Leap Year, 2012

It's leap year, 2012. We call it "Leap Year" but really it's just another day. The sun still rises and sets, people still wake up and go to work, or study, or fight, or love. And yet it only happens once every 4 years. It's uniqueness makes it special, it's rarity makes it valuable. It was a double birthday for a beautiful pair of 74 year old ladies who came into my restaurant today and sat down at table number 18.

Table 18 is the one right next to the service station, 5 feet from the bus bins, spitting distance from the computer terminal that all the servers use to print out checks and run credit cards, and 2 yards away from opening that separates the floor of the restaurant from the kitchen. It is, by far, the loudest, most chaotic, obnoxious location in the whole entire restaurant. And yet these lovely ladies had no complaints.

In fact, it was their birthday - February 29th, and they were "both 37," one of them said with a laugh. The one who spoke turned out to be the talkative one. She was clever, and full of such a youthful lightness - it resonated throughout, especially in her eyes. Her eyes laughed when she spoke. They were clear.

They had known each other since they were 9, bonded as leap year babies in elementary school. And here, 65 years later, one was taking the other out for a shared birthday lunch of corn chowder and ciabatta bread.

The extroverted one asked if I had seen the movie "The Artist" and then told me I could have been the leading lady. Another older woman in my section told me she "liked watching me interact with the other tables" and I think I received 2 compliments on my service.

All in all, despite all the positive energy and compliments I got from my tables, and the money I took home in the end, it was a strange day. There was a chaos in the air - I had 4 somewhat large spills in my section - which is unusual. And one troll of a man who shook things up a little in a negative way earlier on. I was able to brush him off eventually, but the sweet ladies on table 18 really made my day, and to them I say thank you. I suppose I should also acknowledge that they give me a 6 dollar tip on $13.

You know, Leap Year only happens once every four years, and Leap Year in the year 2012 only happens ONCE, and for that I am glad.