Tonight we hosted the Hulk's Boxing Canadian Thanksgiving dinner party at the beautiful La Cubo and, as guests sat amongst me, I looked out at all them and felt thankful. I was thankful for each that had attended -- current members who made us part of their Sunday, friends who had traveled in from out of town, previous members who still stay in touch, our sponsor for his continual support and attendance, and friends who were there just to support us.
Everyone seemed preoccupied with the food and each other's company but I wondered if anyone noted who was missing at our table, guests who should have and would have been present -- a close friend who had dodged death and was now laying in a hospital, a member who tried their hand at death but had failed, our trainer who never showed, and our-currently-considering new trainer who thought it might be awkward if both he and our current trainer were present together.
Initially I was going to go around the table and have everyone state one thing they were thankful for this particular Thanksgiving. But then, when I struggled with picking out one thing for my own answer, I dismissed the idea. I had a lot of things to be thankful for so one sentence wouldn't do justice. Instead, after our event tonight, while Snickers was passed out with his "food coma", I decided to list of the main things I was especially thankful for today. This Thanksgiving it was all about the behind the scenes acts of kindness and thoughtfulness showen to me by numerous friends, companies and others. There are surely more things, like those who offered to drive and whatnot, and there are many detailed things too I'm thankful for but here is my list none the less.
Behind the Scenes Acts of Kindness I'm Thankful for today...
1. Snickers
First and foremost, I am definitely thankful for Snickers. It'd be nice to take credit for this event but I must note that Snickers is definitely more deserving of it than I am. I did the general parts like organizing the guests, putting the menu together and whatnot, but it was Snickers who did the finer details... and many of the not so finer details too, like fighting over the turkeys. When I had asked him to order me two turkeys, what seemed like a simple request ended up being quite the national hunt for these birds. Koreans just don't eat turkey so finding a supplier meant having to directly contact a turkey farm down south.
We had closed the club today because of the event but when three guests canceled without notice, Snickers decided to open up Hulk's for a couple of hours so that he could use the club phone and see about getting three replacements. It was just another thing to do on his already long list of things to do today.
Then tonight, at the event, both chefs and La Cubo's waiter were super busy in the kitchen so Snickers took it upon himself to act as a kind of fill-in waiter, table help. He took everyone's soup order, helped with cutting the turkeys, helped cook up some rice for our Korean guests, took everyone's drink order... and so forth. He then drove some of our guests right to their homes.
2. A Sweeter-than-Sweet Pie Company
It was my mistake for insisting my day off yesterday was to be a day off everything and anything but relaxing because I should have picked up the pies. To be honest though, it had totally slipped our minds and it came up during our morning conversation with the staff at La Cubo. Ended up calling a pie company but they were closed today but a HUGE thanks to them though for not only opening up their doors for us today but sending in a worker to cook us two fresh pies! I don't know what's sweeter, them or their pies!!!
3. The Incredibly Generosity of the La Cubo Manager, Five Star
Being a business owner myself now, I am all too aware of the costs of running a business and the politics behind it, so when I arrived tonight to see that Five Star had closed the entire second floor restaurant for our party -- a bonus only offered to parties spending over a grand or those willing to pay the $500 rental fee. I was so incredibly flattered by his generosity but had told him earlier that I really didn't want to inconvenience him or his other guests. I had told him it'd be perfectly fine for him to have other tables in the dinning room, other table for outside guests. But he never did that. The Korean restaurant on the first floor was open to the public but the second floor fusion restaurant was closed from 7pm onward and their staff stayed at least an extra hour late to clean up. This meant not only did he lose out on extra business but it cost him extra money to pay his workers. He really didn't make any money serving our party and perhaps it cost him considering all and the extra food and deserts he sent our way.
4. The La Cubo Chefs, aka the Miracle Workers
The two chefs who work the kitchen at La Cubo never cease to amaze me. When the turkeys arrived the other day and I was called to come in and talk about the menu, I was nervous about having dished out so much money on two birds they have never cooked before. Then came two nerve-racking questions -- what colour is gravy and what is stuffing? Not only had they never cooked turkey before but they both had never even so much had tasted gravy or stuffing before. It was a matter of pulling miracles with tonight's menu and that's exactly what they did. I've never been a fan of gravy but the turkey was delish and as for the stuffing... BEST stuffing ever!!!
5. The Wheels of a Friend
There were definitely a lot of pre-party errands that had to be done today and with us only sporting two scooters right now, it would made it super tough. Thanks to a good friend, a car arrived for us today and was lent to us for the entire day. This meant we didn't have to risk damaging the pies, could get the decorations to La Cubo in one shot, and I didn't have to get dressed or ready in the restaurant bathroom. It also meant we could drive various guests to La Cubo and then right to their houses afterwards.
6. Friends Who Really Have Heart
Yesterday I happened to find out that three guests weren't attending. I was insulted and discouraged. It would have been one thing if they had told me themselves or given me any kind of notice but they hadn't. It meant that I'd have to cover the cost of their meal but it wasn't just about the money. It was more about common courtesy and their lack there of it. Others could have come if they knew there were empty seats. Well, others did come. After word got out among friends that I had been stiffed, numerous extra friends showed up at Hulk's willing to take the extra seats. We then had to tell them that there were too many -- the ironic situation of the day. I was somewhat embarrassed knowing that they had come out because they felt bad for me but I was flattered too because I do have great friends. Related to this is the fact that I'm thankful for one particular friend who helped me set up today at La Cubo and allowed me to vent about this. She proved to be quite the supportive friend and I appreciated her not only lending me her ear but also voicing her opinion and advice.
Lesson learned today
If I'm going to pull crazy strings and have others go way go out of their way to help me pull off such an event that's especially special to me and Snickers, then I'm only going to only invite those who matter to us -- active Hulk members and close friends.
... well, that and enforce a no pay means no entrance policy!
Today I felt especially thankful for the good, the bad
and the ugly in my life.
The good give me something to strive towards, the bad show me who I don't want to be like, and the ugly make me easily see what's really beautiful in my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment