let lemons be angry

What i like about work.

1. taking orders in shorthand on the order chit
2. knowing everything about everything on the menu and rattling it off like any impressive waitress would
3. getting the golden smiles of tourists who unlike Singaporeans, appreciate service
4. crushing dry ice and packing it in foil bags for pint takeaways. this is my absolute favourite.
5. jeffrey slipping us edibles which we pop into our mouths with our backs towards the customers
6. fysh giving everyone discounts and freebies
7. the nice waffle aunties who secretly don't like the nasty waffle auntie
8. the smell of nuts toasted by the nasty waffle auntie, who's not bad all the time, actually
9. the smell of mango sauce sizzling on the teppanyaki plates
10. filling up the lemon ice water jugs
11. 3--4 pm when every table is calling for attention and there're customers waiting for tables
12. how a colleague will always come help clear a table with you
13. the occasional famous face, so far patricia mok, a cindy, the boss's wife, and this mg senior who counts because i recognised her
14. friends dropping in on me
15. small talk with everyone. it's like hosting a party all day long.

What i don't like about work.

1. when the nasty auntie keeps mopping the floor and i have to lift my feet to avoid slipping. i leave shoe marks on her wet floor and she mops again. it's a cruel cycle.
2. jeffrey's sudden changes of tone when work is hectic
3. reaching my hand into customers' personal space to take their glasses to fill them
4. standing in front of the counter waiting for people to walk in so i can greet them
5. the new service manager. he creeps me out.
6. i would say my hat, but i've made peace with it because no one tells me to keep my fringe off my face anymore.
7. barely time even for a bathroom break
8. friends dropping in on me.
9. the smell of ice cream, water and freezers combined, which stays on aprons
10. fast and often lonely lunches before work
11. expensive transport to town

Other than that, i must say that work is overall more loved than loathed, and i do get to window shop a lot just by looking at orchard road girls in their new clothes all day long. And i'm glad i don't work everyday, really. There's driving still on my schedule, and catering (tonight!) and the upcoming t-shirt venture (found a printer near my workplace!), and new desserts which fill my free hours. Don't you worry, i will take time to crash on my couch now and then. I thrive on busyness, the spreading of my affections over many things. I go faster and faster. When i'm idle, you see, i tend to go mad thinking about what was and what's gone and what was merely imagined. Now which one were you?