Tag Archives: observations

random musings

The girl with the green lips

My husband and I went out to dinner for his birthday last night. The girl that greeted us at the door had purplish hair and green lipstick.

As a future business owner in a service industry field, my knee-jerk thought was, “Note to self, make sure employees know nothing like this will be allowed. This isn’t the look I want to portray to my customers.”  As a customer of the restaurant I found myself going, “Oh… kay…” but not really have an opinion other than that. I wasn’t turned off as much as caught off guard.

Our waitress came over, and in our chit chatting explained she’s the only “normal” employee at the restaurant, and my husband noticed another waiter had green hair. She said she doesn’t wear weird colors or have tattoos or piercings. I joked that if that was the case she was actually the weird one, and she thought about it and went, “Yeah, I guess you’re right!”

We were after awhile the only customers in the restaurant, and we’d built up a fun back and forth with our waitress. At one point she came over and she had on the green lipstick. She point blank asked us what we thought. I went, “Well. It’s… different. Interesting.” She explained she’d agreed to step out of her comfort zone and tried it, but she didn’t think she could pull it off. I tilted my head and went, “Its just… different.” Deep down I was having a moment of, “No! Green lips are not okay! Stay your unique ‘normal’ self.”

I ordered dessert to celebrate my husband’s birthday, and the other waitress — the one that had greeted us — brought it over. She took a deep breath and said, “This is going to be terrible.” and proceeded to do a fake trump blast sound effect while putting down the dessert. “That was a trump blast. Okay so it was more like a coronet. But it was SUPPOSED to be a trumpet.”

Suddenly I saw past the green lipstick. Suddenly I saw this fantastically confident and delightful young woman.

When I went to pay our check, I was confronted once again with what I thought of the green lipstick. I took a deep breath and said very honestly and with admiration (okay, at least I hope it was with admiration), “I think it takes a very confident person to pull that off.”

Over the course of about an hour, some crawfish ravioli and loaded beignet, I got an amazing lesson I’m thankful for getting.  I walked in that restaurant feeling a little weirded out by the employees, and I left it filled with deep admiration for them all.

flying

As I write this

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As I write this, I’m once again mid-flight from Nashville to Austin. Back to the tax work!

I think I’ve discovered the best time to fly: sunset. I took off just after the sun had dropped below the horizon, and as we taxied to the runway, the pale pink sky reflected off the wet asphalt. The photographer in me wished to be able to make the pilot stop, so I could dig out my camera and snap away. It was gorgeous. The kind of sunset you see in movies. The kind that makes you marvel in the world around you.

We lifted off, and Nashville sprawled out below me. It was bright enough still to make out all the buildings, but dark enough that all the street lights were already glowing. The pink sky no longer part of my view, slowly separating itself. A light haze, perhaps it was light rain, gave the city a romantic quality.

My eyes scanned the streets and buildings. An interesting thing happened… my city that has come to feel cozy seemed so much larger. I began to grasp the sheer number of people in one location.

Downtown came into view, and it made me smile. Not only do I love downtown Nashville, but it looks so small from above! When you are downtown, it feels much more massive. But as you take off, you realize Nashville is more spread out for its size and downtown it really not much more than maybe five or six tall buildings, reaching for the sky. In one instant, my city felt so big. And in the very next, it felt so very small.

As I cruise west, I am chasing the sun. I can just barely catch a glimpse of the bright crimson colors of the sun setting. It keeps making me stop and stare, craning my neck as I try to find a way to see it better. There is no orange or yellow in this sunset. There is bright, almost angry, red. A layer of clouds. Then the gentle blue of the sky fading into black darkness. Cities and towns glow from below. In some cases, you can make out the street layout and you wonder if there is someone driving there… and where are they going… what are they thinking about.

Today is Ash Wednesday. Many are starting Lenten fasts, giving up a vice or starting a new positive thing. I’ve failed miserably the last several years at following any sort of Lenten preparation for Easter. This year, my goal is to pick up journaling daily again. I also just want to do better in general. Make the better choice – in health, finances and emotions.

Best of luck to everyone making sacrifices for the next 40 days! If anyone needs a cheerleader, I’ll be happy to do that for you.

The sun has almost faded completely. The red is now a deep orange. It won’t be long before it is all gone and darkness falls on yet another day. Dreams are waiting to be dreamed, and a new day is waiting to begin.