It's Monday and it's raining. Spring break and it's raining. Thanks, universe. Two can play at this game. I see your rainy Monday and raise you a day in bed reading, writing and wishing I'd gone to the grocery store. Woman cannot live on cereal alone.
But I can't complain, can I? It's Spring Break and that means pajamas. When I was younger, it would have meant a lot of other things and younger Pish Posh would be rolling her eyes about the excitement I feel over pajama days. Gone is my wanderlust. Gone is my desire to go see and do new things. Gone is my desire to see and be seen. Now is my desire to sleep and be slept.
I survived New Orleans. It wasn't what I thought it would be - but then I'm not how I thought I would be, either. I thought I'd be a lot better than this. But I have to admit, New Orleans has a lot of wonderful things - things I miss in the Midwest. It has a different attitude about itself, and that attitude is full of life and fun.
What it is not full of, however, is bananas. On the morning of my presentation, I went downstairs in search of fruit. The older I get the more I like my routine and every day I have a banana for breakfast. I tell you, I looked high and low for fruit in little markets, cafes, and everywhere else. I even sent out little search parties of friends who sought bananas for me. I felt like a drunken Columbus. Where are those damned spices?!
So I went into the coffee-bar of my hotel and ordered a cup of tea. The barista was full of life. Well, he was certainly full of something. Every comment he made was meant for every customer to hear and every comment was meant to be entertaining. Every customer was "hey gorgeous" and every bill he gave came with the subtle comment "thank you for paying my bills." I asked if he had soy milk and he said "this is the Big Easy, sister!" he grinned and winked with a beautiful aquamarine eye. "What do you think this is, California?" How did he know? "I wish" I replied. "You and me both, gorgeous, you and me both" he laughed.
I decided not to ask for a banana but ordered a fruit bowl in the hopes there might be some hidden monkey-potassium in it. "Can I have a bowl of fruit please?" I asked "or do you have something funny to say about that too?" He seemed taken aback. "Darling, you can have anything you like. Anything at all."
After serving everyone else, he finally put in my order and 45 days later brought me a distinctly banana-less bowl of fruit. But he refused to take my card, unmistakably, until all the other customers had left. Then he slyly stared into my eyes and told me there was a good music show that night and if I wanted to go with him ...
Sensing my hesitation, he turned his back and did something with liquids and cups and whatnot. He turned around again and gave me a little cup that looked like it was full of ice-cream. "Drink this" he instructed, cockily." "What is it?" I asked stupidly. "Aw, come on now, don't break my heart. Drink!" So I took a huge sip of his concoction, immediately realizing my mistake. He grinned. "Do you like it?" Milk and bourbon mixed together at 9 in the morning? No, Mr. Flirty Barista, this is not my type of thing. Big Easy or not, I walked away, and he watched me go.
This Thursday on this week's Get Fit! Challenge we will be talking about upping our physical fitness, aligning our physical with emotional fitness, and also.... gossipy backstabbing puta pies... at work, at home, and abroad. By the way, if you're interested in this topic, Vesta Vayne at The Cowardly Feminist has written a book called Human Resources, Martinis, and Other Bad Things that is a great read for anyone who has experienced work-related stresses with the people they work with - not to mention losing your job, quitting an unhealthy job, ending a mediocre relationship, and fixing a friendship.
Someone who probably has some great insights on all these things, my friend LA Juice has been feeling unwell lately and I sure hope she's feeling better soon. She's created this lovely Tag You're the Chit game but I'm going to start with her.
My question for Juice (and for you guys) is about staying in mental, emotional and physical shape when life gets you down, and especially when others get you down - how do you handle back-stabbers - at work or otherwise? She's a little more confident and assertive than I am, so I can't wait to see what she says.
And now, Last Week's Awesome Fun:
But I can't complain, can I? It's Spring Break and that means pajamas. When I was younger, it would have meant a lot of other things and younger Pish Posh would be rolling her eyes about the excitement I feel over pajama days. Gone is my wanderlust. Gone is my desire to go see and do new things. Gone is my desire to see and be seen. Now is my desire to sleep and be slept.
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| Lauren Luna |
What it is not full of, however, is bananas. On the morning of my presentation, I went downstairs in search of fruit. The older I get the more I like my routine and every day I have a banana for breakfast. I tell you, I looked high and low for fruit in little markets, cafes, and everywhere else. I even sent out little search parties of friends who sought bananas for me. I felt like a drunken Columbus. Where are those damned spices?!
