Sorry for my absence!

Yes. I've been a slacker. I assure you I've been very busy, but I know that is not an excuse. I will be back on a regular basis from now on! I have a mission to make sure everyone knows how you treat a waitress says a lot about who you are!!

Anyhow, I have not had a chance to put it up on this site, but my podcast is available. I'm embarrassed that I say "you know" so much (and "um" too), but cut me some slack, it was my first interview! From now on I'm on a mission to be more articulate!

I also want to give a huge thanks to John Linder of the Baltimore Sun for coming up with the blogger segment Blography featuring a new blogger every week (I was the first!!)! Blography is dedicated to the exploration, study and appreciation of the Blogsphere and its inhabitants. Thanks for supporting blogs and I wish you success!

Check it out...(btw..I'm Caroline Simpson).

www.baltimoresun.com/blography

Wow, I just listened to it again, and I sound out of it! The metro blogging guy put me to shame! It's still a great concept and you should still check it out..but please, cut me some slack! I'm enrolling in a public speaking class ASAP!

Sometimes it's hard to leave the industry

Where I'm from in the Midwest, many stay in the service industry their entire lives. There is loyalty to the place and they almost become a town celebrity. Without sounding too cliche, it is nice to go to a place where everyone knows your name..(and their always glad you came). OK, I'll stop now and just take the time to wish Phyllis Elkins a happy retirement!

Waitress Retires After 60 Years
Posted Friday, September 22, 2006 ; 03:31 PM

After waiting on some pretty famous people, one Huntington woman is hanging up her apron.
Story by Gina Long Email | Bio

Waitress Phyllis Elkins is retiring after working for Jim's Steak and Spaghetti House in downtown Huntington for 60 years.

Thursday, people poured into the restaurant to say goodbye to Elkins.

She started at Jim's when she was just 15-and-a-half years old.

She says she's been there through it all. She waited on John F. Kennedy during his campaign trip to Huntington in 1960.

In fact, she's featured in a picture of JFK over the booth where he sat.

"He came in one morning, when he was campaigning and there was about 8 or 10 other people with him. Of course, I was young enough, I didn't pay much attention to it. You know, I wasn't in politics or anything. But anyway, he was sitting over there and looked up at me and asked me if I minded having my picture taken and I told him it was my pleasure," Elkins fondly remembers.

And Elkins isn't the only one who put in some long hours at Jim's Steak and Spaghetti House.

Sharon Price retired this year after working at the restaurant for 40 years, but managers say she still comes back to help out!

Advice Column Question for Waitress (Not Just Any Waitress)

I came across this today and thought that it was interesting. I've put in bold some of my favorite parts. Well, actually, it is just on favorite sentence.


Advice by Marilyn Heins, M.D. : Parenting Give wayward waitress direction and cut off material support to her
Advice by Marilyn Heins, M.D.
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.17.2006
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Q My 18-year-old granddaughter who just graduated from high school has recently gone to work in an all-nude bar as a waitress.
I am well aware that these places get the girls in the door with the lure of "big money." I understand that the dancing girls then "work" on the waitresses to earn even bigger money by becoming a dancer. Her hours are 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.!
Everybody in the family has voiced grave concern, but she refuses to listen and won't quit, even after money was offered to bail her out of her car loan.

A This is a tough problem and a difficult question to answer.
Your granddaughter is legally an adult, and "I can do what I want now" is no doubt her mantra. She should be heading for college or another way to learn how to support herself — which means health insurance and retirement benefits, not just enough money to make car payments and keep her in lattes.

The three tasks of adolescence are to learn how to support oneself, emancipate from the family of origin and find a life partner. Even though adolescence in our culture is very prolonged compared with that of a primitive society, the human brain is not completely developed for abstract thinking until age 25. So if family members say, "She's not thinking straight," they are right.

But you cannot stop her. There are few options for a caring family with a legally of age child who is on a wrong path.
You can cut off all contact.

I know there is one school of thought that holds the family should cut her off completely because what she is doing does not fit with its values. I disagree. My suggestions are to maintain contact while quietly pointing out your disapproval: "We love you, but we hate what you're doing."

Another option is to cut off all material support. If she lives at home, tell her to move out. Do not give her any money. The message again is: "We love you, but we cannot support what you're doing."

Speaking of material things, I would not have offered to pay off her car loan. If she cannot "support" her car, including payments and insurance, she will have to take the bus. I don't know what city your granddaughter lives in, but few towns have all-night bus service.

Waitressing is hard work. Going and coming home from work at these ungodly hours can not only be dangerous but can also keep her from being with friends who have normal hours. Keep hoping your granddaughter realizes this and finds another job.
The third option for a family is to do nothing or to grumble and nag, which amounts to the same thing in ineffectiveness.

I am saddened by the fact that so many of our youths graduate from high school without any plans for the future. There is a reason the words "graduation" and "commencement" are used synonymously. Graduation from high school is just the beginning. The ones who do not enter college have to work even harder on the planning process than the ones bound for college.

Saying "I'll find a job" isn't enough. That job must provide a basis for personal and financial growth. It should be a steppingstone to a better life than one can expect from the usual jobs available to teenagers.


(source)

Waitress Accused Of Swiping Credit Card Numbers

Now I don't know how she thought she wouldn't get caught. But then again, I guess drugs can make a person do things they normally wouldn't do. I hope she is seeking treatment for her addiction and I hope she recovers.



BOSTON -- If you've eaten at the Ground Round in Salem recently, you might want to pay close attention to your credit card bill.
A waitress there is accused of swiping customers' credit card numbers to support her heroin habit.
Nicole Sekenski, 28, allegedly kept copies of customers' credit card numbers.

When other customers paid with cash, she would allegedly bill the meal to one of those credit cards and pocket the cash.
One customer said she was charged six times for the same dinner.


Click on the title for source.