Sydney Week #8 Dance Competition

So this past Saturday I had my first dance competition of the season. Since I’ve been doing these competitions for so long I wasn’t really nervous like most of the younger girls but I wasn’t very excited like the seniors since I was their last first dance competition as they called it.

When we pulled up to the competition and started so set up camp I got the usual dread of having to get ready to go on stage (even though I wasn’t actually performing for a few hours since we need to be there early). It wasn’t that I didn’t like getting on stage but rather I dreaded just getting ready with the hair, hairspray, makeup, costume, it’s just always so much work.

Since I still had a lot of free time I decided to go and watch some of the other dances that were competing. I immediately remembered why I still loved these dance competitions. Being able to see amazing dancers pour their heart out on stage is always an amazing and beautiful thing to watch. Even though some of the concepts didn’t make much sense it is still so fun to watch these dancers do everything they can to make the dance the best it can be.

Watching these other dancers made me remember how much I love performing and how much I love to be able to try my best to make my dances great. Finally I got the chance to go out and perform my dance and although it was not as great as I was hoping it was still a very fun and exciting experience. What’s something that you enjoy doing but only once you start doing it?

Stephan 8: Looking Into the Future

This week, I decided to head over to the weekly blogging challenge for some inspiration for my blog this week and I decided to use the quote by Thomas Carlyle in which he said, “Go as far as you can see. When you get there, you’ll be able to see further”. Upon reading at first, it seems like a relatively simple idea. Just push yourself as hard as you, and it will allow you to further. Upon a closer look, it really is an idea that we can apply to any part of our lives.

This mindset can be applied to anything in life from hobbies to relationships and education. By “going as far as you can see” you set goals for improvements you want to make in these many areas of your life. This will allow you to improve your knowledge and skills, as well as making yourself a better person.

The next part of the quote brings up a great idea, in that this process never ends. As you continue to set goals and see further, and becomes an endless cycle in which you better yourself, as long as you adhere to the idea. If not, you won’t go as far as you can if you set new boundaries. For this reason, it is important to set goals for yourself and try to reach them. In the end, it will help you a great deal. Have you ever tried this method of setting goals, and if so, did it work well for you?

Ryan 8: This Time of Year is the Worst

This time of the year is the worst. It's winter with no Christmas, there's rain but no snow and it's too cold to go outside. I cannot wait for spring and the short sleeve weather. I always hated this time of the year, in between new years and spring is just miserable.

I have always dreaded January and February, they are by far my two least favorite months. It just seems like nothing is happening and its the long stretch in school. My mood is definitely at it's lowest now with the bad weather. It's in between snow storms and nice sunny days so you end up with average bland weather that gets boring. This explains the term seasonal depression, it completely makes sense to me that the time of year can affect your mood.

At this point i'm just looking forward to spring. There is something about walking outside to beautiful weather and fresh spring air that just lifts my emotions immediately. Summer is one of my favorite seasons and spring feels like a glimpse or preview to it which excites me. Lately we just keep getting bad weather, it feels like spring is no where near. Even though the groundhog predicted an early spring.

Overall, i'm just not satisfied, but I know this mood is just seasonal so it's going to be alright. When spring is here the rest of the year will fly by which is reassuring. Especially this far into school we need the sign that summer is near. Which for me is that fresh spring air. What is your least favorite time of year?

Kadison 8- Space

The word “space” can refer to a lot of things; an area that is unoccupied, the dimensions in which all things move, or the area beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Ever since I’ve been little, I’ve always found space super fascinating. I read the books about space in the Lower Nazareth library several times over, and recently, I saw several articles on Twitter about how astronomers discovered a radio signal in deep space.

These radio signals are actually really strong pulses of energy. The power behind the energy pulses has over 1000 times more energy than our sun. Scientists have speculated a number of different causes for these FRBs (fast radio bursts), ranging from black holes, to stellar flares, to even extraterrestrial life.

While most of these FRBs are a one-and-done type of thing, scientists have recently discovered that a specific FRB is repeating itself on a regular cycle. The bursts of radio signal go on for four days, then stop for 12 days, and repeat this 16-day cycle. Is this evidence that there are aliens out there? Probably not. The bursts that happen over the four-day period are relatively random, which leads researchers to believe that these bursts are simply being interrupted by something, like an object in orbit or a black hole.

However, the human race has hardly explored any of the galaxy. Just because we have not seen aliens does not mean they don’t exist. Just because no other planets in our area have liquid water on them does not mean that there aren’t other solar systems out there with water. Even this line of thought is assuming that all extraterrestrials need water to live, which might not be true. The universe is absolutely enormous, if not infinite, so the probability that alien life exists is large.

