If you can afford a nice meal, but can’t quite afford for a good tip, then you shouldn’t go out. I’m sorry, but it’s just common courtesy. I understand. It hard economic times for everyone right now. That, however, is no excuse for tipping poorly. Your budget for the meal needs to include enough for a good tip. If that becomes more than you can afford, then you eat Top Ramen with the rest of us. You don’t get to go out to eat. Get it through your heads people!
One group of people especially needs to recognize this. I served the First Pentecostal Church on the ship Saturday afternoon. They had a group of 31, & they ran me ragged for 3 hours getting them everything under the sun. I did an excellent job, & kept everybody happy & their glasses full. They even said that I had done an outstanding job. They left me $4.00. Four. It never ceases to amaze me how Christians can go out to restaurants, order the cheapest stuff on the menu, run the waiter around like a slave, & then not tip well. I’m not going to yell & rant about this because that has been done many times over. All I have to say is that if you go to church regularly, & you don’t steal, fornicate, commit adultery or murder, do drugs, or swear, but you are rude & unkind to those who serve you, then you truly are a resounding gong & clanging cymbal. I’m done being angry about this. I’ve moved now to being disappointed & ashamed.
The boy that I am care taker for made the front page of the newspaper today. He was featured in an article entitled “The Face of Courage” for an award he won at his middle school. He was so pumped all afternoon. It was pretty fun to enjoy it with him. They even quoted me in the article. After I read it to him, I told him we were both pretty much celebrities now & that we probably wouldn’t be able to leave the house without being attacked by the paparazzi. He really enjoyed that. Anyway, here’s the link to the article as it appeared in the Wellesley Townsman. “The Face of Courage” by Elana Zak
I’ve never been the homesick type. Maybe I have, but I just didn’t know it. I was born & raised in Arkansas only leaving for a semester during my junior year of high school. I went to undergraduate & graduate school just an hour away from home. I guess since I never actually strayed very far from home, it was impossible for me to feel homesick. Well I’m away now. Far away. I feel it for the first time. My parents will be visiting in a little less than a month & that will be awesome. But I can’t help but realize that it will probably be well into the winter, at least in Boston, before I’m able to visit home again. Darn my family for making me love them so much! Why couldn’t you just be normal, disinterested, half-hearted, guilt-tripping, & annoying people like most people’s families?! Would that have been so hard to do?! Sheesh! It sure would have saved me a lot of heartache & depression. As if that weren’t enough, they also taught me to be grateful & content. I have an amazing wife who is amazing. Yeah, I know I doubled up on the “amazing,” but only because she does. Our dog is happy, healthy, & obedient. We are both employed. Brooklynne is getting a fabulous education. My two jobs are both fulfilling, fun, & financially adequate for our needs. We have some really great friends that we enjoy living life with. Our lives are truly blessed. So now, on top of everything else, I get to feel guilty about feeling bad about not being home! You really did a number on me Mom & Dad. I hope you’re pleased with yourselves.
So, I’m going on my 3rd day as a manny, & I must say that it is awesome! I’m really enjoying it. Like I said earlier, my main responsibility is to act as a PCA (Personal Care Attendant) for a 15 year old with CP (Cerebral Palsy). Out of respect for the family’s privacy, I’ve decided not to use any of their real names in my posts. So let’s assign some fake names now.
It is a family of 5. We shall refer to the father as John. The mother will be Jane. The oldest son is 17 years old. We’ll call him Will. Then there are the twins who are 15. We will call them Calvin & Hobbes.
Calvin is the one that I spend most all of my time with. He is a HUGE Godzilla fan. I’m not sure, but from the looks of his collection he has every Godzilla film ever made. He is also a fan of the Japanese culture in general.
Another thing about Calvin is that he has an extensive collection of impersonations from TV & movies that he has programmed into his talker. So far I haven’t been stumped yet by Stewie Griffin, Yoda, Arnold Schwarjebubrvbiy4ohwrnf, Apu from the Simpsons, or Sponge Bob. Calvin thinks he’ll be able to get me with something, but he won’t. My knowledge of movie & TV quotes is immense & extensive.
Calvin also really enjoys video games. He has difficulty with fine motor skills so when we play I hold the controller while he uses his talker to tell me what to do. So far his favorite game is called “Tresspasser.” It’s a Jurassic Park game for PC.
All in all, I can honestly say that this may very well turn out to be the best job I’ve ever had.
As is the custom on blogs around the world, I will now say that I plan on posting more frequently with the sincerest of intentions. Peace out!
