Hostess with the Mostess

That's me, the hostess with the mostess!

On Saturday, Polly and the rest of crew at Meritage threw me in the deep end of the restaurant shouting, "Host, woman!  Host!"  I hosted with everything I had.  Although it was my first time working in a restaurant, I did pretty well under the tutelage of the other Emily (who we call My Little Pony).  I was ordered back to the front lines for Valentine's dinner.  Other than canceling a few reservations accidentally and trying to get a nice man with a service dog kicked out of the restaurant, it went off without a hitch.  I think it may become a semi-regular gig.

I felt pretty bad about the man with the service dog.  The dog was a little white Maltese, not a lab or Sheppard or some other dog like that.  I just thought he was some eccentric trying to treat his dog to a fancy meal (which I can totally understand, but as hostess it threw me for a loop).  I sicced Carlo, owner of the restaurant, on him.  Carlo went over to investigate, recognized the man immediately, and explained that the Maltese was a service dog.  Doh.  I smiled and chatted up the man after that, trying to smooth things over.

Here's the funny thing... the next day I stopped by Whole Foods to grab a quick lunch before starting my Valentine's Day shift.  Guess who was sitting outside soaking in the warm California sun.  Yup, the man and the Maltese.  We both waved like we were old friends, and I hurried inside.  After downing my salad, I was heading out when I heard "Hello there!"  There he was with the dog in a cart.  We ended up shooting the breeze for a good fifteen minutes.  His name is Wayne and the dog is Carmenita (or something cute like that).  He's a relative newcomer to Sonoma, originally from Oakland, CA, and he was totally delightful.  I think we will be good friends, and I think he's a generous man to overlook my hostess-foul on Saturday night.  As for Carmenita, she gave me the stink eye the whole time I was chatting with Wayne; I’m hoping she forgives me soon.
 

P.S. I realize that by not writing yesterday, I blew my goal of writing every day for a month straight.  The truth is, when I got home last night the Internet was down again.  The other truth is that I was so damned worn out after hostessing that I wouldn't have written even if the Internet was working.  There you have it.  But I'm back to it, and I promise, there will be pictures tomorrow.