For as big as the universe is, we haven’t seen any aliens (unless the government is hiding them from us, but that's a whole other topic). The universe is old too; scientists can only guess it's about 14 billion years old. Take a look at how much progress humanity has made in the past century alone. Assuming there’s extraterrestrial life that has been around longer than the Earth, and could be smarter than humanity, there’s no reason we shouldn’t already have proof of aliens. All these questions are asked and discussed by the Fermi Paradox.

I could go on about space forever, but I’ll end it here: Do you think aliens exist or are we the only planet with life? Why or why not?

Julie 8 - Upcoming Camping Trip

This coming weekend I am going camping with my Girl Scout troop. It has been a year since I joined this troop and I am still learning about the girls in the troop. One major thing to note is that a majority of the troop is in seventh grade barring one girl who is in tenth. This makes me the oldest member. Due to the seniority I possess, the leaders asked if I could plan this upcoming trip with the tenth grader, further referred to as Kayla.

Kayla and I were iffy on the idea but decided that it would an interesting experience. And an interesting experience it has been. We faced some difficulties along the way which is sort of funny because we are planning a three-day camping trip that is in a cabin due to the weather being colder than expected.

The biggest thing that was a problem was planning the meals. Most of the seventh graders are super picky eaters. I understand that some people don’t like some foods, but the amount of food that each of these people doesn’t like is ungodly high. I never had many dislikes when it comes to food, so I find it troublesome that these girls have so many. An added issue is that we planned this trip around the Cadettes New Cuisines badge which has requirements about different dishes to be made.

One of these requirements is to make a dish from a different region of the US. Kayla and I  decided that we would make apple crisp from the western region. We thought that the girls would like it because it is a desert but many of the girls complained about it. We then came to the conclusion that if they don’t want it they won’t have to eat it and we won’t have any substitutions. This was a conclusion we then made with most of the food options and activities because we did try and accommodate as many people as we could.

Overall, I enjoyed planning the trip with Kayla and learned a lot about planning small trips. Though I did not enjoy how the girls were being so picky with everything due to the fact that we were planning the trip and not them. I learned some important things about each of the girls and can’t wait to get to know them better over the weekend. Yet I am skeptical about spending three days with eleven seventh graders, one tenth grader, and two adults.

What food are you picky about?

Owen 8: My issue with health and sports performance

I briefly touched base with my situation about a week ago in our smiles and frowns but I'm going to elaborate on it more now. After being involved in baseball lifting, practices, and recovery sessions for 3 months now it has taken a toll on my body. However, the issue I'm dealing with actually stems back way before junior baseball season. This goes all the way back to my little league days and summer travel baseball. All the way back to how I was taught to play baseball and eventually the way I taught my body TO DO baseball.

So yes... my issue right now is that I'm dealing with elbow damage in my right arm and I only have one person to blame and it is myself (plus maybe some coaches but we will exclude that part ;) If you don't already know I am a pitcher, which means I do a lot more throwing then batting or fielding during a game. This puts stress on your arm but usually is tamable and only needs to be iced after a game.  However, the way that I pitch relies mainly on my mechanics and what I have been used to for so long. Since I was young, I always liked to throw hard and throw the best. The way I throw has caused slow damage now to my arm for 10 years. 

So to combat this I have to go to sports performance physical therapy right now which isn't the worst part because it is preventing having to get surgery which is good. 

For me, the hard thing right now is having to withstand from trying my best at practice because I need to limit my arm use. Coaches judge players based on their sports performance and so now that I'm lacking at practice it doesn't look the best.

However, my trainers and my parents share one thing in common and its the concern for my overall health and staying healthy for my future. So yes this is my internal conflict right now. Whether to value my health or try to stay in the baseball loop and continue performing to the level the coaches need me to. 

Have any of you ever felt this way towards something? Whether it be sports or school activities? The feeling of being torn and internally conflicted.

Joe 8: Do Not Return To School: No Lifeguard on Duty

Last Saturday around 5pm marked that lukewarm moment where the wheels of an airplane, carrying a sunburned teenager and his family, touched the frozen runway of good ol’ Lehigh Valley International Airport. The Burke clan was returning from a week-long quest for sun, sand, and relaxation in the nesting place of thousands of retired old people tanned to a crisp; Florida. Now we were all rested up and ready to get back into our lives, rejuvenated and refreshed.

