Posted February 26th, 2003 by Michelle

It is noon on Wednesday, and I’ve just finally finished my morning coffee. I worked six shifts in half as many days and I’m a little worn out. Thankful, though, that I have a good job and a beautiful apartment in times like these. Even the most popular restaurant in New York is slow these days, but we still make enough money to survive.

On that note, I got some sad news yesterday- the GM of my restaurant is leaving us to create a new position as the Human Resources Director. His office won’t even be in our building anymore. This is particularly vexing to me because he is the lifeblood of the restaurant, and one of my favorite people alive. He makes me want to be as good a person as he thinks I am. I don’t know if there would be a position for me in the HR department, but yesterday I left a note in his box: “Wherever you shall go, there I would like to go also”. I can’t imagine being there without working with him. Every Christmas party he writes new lyrics to some silly pop song. This year, I think it was to “I Can’t Drive 55” and the lyrics were replaced with “Let’s Take Back Number 1!” (Grammercy Tavern took our #1 status in Zagat this year.) The year before it was a song to his wife- it was their 20th anniversary. Or some important number like that.

Every day I go to weather.com and pray to see a temperature near just 40 degrees. It hasn’t happened. Just for it to not be miserable. I’ve entirely forgotten what it must be like to be warm- to walk outside in a sundress, to hope for a cool breeze. Week-old snowdrifts still guard the sidewalks from the streets. My new bike sits in my kitchen, the odometer blank, the mileage still reading “7” from last week’s ride. I sit at my window, dreaming of sunshine and guys walking their dogs in shorts. Of sitting on the front steps of my building, drinking a beer and meeting the neighbors.

Dreaming also of a world without George Dubya at the helm.