F-you Life!

Generally I have pretty bad luck with life. This last week I realized some pretty good friends aren't as "good" as I thought, my ex decided to "be nice" to me (which also means he felt the need to give me hypocritical advice), found out a friend is just using me for their own personal agenda, and just when I thought it couldn't get worse, I get a flat tire on the way to work which means I couldn't hang out with one of my best friends tonight. What makes that worse is that she leaving the country in less than a month (my timing may be slightly off, but I'm still pretty disappointed).

This week has been pretty rough! I was expecting it to continue to be horrid, but (I am happy to say) the tides have turned. When I went to get the tire replaced, it was free! I brought new rear tires earlier this year for Hugo, (my car), so they were under warranty. I was not expecting this because as I was driving along the freeway a nail went into the tire. I am beyond happy right now! Hugo and I are happily reunited once again, and we shall stay together for quite some time... I hope so anyway!

When is it okay to touch a waitresses ass?

Answer: NEVER! You would think this would be common sense, but some pervert brushed his hand against my butt, and it was not by accident! The douche had plenty of space to go past me without doing this, so why would he do it? Because he is a disgusting pervert! I feel incredibly sorry for his wife, who coincidentally had 2 glasses of chardonnay (and probably more alcoholic beverages when she got home). My entire day was ruined from this experience. So thank you, jerk!

Restaurant Etiquette - Don't have it? Go to McDonalds!

Ever since I started working in the food service industry I have seen some pretty interesting things... the good, bad, and ugly of the food service industry. The restaurants I have worked for have actually been pretty outstanding, which is pretty outstanding considering the last couple are sushi restaurants which serve raw fish.  Using my experience working in restaurants, I have come up with 5 tips for visiting American restaurants:

5) Just because you are being waited on, doesn't mean your server is your slave. I have had people talk down to me, speaking as though I wasn't even worthy of touching their dirty plates. Little do they know that their server graduated top of their class, and was offered full tuition scholarships to 4 private universities. Don't act like you are better than people!

4) If your server forgets something, don't be afraid to ask for it again. A simple "was my [insert food or drink item] coming out?" This is particularly important if it is a busy restaurant. If I forget something I feel horrible, and I would rather be told multiple times, than just before a customer leaves. When I am serving, I really do aim to provide the very best service possible, so if a customer doesn't get what they want I am not happy. 

3) You are not the only / most important person in the restaurant, so wait patiently. Chances are, your server is doing the best they can to get everything you want to your table or booth. While you a waiting enjoy the conversation of your company. If food is taking a long time and you are starving, ask your server if there are any appetizers which don't take very much time to come out.

2) A simple please and thank you go a long way. When people ask for things politely and say thank you it really does make my day. Even if I have a ton of things on my mind (work related or not) it really does brighten my day to have a customer genuinely thank me. 

1) Tip at least 20 percent if you received good service. Nowadays it is the norm in America to tip 20 percent. I will admit to tipping under 20 percent, but that is because I am originally from a country where people don't expect tips (it's not a social norm). If you got all your food and the server was friendly, tip them accordingly. I have had people who tipped me absolutely nothing, and I did everything correctly. One of the people actually owned a sushi restaurant herself, so you would think she would have tipped something, but she did not.

The customers I have throughout the day really do impact how I feel at the end of the night. If they were all rude I end up feeling pretty shitty. If I have at least 1 kind, polite customer I go home incredibly happy. I somewhat doubt any of my favorite customer's will read this, but if they are I want to say thank you for being amazing! You really do make my days better!

There is such a thing as bad service, and if you notice it then more likely than not the server's boss or manager will too. If you have any questions about anything else regarding my experience working in restaurants, feel free to leave a comment and I will answer it.

Australian Hate Mail

Yesterday I received 2 harassing emails from Australians. It was particularly awkward because I couldn't quite get past all of the spelling and grammar errors the Aussies wrote. If you actually know me, it will be no surprise to you that I was deeply troubled by the atrocious emails.

