Saturday, May 18, 2019

Gambling as a profession


Gambling

I have just got off the phone with a professional gambler. She, is one of my three of my daughters that have at one time, have are or have been professional gamblers. I know this seems a little off, or a little strange that three of my family members are or were at one-point gambling for money. It, however, is 100% true that gambling was their profession.  They routinely had to anticipate the needs of the rest of the people at the table, have a professional, yet pleasant demeanor putting it all on the line for the feedback of the persons at the table.  That feedback is in the form of the tip left after the meal is completed. You see, my daughters were professional gamblers as they make less than $2 bucks per hour with the hope of it becoming $300 or more at the end of their shifts.  The gamble is while summoning all the charm and professionalism she can muster that it would be sufficient to receive a tip commensurate to the level of effort made to make sure that evenings dining experience was enjoyable and memorable Make no mistake this is not for the fun of it as sometimes it can be fun, but it is the way of doing business in a businesslike manner. 
  
     My Daughters have always been hard workers all 3 daughters that are here have worked waitressing. Seeing they gave birth to my legacy and are at present nurturing them to become adults, all 10 of them have different personalities and habits.  Their well-being and happiness is and was based on at some point, her prowess as a gambler.  I tip regularly and generously.  The amount is flexible based on the level of service, and that is totally up to you. I recently attended my daughter’s graduation from Tulane University with her master’s degree in social work.  After graduation, we went to the restaurant where she worked. Houston’s in New Orleans. It was a high-end restaurant. I usually tip with cash when I am in a high scale restaurant, as I want to reward the staff (the gamblers) for their effort and work. I do not wish to reward the state or federal government for their work that’s between the wait staff and them as I stay out of it.  In this case, I forgot to get cash for the tip the dinner was close to $250 which meant with my method of calculating 20% was doubling the cost of the meal then moving the decimal point to the left. Which was about 50 bucks. I went across the street at the Walgreen’s and hit the teller machine and took out about 150 dollars.  The manager was at the table and surprised me when he told me, “Sir, your daughter is a delight to work for, and she has worked very hard here and is respected by her co-workers. We are comping the meal. After my mouth closed. I thanked the manager, and when the waiter came back, I shook his hand and gave him $60. You see, the meal was comped, not the immaculate service.  I had no problem giving money when a job was well done.  In this case, it absolutely was.  There is a reputation that follows Christians that reputation is that they are cheap. I will not state this as a fact. However, since the thought is ubiquitous in its widespread acceptance, I will accept the truth of it in some quarters of society. So between 11AM and 1PM on any given Sunday there will be somewhere in the viewing of this article 6-15 people at a given restaurant with the chairs rearranged to accommodate the group (and their children)  have a meal for everyone then leave a tip that is in the least embarrassing to me to even comprehend.  If it was my daughter, and while they were college, it was my daughter. I would want to slap the taste out of the mouths of every adult. If they were clergy, they would get the change to turn the other cheek as I would want to slap them twice.

I will however not leave a generous tip to anyone in the wait staff that ignores my family and me while in the case I am thinking of trying to get the attention of a young man (he was handsome) while ignoring my requests for more water. It also was telling that someone else had to serve the meal while they tried to get her dance card filled. I don’t remember the amount of the meal, but I do remember the tip was nowhere close to my usual 20%


            I Have family members (I use that term loosely) that have not come to the revelation as of yet that rewarding excellent service is good policy. They are
moving at their own pace in their journey of the spiritual growth area, so I don’t speak of it unless it’s with my wife in private.

            Remember these people when you sit down for a meal. They are sons and daughters, fathers and moms and are trying their best to make ends meet just like we are. You see a little grace can go a long way.  That reminds me of a story of my younger years, I used to drink copious amounts of alcohol when I was a young airman. I used to give a preemptive tip. I’d walk up to the bar and get the attention of the bartender and say. I am here to do business. I would love to do business with you. In that regard, I would like to present you with this $10 bill as a sign of my good faith. I would like a Gin and grapefruit.  Needless to say, I needed a taxi ride home more than once. It wasn’t for me at the fact was that my car got drunk, but, I still needed to get back to the barracks.  I no longer drink, but the sentiment is absolutely the same. By rewarding excellent service, it has a positive effect on the evening.  For the servers and those being served.

Saturday, May 4, 2019

The Next Step


The next step   

Well, I got started in the next phase of the I want to live, as I’m not planning on dying any time soon program.   Changed the weekend alarm to 6 AM. Got up and went to the GYM. As some of you know, I renewed my Gym membership sometime last week. Well, it was interesting comedic but interesting. You all know the saying “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” That’s kind of what happened.  I went to elliptical machines and put my weight and age in the computer and started working out. I set a goal of 20 mins the 1st Time out.  Then it happened.  The Following is a public service announcement DO NOT under any circumstances play Sirius XM 80’s workout while doing cardio if you are recovering from all the Shiznet I experienced over the last 3 years.  I was not feeling bad. I was kind of energized at 1st. However, the machine kept sending warnings “YOU ARE EXCEEDING THE RECOMMENDED HEART RATE SLOW DOWN” How can I do that? The Pointer Sisters were blowing Neutron dance I was just keeping up. Then Thomas Dolby’s Blinding them with Science came on. Then Rod Stewarts Young hearts started. Then next time I knew I’m watching flashing warnings stating in essence “YOU OLD MF SLOW YO AZZ DOWN” the 20 mins was almost over so said just go on and finish.
                        Then I knocked 3 triceps exercises the 1st With dumbbells (not the one sitting on the bench) the 2 10 Pounders from the rack. Basically, the one when one sits upright keeping the elbow next to one’s head then extending the arm over the head. 2nd triceps pulldowns on the cable machine and finally the one with the machine behind me and bending over and extending the arms working the triceps. It was not too bad even though I could feel it in the right places. The technique was much more important than weight. Washed the Santa Fe bought coffee for Wanda and I and now here I am finishing my blog entry for today.  

I have made myself accountable for what I have planned for tomorrow. Told a couple of friends that I respect and the universe (The internet) That I will be getting up tomorrow and heading to worship.   It's amazing what happens when one accepts the concept that a ‘Dead Man Walking” no longer applies to them.
 Whoda thunk it? Body Mind Spirit what a concept!