Today on my lunch break, I walked to a little made-to-order pizza place two blocks from my office. While waiting for my small pesto-broccoli-red pepper-mushroom-and-spinach pie to come from the fiery inferno, I grabbed some plastic silverware and tossed the fork and knife diagonally across a napkin, rolling the napkin around the utensils. Then I smiled, catching what I'd done, what anyone who's ever worked in the food service industry will recognize. I just rolled silver.
It seems like a lifetime ago since I returned to waiting tables for the first time since I was 26 when I lost my job in 2011. Then, rolling silver became a rote activity - something I could practically do in my sleep. Rolling silver was both a blessing and a curse. Like all side work, it was admittedly a pain in the ass and a mandatory requirement for all servers, a necessary evil. But it also signaled the end of a shift and sometimes brought with it the welcomed relief of sitting down.
Ah, sitting down. Such a luxury to those in the service industry. How we take this simple thing for granted. I often grumble now in my job as a writer that sitting all day at a computer and desk will be the death of me.
When I inadvertently 'rolled silver' today, I remembered to be grateful for how far I've come since those days waiting tables, and not to take what I have for granted. I've worked hard to get where I am, and I'm still not satisfied. But I am thankful for the year I went back to waiting tables, because it taught me humility and just how strong I can be. It taught me to be thankful for everything and not take anything for granted.
Namaste
