Working at a restaurant

When I graduated from college, I decided I'd try to get a job in the music business in New York. I wanted to DJ a bit and work for a record label. But getting jobs like this in the City was tough! And I needed to make money right away to pay rent. So, I started bussing tables at a restaurant called Time Cafe (it was in the East Village on the corner of Lafyette and Great Jones Street). The people who ran the place were pretty cool and the money was good (even though I was bussing, not waiting) because, at that time, it was super popular, especially with people in the entertainment business (maybe I'd meet a big-shot music guy who could hook me up!).

I have a few funny stories from Time Cafe. One is about a crazy waiter I worked with; another is about almost killing a baby (well, this one is really not funny at all); and another is about Lenny Kravitz. Let's start with the Lenny one.

One night, I was stacking glasses at a wait-station when a woman came up to me and said, "Excuse me; could you keep it down? We're interviewing someone in Fez" (Fez was a bar inside the restaurant). I said, "Sure" and stacked the glasses more gently. But she came back again. "Um, could you please be quiet. We're interviewing someone important." She had a really rude tone in her voice. I continued stacking the glasses as I had been doing. She came back a third time, this time angry. "You need to stop this. We're trying to interview Lenny Kravitz." Clearly, she thought that this would impress me. But what she didn't know is that I despised Lenny Kravitz! I thought he was really arrogant--not unlike how I felt about this woman. So, I started loudly banging glasses together until she came back again (this time I ran into the kitchen before she could catch me!)