(Type Two) Tired or The "Salad Setup"

After working a seven-plus hour shift at the Waffle House you feel one of two kinds of tired: the energized, dang-I-made-a-mess-load-of-money-but-God-I-am-freakin'-exhausted kind of tired, or the less desirable but perhaps more common, dull, soreness of having just spent the last seven-plus hours of your life in a smokey, hot grease pit kind of tired.

I think it's safe to say that I'm feeling the second type of tired tonight. We'll call that "type two tired." I ate a pecan waffle with whipped butter and syrup before I left work. And when I got home I took a nice long hot shower. I even did some t'ai chi on the deck, which is usually an effective way to relax my legs and feet after having been standing all evening. Tonght the t'ai chi (pronounced /tai ji/ ) and the shower didn't really do it for me. I'm still bone tired, and I have the sneaking suspicion-- although I don't know for sure-- that I reek of onions and vegetable shortening.

I want to write about Tep, the third shift grill op who comes in as I am leaving for the night. I'll probably get around to that sometime this weekend.

Also, some good news, I've been pretty consistently earning some cooks' bonuses for selling so much food. If all goes to plan, I'll get paid an additional US$15-20 this pay period. have I mentioned that WaHo pays all of its employees in cash every week? I'm pretty sure it's one of the few places that still does that. I want to look into it though.

Also, also, what if this blog turned into a book? I'm thinking something along the lines of a Bill Bryson (A WALK IN THE WOODS, etc.) sort of creative non-fiction thing. I'd love any input I could get on that subject.

Also, also, also, I need to make a note about Bert and his visit to WaHo unit 1153 this weekend. (Bert is the VP of WaHo. And, apparently he invented the chili that we serve.) I ought to write about the chili too. Dang-- so much to write.

I've almost completely internalized the WaHo "magic marker" system.

The presence of onion signifies "hold the onion." Similarly the presence of a packet of whipped butter beneath a packet of jelly signifies "dry toast" (i.e. "hold the butter"). Oh! And another really interesting fact: the pile of lettuce and one tomato and a couple of raw onion rings that comes with a chicken sandwich or a hamburger or cheeseburger is called a "salad setup." Asside from being alitterative, this is a really cool phrase for something which I never knew had a name before. Salad setup. Salad setup. Just whisper it to yourself as you're drifting to sleep.