The Usual, Please.

What does it mean to be regular? In my own opinion, it’s not always a great thing. Who wants to be average or predictable? Not I.

But a regular is something completely different. If you are a regular customer at Bloomingdales, you get discounts and all sorts of special attention.When I was working at Marriott, if you were a regular you earned money off your room and could even receive free dining.

In college I was a regular at the dinning hall, but often times this just meant I needed to be a regular at the gym – which, by the way, I was not.

I want to be a regular somewhere. I want to walk into a place, smile at the waiter, and say oh-so-casually, “The usual please.”

It’s always been a life-long dream.

Every sitcom and movie has “that place” or “their favorite spot.” And remember? I often imagine life as a movie. "Saved by the Bell" had The Max. “Friends” had Central Perk. The Gilmore girls had Luke’s Diner. And I have….

Well I’m working on it. And the last two days, I’ve made great progress! Maybe you think I’m getting excited about nothing, but this is a LIFE-LONG dream here.

Rules for being “a regular”:

1. You know the name of the waiter/waitress/bartender, etc.

2. They know your name, or at least recognize you when you enter the building.

3. If you’re a true regular, the server will know your order… or at least how you like your coffee.

I know – these rules are tough on both parities. But for example, I love Panera, and have visited the one by CNU often. Yet they don’t know me and they certainly don’t converse with individual customers much. And that’s okay. They are very corporate establish that give me good food and free wi-fi. Love it.

So I’ve discovered if I going to be a regular, I need to frequent places that are known for being neighborhood spots.

Skip forward to last night when I was headed to the Spring Lounge after work with a friend. She and I have been here at least 3 times in the last month and wanted to keep up the tradition. The Soho spot is a little off the main road, with wooden paneling and sharks hanging on the walls.

She put her card on the bar to start a tab.

“You know the drill…” the bartender said.

“Twenty dollar minimum,” she replied, as calmly as possible. “Two Guinness please.”

He smiled and began preparing the drinks.

Once out of the bartender’s sight we jumped for joy and started saying we would come to the bar every couple nights! And then we realized that was excessive and changed our quota to something more like once every week or two.

No. We aren’t regulars. Not according to my rules.

But we’re on the right track ;)

UPDATE:

Another “regular “story to come soon… You know my boyfriend? Those bagels? They are giving me a little bit of a regular status too.

Top 3 Places to Eat on TV:

The Max

Luke's Diner

Central Perk

The Usual, Please.