22 posts tagged “qotd”
What's the biggest mistake you've ever made at a job?
In college, I used to sling coffee at Espresso Royale and I was good at it. I could pour the foam on a cappuccino to come out in the shape of an apple, without even using a spoon. Everybody made great espresso drinks there, the coffee was top quality, we were well-trained, and it turned every last one of us into a coffee snob.
The summer after I graduated, I needed to make some money fast to facilitate the move from Minneapolis to San Francisco. Since my monthly rent was $147.50 this was easy to do in three months. So I got a job as a waitress at a wonderful place where they use only local ingredients, in season, and organic whenever possible. This was 20 years ago, and having fresh food like that in the Midwest was a rarity.
Turns out, I was a very terrible waitress. I'd forget to add the 18% gratuity to tables of six or more. Or I would add it and then not remind them of it, so that they double-tipped without either me or they realizing it. That happened twice.
But the worst thing I did while working a busy Sunday brunch was wondering what the heck was going on with the kitchen that the food for my table of 12 wasn't ready. Way too much time had passed, and people come to brunch hungry and ready to eat.
So I looked in my little waitress pad and saw that their order was still in the book, the chefs never got it. I apologized and everything, but that was the last straw for me in my waitress career. I was just never going to be good at it. Now, I always tip well because I know firsthand that it's a damn demanding job.
What are your irrational fears?
Submitted by Dan Culhane.
Decapitation and pedestrian death, silly!
What is the best present you have ever given?
Submitted by quornflour.
The best presents are not necessarily the biggest or the priciest, but the ones that really mean something.
Nick's wedding ring which I had inscribed with our vows "I promise to love you" is of course a very treasured thing, but the best gift I gave him was saying yes, he could do a pig smoke in our backyard.
It was for our housewarming after we just moved in. The pig weighed 70 lbs. and they named her Charlotte. After the 21-hour, 2-story curtain of smoke dissipated, the pig was eaten, and our house was warmed. Nothing was left over, except the next morning, I was surprised by a lone hoof in the yard.
What's been your worst experience at a restaurant?
Bad food would be the worst, and being ignored is pretty bad too. A great line from the Tim Burton Corpse Bride movie is when a bunch of the dead were seated at a meal. People were all in varying stages of decay, always with bits of skeleton in view. One of the dead guys said, "Waiter, there's an eye in my soup."
Film & TV writers are on strike, which means everything except reality TV could halt production. Do you support the strike? Are any of your favorite shows in jeopardy?
Looking at the photos of the picketers, I almost cried. It sucks and I hope they get a fair deal immediately. We need to be saved from the barrage of no-writing-required reality shows, stat.
Then I almost cried (in a good way!) when I read this 4-page celebration of writer Diablo Cody in the entertainment bible: Entertainment Weekly. Holy crap. That woman is on fire.
She's also married to our old old old old friend from Minneapolis, who's mentioned throughout the article as Jonny.
What is the best beer on planet Earth?
Submitted by Remmy Van Hornie.
Wine is my favorite alcoholic bevvie but if it's beer, I would enjoy one very cold Amstel Light. I like it because it's a lager. Most local brews around here are all hoppy like Sierra Nevada or Anchor Steam. I call those "chai" beers.
What game are you really good at?
I play a mean dirty word Scrabble. You get to use so many more words! Proper names like "John" are acceptable and the funniest thing is that after a while, pretty much everything starts sounding dirty.
Should driving while talking on a cell phone be outlawed?
Submitted by Soup.
Cell yes!
What are the 10 foods you must have in your refrigerator and/or your kitchen cabinet?
Submitted by Carol.
Is freshly ground black pepper food? Then that. The other nine are: olive oil, tomatoes, cheese, eggs, chicken stock, dry white wine, broccoli, fresh herbs, and most of all: dog food!
Where do you consider home? Is it the place you grew up; the place you're currently living? Why is it home?
Submitted by uncagedbird.
"Home isn't where it used to be. Home is anywhere you hang your head."
-Elvis Costello