Aussie and Proud writes: "Ur just bloody jealous of australians because no one gives a s*#t about new zealanders and you know it. Your countries not even acknowledged."

Well, hello to you too! I actually didn't have anything against Australians, but thanks for making me question my views! With that said, I do have one pointer for you and your fellow countryman who decided to harrass me: learn to write correctly if you are going to attempt to insult someone! Chances are they won't take you seriously, nor will they care, if you cannot even form a correct sentence.

1. "Ur" is not a word, it is you're.
2. "australians" is supposed to be capitalized as is "New Zealanders."
3. "countries is the plural for country... unless I stated that I was from various countries, it is country. 

Here is the correct way of writing your "insult": "You're just bloody jealous of Australians because no one gives a s*#t about New Zealanders and you know it. Your country is not even acknowledged."
Aussie Bloke writes: "Just another Kiwi who is upset with the fact that they people mistaken them for being an Aussie. No need to make yourself look really stupid mate." 

1. The first "sentence" is a fragment, which means it is not complete.
2. Reconsider the use of "they."
3. "Mistaken" is the incorrect conjugation of the verb mistake.
4. The second "sentence" is also fragmented. 
5. When addressing anyone in a sentence a coma is needed.

Here is the correct way of writing your "insult": "You're just another Kiwi who is upset with the fact that people mistake them for an Aussie. There is no need to make yourself look really stupid, mate."

I have friends from all around the world who say that they learn Oceania, not Australia (and many of these friends went to very elite schools). Additionally, the head of the honors program at my school personally apologized to me for having maps mislabeled. It was really awesome of you to send hate mail to a girl... really awesome of you! Clearly you are top notch individuals.

Now to address the real matter at hand! The internet is a public forum where people are free to express their ideas and opinions no matter what they are. If you feel so strongly about the matter at hand, write your own damn blog instead of harassing a girl. Heck, if you feel like llamas are going to take over the world, write about it -- as I stated earlier, you are more than free to do so. The internet also allows you to view what you want, when you want it... which brings up my next question: why did you even read my blog? The name clearly stated the content... it's not like I tricked you into reading it. If you don't like it, close the tab or browser!

To those who don’t already know, New Zealanders and Australians have a love hate relationship. Sure we tease each other, but when it comes down to it we don’t actually have anything against each other (with the exception of the rude males who messaged me). For example, last week I had an awesome conversation with an Aussie. We are from the same part of the world for goodness sake!!!

I am proud to be a New Zealander, and that will never change! My country is absolutely beautiful and has a rich cultural heritage. With that said, I would greatly appreciate it if the individuals who messaged me would kindly refrain from harassing me (and yes, it is harassment – look it up in the dictionary if you don’t believe me). No need to make yourself look stupid, mates! 

Coffee - The Nectar of the Gods

I'm going to be completely honest with you: I love coffee! I think about coffee constantly! Not a day goes by without it being on my mind. Coffee has always been there to help me when I can barely get out of bed in the morning and it supports me whenever I need it the most. As you can tell, I have a deep and meaningful relationship with coffee, but lately I feel like I have been kind of neglectful. From this moment on, I am going to do my best to spend more quality time with a nice hot cup of heaven (aka coffee).

I realize that the picture I have posted to this particular blog may be somewhat offensive to specific groups of people. I am merely posting it because it seemed fitting to my relationship with coffee. Unlike many people, when I drink coffee I don't get all wired and unable to sit still for 2 seconds. I have consumed enough caffeinated beverages in my lifetime to be able to sleep straight after having a triple shot espresso drink (or even an energy drink... or even both). There are times for noise and others call for a more tranquil environment (such as my drinking coffee). I like men, women, and children to be like the coffee I am drinking: quiet!

Coffee is the love of my life, and I will continue to work on our relationship one cup at a time!