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As you know, my name is Diane and I have been a resident of Bristol,
Virginia for my entire life. I graduated in 2006 from Virginia Highlands Community College in Abingdon, Virginia. Seeing as
I never really enjoyed the idea of going to school so many years ago while in high school, it was amazing to me that I was
able to eventually graduate from college with high honors. Sometimes you truly do have the ability to surprise yourself.
Upon obtaining my associate's degree, I am now hopefully going to receive my bachelor's degree from Old Dominion University
this coming December 2009. It has been a long hard journey through school, but it is gratifying to know that one day I will
hopefully be able to pursue a line of work that will not only sustain me financially, but also a job that could fulfill me
on a deeper level.
As you can see from the picture on this page, I truly love the ocean and the calming, relaxing feeling
that swoops over me. There is almost absolutely nothing better than waking up on a warm summer morning and go walking on the
beach. Feeling the sand between my toes, the warm water swooshing up against my legs, and feeling as though at that very moment,
life really couldn't get any better than that. If I ever win the lottery, that is the first thing I will buy myself is a house
on the beach. Of course I would have to buy multiple houses for my friends because who wants to be in such gorgeous surroundings
and have nobody to share it with?
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My 19 year old daughter Jessica last year at
her Junior/Senior Prom. Isn't she looking just beautiful!
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Introducing Jessica!
My daughter Jessica will be graduating from Virginia High School
here in Bristol, Virginia this year and is going to attend East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee
this coming fall to study Radiology.
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My musings about waiting tables.
Outside of my school life and my daughter, there is a whole other world that I live within which
is work. For the past 19 years I have endured the life of being a waitress (server is probably the politically correct term
for my profession). Being a server for that many years has a way of damaging your psyche to the point that you begin seeing
people as not just the means of giving me a living through tips, but also they become the enemy. Waiting tables is by no means
a job for the weak (in body or mind) as on any given day, somebody out there in the world can randomly come and sit at your
table and become your worst nightmare. What I have learned is that there are far too many people walking on this planet who
take pleasure from taking their aggressions out on those who have to serve or provide them a service. If I could give the
world some advice on how to be a good guest in a restaurant, this would be what I would tell them.
1. You are not my only guest! Look around you from time to time and see what that server is doing.
More than likely, that server is multi-tasking to the nth degree and we are not purposefully ignoring your empty glass or
that trivial need of yours that you think needs to be addressed above all else. Learn some patience.
2. Never by any means order hot tea or hot chocolate in a restaurant. Too many steps have to go
into making both these items, plus the whole process slows me down to getting back to your table to get your order.
3. The "verbal tip" is never appreciated. What I mean by that is simple- when we servers get the
comment of "you're the best server I have ever had," or "you did SUCH a great job" and then you leave us a poor, poor monetary
tip, we really want to slap you. We can't take those comments to the bank and expect them to pay some of our bills in return.
We would rather not hear any comments at all regardless as to whether or not you think we are the best thing since sliced
bread. Always couple your remarks with cash!
4. When your food is taking longer than normal to arrive at your table, please take into consideration
that the great majority of the time it is not the fault of the server. There could be World War III occuring in the kitchen
in regard to the cooks which is delaying your food. The cooks could care less if the servers are getting their orders in a
timely fashion. They get paid the same whether it takes 10 minutes or 1 hour for that order to go out. We servers are not
so fortunate to have that sort of luxury.
5. When there is a dining room full of people, please don't expect that you are going to get your
food without there being at the very least, a minimal wait. Giving your server the stink eye or even worse, a verbal assaulting
is not going to get your food any faster. Learn some patience.
6. Don't let your children run wild.
7. When you order something that is clearly not on the menu or for that matter, never been on the
menu, don't tell your server that you got that particular dish there just last week. Looking at us as though we have 3 heads
and the dumbest person on earth is not going to get you something that we just don't have.
8. Always TIP! If you get excellent service that goes beyond what is required, TIP even larger.
A server's paycheck is not worth anything and it is not uncommon for a server to actually receive a "void" paycheck. Between
taking out for taxes, medical benefits, etc., we are left with nothing. If you "stiff" a server, we still have to pay taxes
on that tip that you didn't give us as we claim tips based upon our total food sales for the shift.
9. READ the menu!! I, as a server, am standing at your table to assist you through a meal, but the
restaurant purchased those menus for a reason and that reason being to help you pick something out to eat. I don't want to
hold your hand like a child. If you are above the age of 6, you should have the mental capacity to read a restaurant menu
and be able to convey to a server what you want to eat. Quit being lazy!! Reading doesn't require that much mental anguish
or anziety.
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My favorite quotes from various people
"To feel that one has a place in life solves half the problem of contentment."
George E. Woodberry - poet, critic, educator
"Life is only as drastic as you chose to make it."
Nathan Carrier
"Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner."
James Frey - author
"No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as
realities."
Christian Bovee - American author
"We crucify ourselves between two thieves: regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow."
Fulton Oursier - American journalist
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Martin Luther King Jr.
(One of my personal favorites)
"Anger is a poison ivy in the heart, and if it grows unchecked, it covers all the soft spaces where
you love and understand and feel joy. There's power in anger, sure, a power that can help you survive. But true wisdom is
in knowing when to let it go."
Jennifer Lauck
"To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see everyday, is
perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can have."
Theodore H. White
"Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets."
Arthur Miller - American Playwright
"Whoso loves believes the impossible."
Elizabeth Browning - English Poet
"A man is only as good as what he loves."
Saul Bellow
"Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to
charge because you are a vegetarian."
Dennis Wholey
My quotes are really something that I would enjoy the idea of updating them regularly. It is always
amazing as to how stirring a certain combination of words can be to the right ears.
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