JOKE OF THE DAY.

One of my first lessons in the restaurant world (and inevitably one that I am constantly reminding myself of) was to make it clear to all when I am present. Even if I've been in the closet we refer to as our office for a couple of hours, it's quite easy for the staff (and my husband) to forget. If you don't constantly make it known which part of the restaurant you are in at all times, you are undoubtedly going to either hear something you'd rather not hear or be the unintentional target some prank or another. And, more times than not, the red dot always falls on my chest.

Today; however, was different.

Yes, today was the day when the joke was not on me.

It all started when Flo came off the line and into the office during lunch service.

"Hey, did you see that Kaleb is at table 42?" he asked. (Kaleb is one of our old servers who still pops in from time to time through the back door, donuts in hand and as if he's coming in for shift)

Without even looking away from the computer screen, I veered a tad towards him, "That's not K-Love. I just sat them a few minutes ago, silly."

"Aww, man," he chuckled, and walked away.

Minutes later, I made my way near the kitchen bar, and set my sights on Christopher.

"Hey, are you going to go talk to Kaleb? He's at 42," I asked.

"Yeah, in a sec," he said, unconvincingly.

Assuming that the battle had been lost, and looking down at the ticket that was being shoved into my hand, I returned to my post at the register.

From across the dining room, I made eye contact with Flo. As if reading my mind, he mouthed, "He already knows."

Just as soon as the words were lipped, Christopher cut us off from view of one another, rounding the corner from the kitchen and into the dining room.

"Hey," he screams, "What're you doing in town?" as he bolts to the table.

Startled, the couple faces him - Christopher realizes he's been the butt of the joke.

"Uhhh," he struggles, "I'm so sorry. I thought you were someone else."

From all angles of the restaurant, laughter could be heard. As Christopher retreats back, he turns his head toward me taking in the huge grin on my face.

For once, the joke's not on me.

((I'd like to add that for their unwilling participation in our little scheme, the couple indulged in a complimentary dessert, along with a mass of apologies. I really didn't think Christopher believed me. Turns out, the guy knew Christopher from a culinary class and had wanted him to come out to talk to him anyways. Yes!))