Just Dropped In

jenny & i ate grilled sandwiches last night at homer's. kyle made a club on wheat for me, and a grilled cheese on sourdough for jenny. both sandwiches were tasty. i had the day off, so it wasn't like i worked all afternoon and then came back for dinner. it was a relaxed atmosphere inside the coffeehouse. halfway through my sandwich, kyle reminded me about the rejected taco bell sauce packet idea i had a few weeks ago. i have no idea what happened to the original list, but here is one i remember.

It's Who You Know

recently i had some plumbing problems at my house that happened over the weekend. after making a few calls, and getting cost estimates, i decided to wait for a weekday when the rates would be more affordable... however when i shared my story with a friend/customer at homer's, HE made one call and had my problem fixed the next day. this is not the first time a friend at homer's has REALLY helped me out. i'm glad i've worked at homer's almost 7 years now, and have made good friends as a result. if you spend enough time at homer's, you'll see what i mean. thanks again mike.

Still Have My Tattoo

yesterday kelly (one of the new baristas) celebrated valentine's day by giving out temporary tattoos. it was cool. it reminded me of wearing my poncho on cinco de mayo, or my green bandana on st. patrick's day. this morning my tattoo (not the one above) was still on my arm.

Juxtapose This

every weekend somebody brings something cool to homer's... LIVE MUSIC! customers will usually call during the day to ask about the performer(s): what kind of music do they play? are they good? should i come early to get a seat? i remember taking one of these calls when bob jenkins was scheduled to play that night, and when the caller said "what kind of music does he play?" i was tempted to say something like "oh, he's somewhere between celine dion and frank zappa." but i resisted the urge and simply told the caller that bob is an established singer/songwriter who plays folk songs. i know it was a generic thing to say, but i didn't want to scare the caller off. bob will be playing his cool mix of songs tonight, and my band, THE SUBS, is playing tomorrow night. what kind of music do we play? oh somewhere between fats waller and henry mancini. for real.

When We Wore Buttons

when i started working at homer's, the baristas wore buttons with their names on them. something as small as knowing each others' first name helped to establish a familiarity and trust between us and the customers. the buttons have gone away, but we still call each other by name. however, if i can't remember your name, and YOU'RE not wearing a button, i'll still make an attempt. when i look at you and say "Allison?" just know that i'm trying.

We're Here Separately Together

my computer is still waiting for a part at microcenter, which means i'm posting this on another computer at the library. there is a large number of people perched in front of other library computers. no one talks, no one even glances... they just put on their metaphoric blinders and hone in on the screen. i could write about the same thing happening at homer's when a bunch of wi fi users show up and are anti-social... but that might paint a bleak picture. fortunately most of us at homer's are on a first name basis so we can call out a name when a drink is ready, and if the name belongs to a person who is staring at their laptop screen, they manage to break the spell and retrieve their mocha, americano, latte, etc.