Sweet Chicken - let summer begin

As I write this, I just got home from having lunch with my husband at his office. He works in the construction industry so his office is never in the same place for very long. Currently he is approximately 4 miles away from my house (YEA).

It took me 20 minutes to get home. Normally it would take me 10.

Let summer begin.

The shoobies are coming (for those of you who don't know - shoobies are tourists. They are called shoobies because they used to come for the day and pack their lunch in a shoe box. In Michigan tourist up north are called fudgies for the amount of fudge they buy.)

Anyhoo - right wrong or indifferent, this kicks off our summer season.

Now the waitress part of me? I'm actually glad. I start my 4 day week this week again...I'd rather not be super bored there (although the reality is that given my shifts I will bored for a few more weeks after this week-end). I want it to be busy. Bring on the money!

The other non-working side of me? oh lord I'm not ready for the craziness.

I drove by my grocery store on the way to hubs office. The parking lot was full. and I mean it. Cars were circling to find a spot. Bad news about this? I have to go there today. Good news about this? I ordered my groceries online this week and only have to pick them up and pay for them.

The start of summer, while good for my economy, is always dreaded and loved. I love that all the restaurants are opening again (so many of them close here). I love that we can walk up to the boardwalk and get some ice cream. I dread trying to go to Walmart (which I need to do in the next few days). I dread trying to pick up my 2 kids who are at 2 different schools today in 2 different directions on my island. I dread the fist pumping Jersey Shore wannabe's (to be clear my part of the shore is much nicer than their's:) tee hee hee).

It all starts today and it gets super serious on 4th of July week-end. It's busy and it's fierce. My island has 4 towns technically (ok 5 technically but the 5th is just township ground that was never "claimed" and the township has no business being here...long story). The year round population is somewhere around 15,000. In the summer? My 1 island, 5 miles long and no where near a mile wide in most places is being bumped up to a population of around 250,000.

That's right 250,000. That only includes this island right here. We have islands to our north that get about the same influx and 1 town to our south that may even get more.

Garden State Parkway? Forget about it.

Trying to get to Atlantic City or Philly? Bring a book you'll be stuck in traffic for a while.

Like I said - I'm not complaining THAT much. This is how our towns survive and so does my wallet.

But, it's tricky. I do a lot of shopping about an hour away...towards Philly. It's where my closest target, kohl's and bj's are. I have to be a commando super woman to plan these trips so we don't spend 3 hours getting home.

So, part of me says bring it. Bring on the summer bbq (LOVE), bring on the lazy days, bring on the drinks on the deck at work (on an inlet of the ocean - AWESOME)...but please help me survive the traffic, the crazy tourists, and the assholes.

Spring Days at the Jersey Shore

It's so nice here today. It's like Spring in February. Which sounds great. It's even a holiday week-end with public school here closed today and Monday. Again sounds great right?

here's the catch. Every person that owns a home or condo will be down tonight. Sounds great again doesn't it since I am a waitress?

I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready to lose my quiet little sleepy town. I fight with myself constantly...more people equals more money for me. but...blech.

There are several different types of tourist down here.

1. people who own. They actually think they should be considered residents in the same status as me. umm...you LIVE somewhere else. You vacation here. How is that being a resident? You are not a local until you've survived a few winters at the shore. Even now (after 10 1/2 years here and all winters spent here) my husband is likely to say I'm not a local. They act superior to almost everyone with quotes like "I have a summer home here" or "I'm local I own". My reply is that I have a winter home.

2. People who rent condo's/homes. These might be the most obnoxious. Not sure - it may be a tie with people who own. They come down and flash money. Sure might be great for our economy, but they flash money and then fail to produce it. meaning YES they'd love the surf and turf and stuff it too with crab meat please. Bring me as many drinks as you can - no I don't care about the price. I can see these people coming from a mile away. They eat and drink and "don't care about the price" until it comes time to pay and they've racked up a nice big bill. then they don't seem to have enough left over to tip. They spend the rest of their vacation ordering $12 pizza's delivered to their condo.

3. The hotel'ers. They aren't down yet. They won't be down in force until July 4th week-end. These people are on true vacation. They eat out every meal. Know that they are going to have to tip. And in general, stay on the beach or at their hotel with a pool. They don't clog up my stores, they aren't at walmart stocking up on snacks. I like the hotel crowd.

of course there are exceptions in every crowd. And in general I can say that last summer (first summer waiting tables in 11 years and first time ever in NJ) was pretty good. But, it's week-ends like this that make me cringe. I know they are coming. I know that my sleepy little hamlet is endangered.

*sigh* at least to date no one has flipped a table in my restaurant:) although I would be ok as long as it's filmed for Bravo.