It had been two years since we had gone on this vacation. It used to be an annual trip to my grandparent’s beach house in Fort Myers, but they had opted to sell it in fall of 2018 in favor of having money to travel. Unfortunately, mere weeks after the closing, my grandfather was told he was in no shape medically to be gallivanting around the world. This left my grandparent’s with a sizable amount of seller’s remorse and an equally sizable chunk of change to fix it. So, after some searching, they settled on a new place that ended up about a 5-minute drive down the road from square one. Quite the adventure.

A lot can change in a two-year span of time, and nothing emphasizes that more than when it came time to pack a bag full of school supplies to take with me. Turns out, the freshman year workload and the junior year workload are dramatically different. I’ve always known the latter weighs more on you emotionally but toting a 50-pound bag of textbooks, binders, and laptops through several airports brought the weight thing a little closer to home.

The trip was undeniably nice. We ate seafood, went on beach walks, and saw a lot of shirtless 70-year-olds (although only two of those could really be considered positives.) But, for the first time going on this trip, I felt a little bittersweet. There was a constant, dull feeling of concern crawling around the back of my mind, reminding me of how much crucial class time I was missing and how much homework I had yet to do before my arrival home. And that was with devoting a clean 3 hours every single day to the depressing monotony of writing papers and reading textbooks with 80-degree weather within reach. Finding a balance between giving myself a sense of relaxation and fighting the seemingly-endless pile of makeup work I had sitting back at the house proved difficult throughout the week.

Turns out, the fear in the back of my mind was onto something. As of right now, I find myself closer to drowning than I ever did back when I was 2 feet from the ocean. Trying to regain my footing with a barrage of makeup quizzes and tests has been about as easy as wrestling one of the alligators I was hanging out with for the past week. But, I like to think I’m on an upward spiral. I’m at the very least up to speed with the rest of my class assignment-wise, so the next step is just getting familiar with all the stuff that was taught while I was getting a mediocre tan.

It’s go time.

Emma 8: Valentine's Day Traditions

Every year for as long as I can remember, my mom has gotten my sisters and I valentines. She usually gets us baskets filled with heart-shaped candy and other little gifts that are red, pink, and white. I’ve always appreciated this and thought it was cute, and I’ve recently noticed that a lot of other parents do this for their kids. However, most of the people that get gifts from their parents or friends on Valentine’s Day don’t seem to appreciate it as much as gifts from their boyfriend/girlfriend. It’s a wide misconception that your valentine can only be your boyfriend/girlfriend. I think that more people have to realize that Valentine’s Day is about more than just the love you feel for a partner, but rather the platonic love that you share for everyone in your life. 

Just as you would value Christmas or birthday gifts from your friends and family as much as a gift from your significant other, it should be the same with Valentine’s Day. As I’ve gotten older, I hear so many more complaints that “I’m going to be alone for Valentine’s Day” or “I wish I had a boyfriend/girlfriend to buy things for”. I think this is in part because of the stigma that surrounds Valentine’s Day on social media. Almost all posts about gifts on this day are solely from partners. Yet, most people don’t seem to realize that they won’t actually be alone just because they are single. There are so many other people in our lives that we have love for and could show our appreciation to. Even if you’re not single, Valentine’s Day should be a day to cherish everyone in your life who is important to you. Do you plan on getting gifts for those who you have platonic love for? 

Mackenna 8: Why Music is so Important

Recently, my band director got a call from a college. The person from the college was involved in the music department and wanted to discuss the importance of commitment in the music program, as well as how significant it is when a music credit isn’t consistently scheduled every year.

I found this interesting because I never thought that colleges would question our commitment to something if we didn’t schedule a specific elective for one year, but then schedule it the following year. This college went on to discuss how excited they are when they see a music credit on a transcript. They feel that if a kid is involved in a music program, they are getting a good student who is willing to put their all into not just their education, but everything they do.

I also found this intriguing because music programs are almost always the first to be cut in schools. If these programs are so important to colleges, why are schools cutting them? I feel that this is an issue that needs to be addressed because some schools could care less about the arts. Just this past fall I met a girl from Northern Lebanon High School at a marching band competition. To be honest, I didn’t realize how lucky we were to have our band program up until I met this girl. Unfortunately, her high school is cutting some of the art and music programs, including funds towards the marching band. Therefore, her marching band has to make money on its own through fundraisers, and they are so small to the point where they can only afford to go to a few competitions every season.

