"What's with the title?" you ask

The description doesn't quite sum it all up, but it's on the right track. What is it to "work for thank you's?" Well, let's start from the top. I work here, an upscale-ish French Bakery/Patisserie, specializing in Brioche Buns and pretension. It's not a bad gig, all things considered, but the unique clientele set presents some unique problems. This particular establishment is located in the heart of Seattle's financial district, ensuring a patronage of crooked, tightfisted bankers, but is also located in the local incarnation of the Fairmont Hotel chain, which provides us with a healthy dose of overpriveledged, undereducated out-of-towners. As it happens, neither set is inclined to tip, or, for that matter, be polite. In my desperation for outside approval (accompanied by my sad realization that this would never be monetary) I found myself working hard and fast in the hope that I might merely pry a "thank you" out of my surly customers.

"But Kribs!" I hear you say, "surely you're working hard and fast, not merely for 'thank you's' but also in the hopes of financial reward and advancement handed down by management!" Gentle (astute) reader, this would indeed have been the case had this conversation preceeded the aforementioned finacial catastrophe. My manager, a wonderful woman who has done a lot of work on my behalf, has no money to give me, no hours to give me, no positions above mine to award me. She is, however, liberal in the application of "thank you's," so, you know, I got that going for me.

So what motivates me, these days? I guess this was what got me started writing this blog, I wondered why I was working hard, coming in on my day off, fucking with my schedule and dealing with customers who won't even look me in the eye like someone told them poorness was contagious, well, all I can figure out is that I'm working for 'Thank You's' I guess that's enough.

Practice before Praxis

Never thought it would come to this, I have to say, but here we are. Blogging. Well, here's the deal, I need somewhere to practice doing whatever it is I'm doing. I was sort of looking for a catch-all spot to write whatever needs writing in my head, which I'm guessing will be a big smattering of self important tripe ranging from music reviews to short fiction (maybe) to searing polemical retellings of minor events in my life.
I'm not much of a typist, so I can work on that. I don't have much of a portfolio outside of philosophy (and even in that arena it's pretty narrow), so maybe this will help fix that too. I guess I see job postings for a food critic, and I think 'Hey! I can do that!', but I have no way to prove it, so we're gonna give a go at changing that fact.
Audience is not really required for this just yet, so I don't know that I'll be advertising this anywhere, but I don't imagine I'll try to hide it either, we'll call it an open secret for now.
OK, them's the details. On with it.