In my younger days I was a waitress and a bartender.  I loved it.  I worked in family style and fine dining restaurants and both have their special charms.  However, the one thing each has in common is:  The Regulars.  You know who they are, and you may even be one yourself.  You have a favorite place, a favorite waitress, a favorite bartender, right?!

Every Friday night Steve and I go out to dinner.  It’s a good way to end the week; no one has to cook or wash dishes.  When we started our TGIF dinner dates we’d just go up to the street to the local Newport Creamery to see Kat, our regular waitress.  Sweet and energetic she’d greet us with a “Hey guys, how was your week?”  She knew our likes and dislikes, that we’d always need extra napkins and the I’d want the Brookie Sundae for dessert.   When our grandchildren lived with us and we’d go as a family, Kat would make sure that there were enough crayons on the table so they wouldn’t have to share.

Being a regular somewhere is great, the place “where everyone knows your name” is a comfort when a long work week has come to an end.  I enjoyed all my regular customers, here are a few:  the elderly gentleman who would come in on Tuesday nights for French meat pie and a cup of coffee, the couple who’d come in for loaded potato skins every Saturday night when she was pregnant (including the night she gave birth), and the two guys who’d come in at the end of the work day for a cold Bud and Mich-Lite in a cold glass.

My regulars made the job a joy, thanks to all of them!