In this school, I don’t think people fully understand how lucky we are to have this amazing school district with a variety of programs. It’s so sad to see how many kids don’t take advantage of all the unique opportunities we have here. I know that our marching band was so grateful to have the support of our beloved principal as we went on to win at Championships, yet we are expecting to decrease in size this year because of the number of incoming freshmen willing to commit to next year’s season. This school is so fortunate to have unconditional support from its staff, yet we are still on the verge of losing members in our music program. I think that it’s so important that we stress the importance of music in schools and help people understand how much support from schools is valued. If this is done, perhaps there would be a higher commitment to our music programs in schools all over the country.

What's your opinion on cutting the arts (music, art, drama/theater, etc.) in schools?

Alanna 8; My Transition to being an Only Child

Recently, my sister, Sabrina, just got accepted into Boston University. When we went to visit campus over summer she absolutely loved it, but I was not too worried because her first choice of University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. If you knew my sister like some of you might, she is very dependent on other people and… what's the word for it… lacking common sense. My whole family was banking on her getting accepted into UPENN because we were quite scared she cannot survive 5 hours away alone. Nonetheless, she got deferred from UPENN and accepted into BU, so she will most likely be going there.

I am super scared that when she leaves I will miss her way more than I expected and it will be horrible, but I am trying to be optimistic. Boston is very far away (for me) and it will be hard to visit her or for her to come home. I have never lived as an only child because when my older sister, Heidi, left for college I still had Sabrina. Now that she will be gone, I will be left alone in this house with my mom, which will be very interesting. Thankfully, my mom is allowing me to travel to Boston frequently to visit Sabrina because she knows it is one of the safer cities.

Another one of my many fears is that she will get there and miss her family extremely. She has always been very dependent on my mom and dad for everything and has not had much experience by herself. Not to bash her or anything, but in our relationship, I feel like the older sister. I do a lot for her, lively, whereas she does a lot for me academically. She helps me out with school, being the genius she is, and I help her with things like, how to make grilled cheese:).
Moral of the story, I am most likely overreacting and she will be fine, but stifling this all off of my fear of actually missing her. Although we joked 24/7 about our eagerness to leave each other, now that it is here we are being COMPLETE wusses about it.

Have you ever had a sibling leave for college or sorts and experience these circumstances?

Liam 8 - District Band

District Band

This Thursday is the first of three days in PMEA District 10 band at Exeter township highschool. District band is a festival of non-stop music with 140 musicians culminating in a performance at 2:00 on Saturday. This year Alex Baver (Bari Sax), Gabe Louw (French Horn), and myself (Bass Clarinet) were fortunate enough to do well at auditions in December to qualify for Districts. The past few weeks have been a rush to prepare music in hopes of making region band.

Whatever the results Thursday evening, district band is an unforgettable experience. Alex and I were able to participate in it last year, and still talk about it as if it were yesterday. There are light years between our concert band, by no means a bad group, and district band, the best of Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, and Schuylkill counties. Over the three days together, the ensemble becomes more than an ensemble. By the concert we have been isolated, bonding over challenging music, and have a sense of camaraderie hard to find in a group that has been together for three days.

I have high expectations for the festival, as long as they don’t under cook the chicken again. I wish everyone had the opportunity to experience something like this. Hopefully we can pull through to regions, if not, there is always next year.

If you had the opportunity to learn and master an instrument (or a new one), what would it be? I would like to add the trombone to my repertoire.

Connor 8: It´s the Moon´s Fault....

         This week has been a nightmare on earth. Personally, it's been my most emotionally demanding week of the year so far. I was feeling so awful that I skipped out on half a school day. Last year I had the flu for a week and had surgery and still came to school. I told my mom that I was done for the day and I couldn't take it anymore, so she came and got me and I took a 4-hour siesta. I´m usually a ¨suppress that noise and save it for someone who gives two craps¨, which means ignore it forever because I don't even give one crap about emotions in general, but this week it all came back at once. Everyone else I know has been feeling off too. Is everyone just coincidentally having a bad time, or is something actually happening? At this point I really don't care about what's happening, I´m just gonna blame it on the moon. Whenever anything goes wrong, it's that full moon´s fault. 

I´m not saying that it is 100% the full moon and stuff like that is true. Astrology is really cool and fun to follow, but who knows how accurate it really is? I tend to blame things on astrology because it's so easy to.  I was born May 6th, under the astrological sign of Taurus. According to Astronomy, I was born under Aries, but science is lame and using science to explain things still isn't the cultural norm (for some reason?) so I just stick to Taurus.

