You like me. You really, really like me.

Sometimes it just gets so discouraging. You work your tuchas off and you just don't see anything. Money, growth. All you hear on the news is how bad things are and how much worse they are going to get. It starts to feel hopeless.
So tonight I go and do a cable access show. Before I go I send a server home and figure it will be another slow night. After the taping maybe I'll stop by a friend of mine's restaurant and have a drink. No need to rush back.
After the taping I call in and my cute French waitress says only "I need you!!". So I fly back to the cafe. My baby (the restaurant) needs me!
The place is almost full. The lights are still on the bright setting and no candles are lit because she has been too busy to dim and light. The kitchen is moving along, humming in the rhythm of a well-oiled machine. Luckily these were all very competent people left here tonight. I throw my hair into a ponytail and get cracking- waiting on customers, bringing them wine, cleaning and busing tables. And in between I talk to them. They love this place! Three women are having the best time drinking wine, chatting. They tell me they have not seen each other in 8 months and how great a place this is, that they will have to meet here on a regular basis. One of them works in a company that has meetings where they rent a space, would I be interested? (would I? Would I do George Clooney? Are you kidding?)
The people are laughing and talking. They love to call me by my first name. They might know me from tv or just from coming in and seeing my face. But it's good. The feeling is good. With all the crap going on in the world sometimes you just need a good glass of wine, a plate of short ribs and a smiling warm face to serve it to you. They like me, they really, really like me.