You Say Tomato...I say, Ketchup...

So, I’ve never been good at admitting when there are certain qualities in which I may be deficient. Tonight, I realized that despite the fact that I laud “being observant” as something in which I have always excelled, I don’t. Excel, that is. In fact, I’m really not that observant at all.

It’s one of those qualities like “being a good listener” that people always claim (and the “claimers” are always the worst listeners anyway) because being observant isn’t really something that a person can use to describe themselves- meaning, the observing is always going to be relative to them, unless they actually NOTICE something about someone else and that person says, “Wow, you are observant”…

Tonight, I had a couple instances of NON-observance. A customer was very impressed when I remembered his name (he was good looking) and another customer, a female (she was wearing a TON of jewelry), was impressed when I remembered her drink. They both commented on me “being observant” and I was left thinking, “No, that is having a good MEMORY” not actually noticing something outside of what is going on around me. I do have a good memory…that is a quality in which has come in handy for me to make up for deficiencies in other areas, like having a short attention span.

I know that I am not observant outside of my own surroundings because I had to close the store with a barista tonight, and I realized that I hadn’t really been WATCHING what the other shift managers did when they closed to prepare themselves to be ready to shut down shop. In effect, tonight, we got out the door much later than I had anticipated because of my own lack of preparation. It ended up being fine, but I was thinking, all these years that I have “claimed” be observant, I have actually been living a lie. Haha. It was a harsh realization mainly because I had taken great pride in being able to describe myself using this term that I thought was a notable trait. It is with great displeasure that I come to tell all my loyal readers- I am not observant, people. I am disciplined and I am motivated, but I will have to think of another adjective in which to use to describe myself in interviews when a potential employer asks me the “use three adjectives to describe yourself” question.

Last note on Starbucks- consistency does not exist when it comes to coffee cravings. Fridays are supposed to be slow evenings. Today, we did more business in the evening and had more people hanging out in our lobby than I have ever witnessed in our store. It was exhilarating and exhausting all at once, and I will have to remind myself to never request the closing shift on Friday again. My idea about date night (when I am working) will have to be filed under the list of “Give this idea after I have retired.”

My favorite couple that came in- Johnny and June* (*names have been changed to protect the innocent) who were headed to a tango dance hall to practice ballroom dancing. They were dressed impeccably (sarcasm being used here) and they ordered a caramel macchiato with an extra shot and a skinny vanilla latte, respectively. Yeah, Johnny, no amount of extra shots is going to make your tucked in pearl-snap button-down look attractive with those tight jeans.

Furthermore, when I got home and was in my bathroom getting ready for bed, I overhead a commercial for eharmony advertising another “free weekend” of matches and I couldn’t help but laugh because who wants to meet a person they know was checking matches on a “free weekend????” I mean, I want to know that a guy shelled out BIG BUCKS to meet me online, right? I might meet someone like Johnny, otherwise! Right? Are you with me, girls? That’s all I have for this TGIF!!!!