So I went into the coffee-bar of my hotel and ordered a cup of tea. The barista was full of life. Well, he was certainly full of something. Every comment he made was meant for every customer to hear and every comment was meant to be entertaining. Every customer was "hey gorgeous" and every bill he gave came with the subtle comment "thank you for paying my bills." I asked if he had soy milk and he said "this is the Big Easy, sister!" he grinned and winked with a beautiful aquamarine eye. "What do you think this is, California?" How did he know? "I wish" I replied. "You and me both, gorgeous, you and me both" he laughed.
I decided not to ask for a banana but ordered a fruit bowl in the hopes there might be some hidden monkey-potassium in it. "Can I have a bowl of fruit please?" I asked "or do you have something funny to say about that too?" He seemed taken aback. "Darling, you can have anything you like. Anything at all."
After serving everyone else, he finally put in my order and 45 days later brought me a distinctly banana-less bowl of fruit. But he refused to take my card, unmistakably, until all the other customers had left. Then he slyly stared into my eyes and told me there was a good music show that night and if I wanted to go with him ...
Sensing my hesitation, he turned his back and did something with liquids and cups and whatnot. He turned around again and gave me a little cup that looked like it was full of ice-cream. "Drink this" he instructed, cockily." "What is it?" I asked stupidly. "Aw, come on now, don't break my heart. Drink!" So I took a huge sip of his concoction, immediately realizing my mistake. He grinned. "Do you like it?" Milk and bourbon mixed together at 9 in the morning? No, Mr. Flirty Barista, this is not my type of thing. Big Easy or not, I walked away, and he watched me go.
This Thursday on this week's Get Fit! Challenge we will be talking about upping our physical fitness, aligning our physical with emotional fitness, and also.... gossipy backstabbing puta pies... at work, at home, and abroad. By the way, if you're interested in this topic, Vesta Vayne at The Cowardly Feminist has written a book called Human Resources, Martinis, and Other Bad Things that is a great read for anyone who has experienced work-related stresses with the people they work with - not to mention losing your job, quitting an unhealthy job, ending a mediocre relationship, and fixing a friendship.
Someone who probably has some great insights on all these things, my friend LA Juice has been feeling unwell lately and I sure hope she's feeling better soon. She's created this lovely Tag You're the Chit game but I'm going to start with her.
My question for Juice (and for you guys) is about staying in mental, emotional and physical shape when life gets you down, and especially when others get you down - how do you handle back-stabbers - at work or otherwise? She's a little more confident and assertive than I am, so I can't wait to see what she says.
And now, Last Week's Awesome Fun:
- A New Orleans recipe for Indian Tacos which are the best ever. I'm not kidding.
- Week 2 of the Get Fit! Challenge - don't forget to check out the links from other bloggers.Their stories are inspirational and moving.
- Some tips on how to improve relationships by shutting the heck up and listening to friends. We can all do this.
- A story about Why I Hate Girl Scouts and a mean 6th grade teacher. Visuals all original.
- The four levels of punishment in the Secret Ninja Sasquatch Stealth Assassin Club. Who would YOU like to see fish-slapped and paint-balled?
22 comments:
When a guy in New Orleans tells you to drink something but refuses to tell you what's in it, 9 times out of 10 it's a Roofiecolada.
oh gosh, i am so ungraceful when it comes to backstabbers. I'm not one to turn the other cheek or anything mature like that. I usually have a confrontation. And a knife fight. Just kidding about the knife fight. Maybe.
What was I thinking?
Strange guy in strange city: here put this in your mouth
Pish: uh, okay.
Derrr....
I bet you cut people in your head though. For the past few weeks I've been raging and cutting and punching people in my head. Mostly telling them off and doing the walkaway. But it's all in my head - the truth is a lot closer to strongly worded e-mails ;(
That barrista is a little creepy...
I'm terrible at dealing with backstabbers... I wish I could confront them - but I just don't have what it takes. So my technique? I get up and walk away when they're around so as not to give them more fuel.
And then what? Doesn't the anger just eat at you?
Aw come on now darlin' he just has bills to pay in the Big Easy!
eye-roll
Ugh, I don't even wanna think about backstabbers -- they cause waaaaay too much drama
Oh my. Funny and flirty barista, huh? Serving up bourbon and milk at 9 in the morning? Well, you are irresistible, so maybe he gets a pass for trying.
I think pajamas are perfectly suitable Spring Break attire...I choose to think that makes both of us smart :)
Thanks for the shout out Pish! Backstabbers in the workplace - no bueno.
Lol a bit! But really it depends on what else is going on in my life. My negative emotions are strong but not usually long lasting. So if I have other things to distract myself with then things go ok.