According to astrology, Taurians are stubborn, resistant to change, possessive, patient, practical, and love food.  Coincidentally, I am also those things. This means whenever I get too stubborn and people get frustrated with me, I just say, ¨I don't know man, I mean I'm a Taurus so...¨ Who knows if the date I was born is the reason why I believe things should be my way or my way, but it is commonly accepted as an excuse for that, so I roll with it.

Because Astrology is a form of religion, technically you have to take it as an excuse under most situations. ¨I can't eat pork because of my religion,¨  is essentially the same as ¨I can´t leave my house because Venus is in retrograde.¨ Of course, there are exceptions and such, but overall it is an easy excuse to use on the spot. I don't necessarily believe in any of it, but I use the Taurus card at least once a day.

So basically, I am 100% blaming everything that has gone wrong on the moon. I really don´t care what is actually to blame, it is now the stupid moon´s fault. Using this excuse has worked out pretty much every time for me so far, so I plan on using it until the day I die. And why will I never give it up? Cause I'm a stubborn Taurus.

Liz 8: Should I find a new job?

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about whether I should keep my current job or if I should begin looking for another one. I currently work as a hostess/cashier/busser at Diner 248. There’s a lot of things that I love about my job, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s causing more harm than good. The problem is, would I even be able to find a job that I enjoy and that fits my needs?

Like I said, there’s a lot of things about my job that I love. I get along with most of my coworkers, and I know they’d all be there for me if I need it. My managers are super chill and nice and are also good at their job (well….minus one of them). I’m also pretty good at my job; my managers trust me to handle myself and my other coworkers if/when needed. I get relatively good hours (about 4 shifts a week, equaling between 20-30 hours). Most importantly, I want to work as a restaurant chef; working at the Diner gives me a chance to get experience before I go to school. However, with all that said, I’ve noticed a lot of rising issues that are making me consider leaving.

We’ve been having a huge turnover recently. Over the holidays, we were slightly understaffed, but they wouldn’t hire anyone, so we got through it and everything was fine. Now, we keep hiring new people, and it seems like a lot of them are struggling to grasp the work they need to do. Recently, I’ve had to do more during my shifts because the new hires just aren’t getting it. Also, because of the new hires, I’m down to three shifts a week, even though my manager and I agreed to four or five. I only make $8/hour, so with fewer shifts, I’ve really been struggling to get the money I need. Not only that but for some reason customers have been so rude recently. At least once a week I get screamed at by customers who think a 40 minute wait is ridiculous or don’t understand why I won’t seat them until their whole party is in the restaurant. But like I said, the shifts I am working have been super stressful, and I’m realizing my scheduling manager doesn’t really get that I’m struggling financially. She expects me to help her whenever she needs it but won't help me out. Also, there’s no chance I’ll ever get a raise, no matter how long I work there. To be completely honest, I can’t find the motivation to stay.

I was already planning on getting a second job over the summer, and I’m starting to wonder if this second job will be my first choice once the school year starts up again. The work is causing me too much stress, and I feel that the pay isn’t enough to get me through financially. I guess we’ll see what happens.

Adria 8: Chem or learning to drive stick: What’s harder?

I think we can all agree that sometimes some things in life seem utterly impossible. Being in high school, we are challenged every single day. And the things that come challenging to us change drastically as we get older-- I remember I used to think to learn how to read and write and ride a bike and even learn to walk were the hardest things I would ever have to do. But little we know, it gets so much more challenging. I say challenging because yes, life is hard, but rather than giving life, this miraculous privilege, such a negative connotation, it is better to give it a much more fitting one. However, when we are asked to challenge ourselves the goal is usually for us to come out better and more experienced in general. 

Way before I even turned 16, I was completely aware of my driving situation. My parents were very adamant that I learn to drive manual transmission for what seemed like a plethora of reasons, but when it boiled down to it, they only wanted to challenge me. The closest thing I can compare this learning process to is chemistry, which is quite literally the most challenging class I have ever been forced to take in school. It took practice. Along with determination, focus, patience, and willingness to learn, of course. 

By learning to drive my car, I have just now started to understand why my parents haven’t been willing to change their minds on the car I drive. I have literally felt a change in my motivation applying to just about everything. At first, I was reluctant and frustrated with my situation-- I got jealous of people who didn’t have to do what I did. But with every little stall and lurch and slam of my brakes, I felt myself get stronger. I have a new-found respect for myself and an understanding of my potential. This is exactly why my parents did nothing but say “you will learn” when I complained and was ready to give up. Because they saw this changing me for the better in a way that I could not yet see. 

