The Store

So tonight, after work, I went out for a few drinks with a few of my new co-workers. I've been busting my ass all week, and tonight I took some tables and felt pretty good about my performance, for the most part, and decided to socialize with a handful of people I barely know. I think I'll have fun at my new job. It's been a while since I've worked in a restaurant but I remember when I first moved to Chicago and worked for FTG, man, we'd be out every night. The front of the house, the back of the house and the managers all kicking back and having a few beers to wind down.
Then there were those mornings you woke up with an empty pocket and you mentally totalled up the damage from the night before.

$137 Earned Tips For The Night

$42.25 For 5 Beers + 2 IrisH Car Bombs For Me

$5.95 For An Order Of Chicken Tenders

$23 For A Round of Shots

$25 Bar Tab At The Second Bar

$13 Bar Tab At The 4 O'Clock Bar

$.50 For Vending Machine Condom In Bar Bathroom

$10 Cab Fare

Damnit! Seventeen Dollars and Thirty Cents!? What the hell did I do last night? Excuse me... excuse me. Wake up. Yes, hi. What's your name? Shannon? Okay, nice to meet you, Shannon. Um, can you tell me how I spent over $100 last night? No, well then, did we have a good time? Who are you and how did you end up here? Uh... So... I mean do you want breakfast?

It's fun to think about hanging out with work buddies even if I'm just the new kid on the block. I'm pretty much done with my wild days, and I don't mind saying that I've got amazing incentive to run home after every shift. A few beers after work with the co-workers will be a welcome routine, I hope.

Something odd though, on my way home I saw a woman jogging through the center of Wrigleyville at 1 AM. She was wearing an Orioles Jersey, had her hair up in a pony tail and was listening to her Ipod as she jogged down Clark Street. What's going on here? Who jogs in the middle of the night? Is she fight ing with her significant other? Insomniac? Obsessive? Olympic hopeful? Just plain nuts?

What do you think?