I absolutely, could not get up at 03:00am this morning to watch the Royal Wedding. I didn't GET to bed until after Midnight! Yesterday was a looonnnggg day. I couldn't sleep so was up at 03:00am (a day early, I guess) and at work by 05:00am. I fully intended to hit the clock by two, take a quick nap, refreshing wake-up shower and head to job number two at the BOK Center in Downtown Tulsa. Of course, full intentions and my life are like an oxymoron...they just don't go together! I left my office at 4pm, drove over to my daughter-in-law's and we left for Downtown and the BOK by 4:45pm. No nap, no shower, no nothing...
My daughter-in-law, Melissa, and I were heading to the Bob Seger concert. But we weren't going as fans, we were on a very special mission. We would be working a concession stand and our earnings would be applied to my grand-daughter, Madison's POM membership/uniform account.
Madison is thirteen and will be going into high school next semester. She is one smart cookie. Now, I know this is what EVERY parent and grandparent likes to say about their offspring but Madison really is a talented individual. She had been in the gifted class at Lee Elementary; read high above her age level throughout middle school; tested on high school age exams. She's pretty smart. Her great love in middle school has been POM and she recently spent two weeks training to audition for the POM team at Booker T. Washington High School. So, she was one of the few who got into the school (she will be transfering from her current school, Edison), she made the POM team and she will be the only freshman on the team. No apologies for the bragging rights; Madison has worked hard to earn them.
Anyway, back to the story...
We had to check in, at the back of the venue, get our shirts and look for our stand. We would be working # 404, which was on the third floor. We were serving in the "nose bleed" section. We had soda, beer, hotdogs, brats, kielbasa, chips, nuts, popcorn, pretzels and nachos. Our first job was to set up the stand. The sausages were cooking, the pretzels were warming, sauces were ready. My job was to fill the red "boats" with Tostitos and have them ready to fill with chili, cheese and salsa. I made 50 of them. At 6pm we were open and ready to go...come on punters, we're ready for y'all. One or two people drifted over, then three, four....all night, the ebb and flow was slow. My experienced co-workers informed me that they had never seen it so quiet; and so it remained until 10pm, when we had already closed one side of the stand. Leaving one set of beer pumps, one soda machine and one register available meant we had a mini rush and the seven of us had to work well as a team to clear the line. It was the busiest five minutes of the evening!
It was, however, a fun experience. We giggled as we watched some of the customers inebriate themselves throughout the evening, we raised our eyebrows at some of the outfits and we sang and danced to Bob Seger's greatest hits. In between, we worked! I was quite happy that it was quiet on my first night as it gave me a chance to feel comfortable in this unfamiliar setting. I enjoyed being able to listen to some great music and take a peek, once or twice throughout the evening, at the band and the crowd. I loved the fact that what I was doing was helping someone I loved, and that I wasn't just "vegging" in front of the TV. Most of all, I enjoyed the time I spent with Melissa. And, so we can do it all again, I am planning June around the events at the BOK.
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