I’d say I was in upper elementary/middle school when our family decided to go to Niagara Falls for vacation. It was my first time leaving the country, so I was very excited. (Yes, it wasn’t far from the US, but I was a kid.) In I was packed into a van with my parents, grandparents, and my brother. We spent hours in the car… most of the time watching the same particular movie over and over on our little portable DVD player. Oh, it was tempting to throw it out the window once or twice, but sleep was the healthier option. Somehow my family was allowed entry into Canada. Now, I could go on and on about the trip as a whole, but I’d like to focus on one event. See, there’s this tower which overlooks over the city and Niagara Falls. One gets to the top of it by taking an outdoor facing elevator. This allows their customers to enjoy the views while ascending to their destination… unless they’re afraid of heights. It so happened three of the adults in our group possessed this fear. Naturally as the good-natured children my brother and I were, we didn’t dare tease or nudge them towards the window. That would be so mean and rude… did you detect the sarcasm?
Anyways, we arrive to the top to find a somewhat fancy restaurant. The uniqueness of this place was the floor rotated to give the tables a view of the city. Got that? Only the floor moves. A long window wrapped along the outside of the dining room with a small ledge. When you go to sit down, they adamantly say not to lean or put anything on it since it stays stationary. Naturally, they put the kids near the window where we proceeded to forget this detail. An elbow slip there and a squeak here were to be expected. However, my brain forgot these moments and I placed my glasses on the ledge. As a couple of minutes passed, I realized my folly and chased after the spectacles. Apologizing to a very nice table who handed it to me. Daggers were glared at me from the servers who gave the warning. You’d think this would be the cream of the crop for embarrassment, right? Wrong. For you see my brother had to unintentionally top it. While calming down from the incident and enjoying my meal, I gazed out to see the falls. Smiling at how enjoyable it was to myself. It seems my brother shared the same thought. I know this because he was so distracted by the fantastic sights that he ended up on my lap. I giggled at first until I realized he was dragging me with him. Somewhat trapping both of us between the window and the seat. We were only freed when our parents helped. They lifted up my brother so I could pull myself out. I’m pretty sure through all these antics every eye was on us. As an adult, I’m surprised we weren’t asked to leave, or my family wasn’t too embarrassed to do so themselves. All I remember was a lot of laughing as we rotated round and round.
Tag: restaurant
Work Storytime: Ice Cream Cone
So, this was my first job with taxes involved. A bit more pressure to do things correctly. My boss was a very angry man who talked with his hands. It wasn’t abnormal to hear him shouting and knocking stuff over. This came from his desire to sell the business for the past couple years; thinking about it more as a way to make money rather than a passion. Given this added stress level, it made it all the more imperative to succeed… especially for a kid in high school. However, he owned a very mixed business… a combination of a deli, convenient store, restaurant (And I use that term lightly), and ice cream stand. This gave me a lot to learn in little time. Thankfully, he was rarely there. Doubly so since I could never do one simple task… swirl an ice cream cone. No matter what I tried I couldn’t make a soft serve stay on a cone… To the point where my managers wouldn’t let me try anymore. Laughing at the fact I could do anything else, but this one easy task. Now, this was happening for months, and it was a well-known fact by all members of staff. In comes my boss on one of his rare visits. Customer orders a twist soft serve cone. My manager says he’ll be there in a minute to do it.
Overhearing this, my boss says, “KC can do it.”
Without missing a beat, he responds, “No, he really can’t make one.”
The most bewildered and angry face went on my boss’s face. Growling he commands, “Show me.”
First attempt was too small.
“Come on!” He says.
Second time, too big and uneven. Now, I’m hearing laughter.
In between I hear, “One more time.”
This time it was just plain deformed. They both were trying to catch their breath, my manager grabbing the cone for the customer.
Finally, my boss was able to squeeze out, “I guess it’s fine you can’t do one thing. Easier on my wallet too if I don’t let you try anymore.”
After they recovered from on the floor laughing, the three of us sat at one of the tables. Each of us ate one of the messed-up cones with a smile on our faces.
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