Thursday Mornings With Tetresa

A couple of months ago I never would have thought I’d say these words, but…

I love Thursday mornings.

I’ll start this by saying, I have a long standing belief that people need to know when they’ve impacted you. Whether we like to admit it or not…we all want to know that we’re seen…and that we’re appreciated. So…with the end in mind…

This time of year I have a fairly strict schedule in order to get things done. Between being a single mom, an accountant with a 60-65 billable hour requirement during tax season, loving to work out, and being a full time student…plus, add in this year, a home remodel…I don’t have a lot of extra time in the day.

So…this time of year…Get up between 3 and 3:30 am. If I’m not working out, I’m in the office by 4:30 at the latest. Study and do homework until between 6 or 7 depending on the schoolwork I have and the client work I have. Work until between 5 and 8 pm (again depending on workload), unless I have school from 6-9:15….or Bella has appointments….or….or…or…..yeah, February – April are my sleepy months. lol

But I make it work. (And this is the last year I’ll have to make the school part work.)

But, this year…my Thursday schedule got thrown for a loop. For reasons beyond my control, I can’t be at work on Thursdays until one of my bosses gets there. That’s usually 7…some days it’s around 8:30. He always lets me know so the day before so there won’t be any slipups.

This immediately means I’ve lost between 2.5 and 4 hours of productivity because, honestly, I don’t study well at home. There’s too much to clean. lol Unfortunately, not many places are open that early in the morning…so I started a new tradition.

Thursday mornings with Tetresa

Who’s Tetresa? Tetresa is the amazing woman at Goldberg’s that makes my Thursday mornings something that I look forward to.

It started about a month ago. It was the first Thursday where the boss wouldn’t be in until 8:30 and I needed to go SOMEWHERE. So, I decided to try out the Goldberg’s near my work.

The poor waitress (Tetresa)….some people are just awful…and those people tend to take it out on waitstaff more often than not. And she just looked frazzled and stressed and you could tell people hadn’t been very nice.

But Tetresa still came over with a smile…she took my order and I asked her if it would be ok if I stayed for a couple of hours. She said it was more than ok and she checked back on me many times to see how I was. Truly, she was a gem even in her stress. I always try to tip well, but between the morning I could tell she was having, the service, and the fact that I’d stolen her table for so long….I left her a tip about the size of my check. lol

The next Thursday I figured, “Hey….I might as well go back to Goldberg’s even if it’s only for an hour.” I walked in and she greeted me at the door. “By the way, I’m Tetresa.” “Hi, Tetresa, I’m Sheri!” I sat down and she came to bring me a cup of coffee. When I laughed and exclaimed, “Nooooooooooooo!!! I’m allergic to coffee!!” “Oh that’s right! You drink tea!” She brought me my tea right out and we both set to our own work.

Then last week…I come in…right when they open at 6 am…she asks if she’s right that I like green tea. I tell her yes and ask for Splenda. She smiles big and brings me my breakfast and, again, we set about to our work. But, I made a decision that morning.

Because of the aforementioned belief that people need to KNOW when they impact you and they need to KNOW that they are seen and appreciated, I left Tetresa a note with her tip.

I told her that I believe in letting people know when they’ve really impacted someone in a positive way. I told her in short how my Thursdays had gotten a bit messed up…I told her how I’d been dreading an entire tax season of trying to make this work…and then I told her how SHE had given me something to look forward to on Thursdays. I thanked her just for being her and for giving me something to smile about on Thursday mornings.

This morning I came in. I sat down and…without skipping a beat…Tetresa brought me my green tea and a plate of Splenda packs. “Did I get it right??” “You did!! Thank you!!” And now we go about our work…coexisting…both feeling a little better about the world we live in this morning.

And that’s the kind of thing that makes me smile on a random Thursday morning that looks the same to everyone else in this world.

So today I challenge you…whomever it is that gives you a reason to believe in the world and gives you a reason to smile for even a second…whether you know them or not…thank them and let them know what they’ve done for you. It may be the only kindness they see that day.

*/silly Hippie Sheri moment

*jazz hands*