing out by 10:30, I was told to remain there until 11:30 or so, which was too late for me to get to the party my friends were at by midnight, so I stayed at the restaurant. New Years came and saw me in an empty restaurant with a couple coworkers, a devoted kitchen staff, Champagne, and a very swanky New Years hat. But I had a steak, so that was awesome.
After midnight, I caught a cab to a party that a friend was throwing. That friend lived in Bedstuy, which is a strange neighborhood to celebrate New Years in because you're never sure if those are fireworks or just gunshots. But it was a fun time, and due to the neighborhood being in somewhat of a no-man's-land for subway lines, roommate Erin and I had a nice long walk home, punctuated by strange looks because of my 2011 sunglasses, and the best sandwich I have ever bought at a deli. The best.
Nothing ever gets done on January 1. Nothing. So Erin and I went to brunch at about 2 when we got up, and we talked about new years resolutions as we waited for our food...which it turned out gave us more than enough time. Way more than enough. My new thing I'm doing this year is that when I go to a restaurant I've been to before, I am never ordering the same thing I did the time before. I started by spurning the challah french toast in favor of the egg nova, which is an eggs benedict with smoked salmon instead of ham. It was delicious, so just so we're clear, Forrest: 1, Instinct for only eating about 3 different kinds of food: 0. Booya!
And another New Years resolution...I think I'm gonna bring back the lists.
Days until Portland: 3
Days of work left: 0!
Errands to run between now and then: Countless
Happy New Year everyone. This is for you:
No comments:
Post a Comment