Even with the bad things that have happened lately, I still believe in serendipity, karma, fate, etc.
I don't know if anyone saw what I wrote about my OBE back in 2000, but it's that same Denny's I am talking about here.
Anyway, on Sunday night I went into work and was really bored but didn't really want to go home early because I can't afford to do it that often. Well my boss asked for names to be picked randomly for a couple people to go home. I remembered how taking the offer to go home saved my trailer from burning down so I put my name in and it got picked of course. I was wondering if I was in for some kind of adventure or what lol.
I had been thinking of Denny's, the one across the street from where I work, off and on all day. There aren't any places around here that serve breakfast all day long. It was about 2 am and I pulled out of the parking lot thinking "Should I eat at Denny's or should I get home to see if everything's ok there." I slowed down as I passed Denny's but kept going. Then I turned around and went back. I was hungry.
I went in and my waitress Britney sat me near the door by a window. I went to the bathroom real quick and when I got back Britney came over smiling and said, "Are you ready to order, Jeff?" She was half sitting down taking my order so I told her just sit down and asked her how she knew my name. Anyway she wouldn't tell me how she knew my name, just grinned at me.
I had a huge breakfast with a short stack on the side. Britney was giving me excellent service. She kept grinning, sat down in the booth a couple times even to talk to me.
I found out how she knew my name when I saw an old friend of mine, Vic, come up front to pay his bill. He was actually one of my best tippers when I was a server there. I would forget to bring his milk with the meal about half the time, but he'd just laugh and give me my usual good tip. He was probably about 21-22 when he first started coming in there. he knew about how to tip because he was a bartender.
So anyway he came over to my table and we talked for a minute and he left. I finished my meal and went up to pay and Britney, still grinning, tells me Vic paid for my meal. I don't know why she got such a big kick out of that. Maybe it's because folks don't do things like that as much as they used to. Maybe he gave her a $20 bill lol.
When I was a server there, I gave way better service than folks expected from a Denny's waiter. I remembered 100s of names and trivial things my customers would tell me. I'd change ashtrays, replace watered down drinks, remember people's complicated regular orders even. I can't do that kind of work any more because of my bad hip.
Anyway, it's a good thing I turned around. I got to see an old friend, and I have a favorite waitress across the street next time I get hungry for breakfast. The free meal was just a bonus :)
Tags: denny's serendipity