All of that being said, this frustrating learning and sudden clicking and growth process can be applied to almost anything that resembles a challenge in your eyes. Whatever it may be, I assure you, every trouble or obstacle life throws at you you can 100% overcome. So, can you relate to my situation in any way? 

Renee, 8: Soundtrack For My Life?

Recently, a few of my friends as well as some others, have been starting to make a "Top 25 Songs" playlist, which obviously, encapsulates their 25 favorite songs of all time (at the moment). Whether they are the songs with the most meaning to them or their most played songs I am not sure, but as soon as I saw this I knew I wanted to try it as well. As I've talked about in a previous blog, I love listening to music and creating playlists, so naturally, this caught my eye.

As excited as I am to start making this soundtrack of my (current) life,  there are a couple things I know will make this difficult. The first being that I am SO INDECISIVE. This may seem like such a tedious thing to carefully weigh my pros and cons on whether a song makes the cut, but I really do care about this and want to make it right. I already struggle with making decisions efficiently in everyday life, sooooo we'll see how this goes. Another reason I feel this will be challenging is that many, (MANY) songs I love hold a lot of meaning to me, and even if they don't have a particular meaning or memory behind them, I listen to so much music. How am I ever supposed to narrow it down?? I do not understand how people can do this; (maybe because they don't overthink everything).

I have yet to follow through with adding any songs yet because I'm spending some time going through my other playlists to determine what belongs there. Do I include older music that I love just as much? Do I include songs I had on repeat sixth months ago, but don't really listen to now? Or, do I include songs I'm listening to right at this moment?

The more I talk about this, the more I realize how insignificant this might seem to a lot of people reading, but if anyone loves music and the excitement of finding new songs as much as me, maybe you'll get it.

I also encourage anyone who thinks they'd want to try this to do it. Or, if you could only choose one song, what would it be?

My Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/reneeroberts303?nd=1

MeiLi 7- Working as a hostess

Over winter break I got a job working as a hostess at Becks Land and Sea house. It's only pays minimum wage (bleh), but I enjoy my bosses and interacting with customers. Although, when it gets busy it is one of the most stressful environments Ive ever been in.
Last night around 6:00 the kitchen got very busy and we had to slow seating down. I don't know if you've ever worked or been in a restaurant's kitchen when the dinner rush comes in, but the energy is high, the stress is through the roof, and the kitchen staff is not always the most enjoyable to be around. Part of my job is to continuously go into the kitchen to see how many order tickets they have lined up and how they are doing. Im supposed to ask if they need us to slow down seating or get people in at a normal pace. Ive worked shifts before where we had to stop seating people all together for over an hour, even though they had reservations.
Most times people are very kind and understanding about having to wait for their table, however last night I had one lady who wasn't so nice about it. I remember getting that impression from her when I took her reservation on the phone 40 minutes prior to the time she wanted to come in. She ended up with a reservation at 7:15pm, however when she got there the waiting area was full of customers who still needed to sit down. People ended up having to wait for 30-45 minutes to be seated at their tables because of how backed up the kitchen was. When she walked in she gave me her last name and I said,
"Okay, it's going to be a few minutes before I can seat you."
She didnt say anything for a few seconds and then proceeded to tell me that she had a 7:15 reservation and it was currently 7:16. She also could see empty tables in the dining area and asked if she could just sit at one of those. I tried to explain to her that those tables were reserved and the horde of people standing behind her were waiting as well, but she didn't seem to want my explanation. She eventually said, with a huge sigh may I add,
"Okay, well I guess I'll just be standing over there. Do you see? Right over there. Right there." And I just smiled and nodded. About five or so minutes went by and I was getting a table set for a party of 4 that had been waiting to sit for a half and hour, and the table that I was preparing just so happened to be near where said lady was standing. I put the menus and silverware down on the table and she came over to me and began taking her purse off while asking if I was ready for her. I told her,
"Not quite yet, this table is for someone else."
At this point I was fed up with her. I told her there were still people with reservations from 30 minutes ago but she would be seated as soon as possible, probably 10-15 minutes. She took one look at me and gave me one of the nastiest looks I've ever received, and said,
"Well. Im leaving." and stormed right out the door. It's times like these that I think $7.25 an hour is not enough.
Moral of the story, please I'm begging you, is to be understanding if you ever have to wait for a table at a restaurant, reservation or not. I promise we did not forget about you and were trying our best.