There is a man with a fruit truck in New Orleans with an old style megaphone on the roof. He drives through each neighborhood every day, "I got oranges and bananas! I got cantaloupe! I got strawberries!" The truck has wooden camper top, and he's a little hard to understand if you don't speak New Orleans. He does, however, have fresh fruit.
Of course, this time of year, the banana trees are little tiny things after the winter frosts, so maybe there just weren't any around.
Your trip to New Orleans makes me sad. I went on vacation there once and didn't go home for four years. I even stayed for Katrina. And I never spent time on Bourbon Street except when I worked in the fake jewelry shop in the Ramada, but I later upgraded to a gallery on Royal Street. I walked to work through the Marigny and the lower Quarter every day. I usually left early in the morning so I could walk up by the river and still get to work on time.
Life was slower, softer, and sweeter when I lived down there, so your stories make me sad. My boyfriend at the time was a vegetarian, and we found all kinds of places to eat... just not in the Quarter.
I guess 9 is a little early for bourbon and milk depending on what your day is like. Aligning mental and physical fitness ...that is a good one . Something I'm trying hard to do.
I have to say that I have never liked New Orleans. Blasphemy for someone who grew up in Louisiana, but there it is. When, and why, were you there? Did I miss something?
Hmm... backstabbers? My response is this, "Never trust someone that can sneak up in front of you."
That's a paraphrase of a quote from I can't remember whom but was about "Indians." You know, the old west kind.
I went to give a presentation for work :) It was okay just not my thing, at least parts of the French Quarter.
Oh do share! Post something on how that's going and link-up between Thurs and Sun :) I'm struggling!
Well you know what I needed Laura? A local!! When I did briefly meet up with people who had been there before they took me to places that made me really happy. I LOVE the tacos. Did you see my other post on Sunday?
Also this may not have been a good time for me to travel - I was stressed, anxious, cranky, depressed. So maybe a lot of this was me. I do best exploring places on my own or with people who are very very mellow and laid back - which is why I enjoyed Savannah. There were no objectives and I was with people who loved to eat and drink :) I was with lovely people this time too but it was more of a stressful conference for some reason -
I still do not understand the love of Hurricanes and don't imagine I ever will. I used to bartend. I watched her make my drink. It is three or four types of alcohol plus soda and juice. I really can have that any time I want, which is never.
I believe you about how lovely NO is. My brother loves it so much.
darling, I just love you so much that I am not even singing the "We have no bananas today" chorus in my head. I'm actually going with "It's the big, fig, newton".... with Ethel merman singing.
I will be thrilled to answer your question, but in a little bit- maybe tomorrow. my arms are already tired from typing, and I still need to visit dogs and midlyfemama and suni...plus my brain is all cloudy and I have nothign interesting to say. BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
While a bourbon and milk does not violate my "no more than three ingredients" rule for drinks, it does violate my "NO GODDAM MILK" rule. If it isn't coffee, milk has no place in my cup.
Regarding back stabbers, I have to say I don't have to deal with this in my life much, but I guess it would depend on who was doing the stabbing. I had a situation at work a few years back where someone bad mouthed a hiring decision I made, but not to me, to a bunch of other people. Someone brought it to my attention, and since we reported to the same person, I decided to bring it to that persons attention. I could have gone to the offending person directly, but there was a reason I felt strongly about talking to my boss about it. The offending person did address it with me, and still lied about it, saying he didn't say what I thought he said, and I suggested that there were multiple people who would disagree, but the in the end my issue was that he had no say in my hiring decisions, and if he had issues with it, he should address them with me, not the rest of the organization. We got along after that but I never trusted him. I don't have a high tolerance level for bull shit in my life. Life is too short. I prefer to focus my energy on people who are healthy for me, who I am healthy for. If this was an ongoing issue at work I would likely find ways to limit my exposure to these people, limit the power they have over me, and ultimately find somewhere else to work. See the previous life is to short to put up with a lot of bull shit statement.
Oh Juice stop dying! Drink your juice, eat a banana, and feel better soon okay! Cuddle with your kitties and have Sir Lancelot take good care of you. We miss you xx
Well said. I think a lot of people can relate to that story about coworkers, especially about hiring/firing decisions. I agree the best thing to do is to involve a superior and if it continues either think about another line of work or completely limit all power they have over you.
Also - no goddamned milk is right!!
Backstabbers get written out of my life a much as possible. There is not usually much that can be done when it happens. Defend yourself if necessary and then do your best to not give them the ability to do it again.
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