Today’s Co–Star said:
Talk to people.
And underneath that:
Stop rehearsing what you think people want to hear. Your withdrawal has become more obvious than any awkward conversation could be. Pick up the phone. Send the text. Real connection requires risk.
That feels pretty direct.
And maybe fair.
I do have a habit of rehearsing conversations in my head before they happen.
Trying to work out the safest version of what I want to say.
What sounds too needy.
What sounds too emotional.
What somebody might think.
What they might say back.
Sometimes I basically write both sides of the conversation before the other person has even had a chance to exist in it.
Maybe today can just be simpler.
Talk.
Ask.
Listen.
Let people answer for themselves.
Anyway.
I woke up around 7 this morning.
I’m opening today, which means I need to be at Rosie’s by 10:30.
Still too early to start getting ready.
But also absolutely not enough time for me to trust myself with going back to sleep.
I know how that story ends.
So I just lay there tossing around, mentally planning how much life I could squeeze into the morning.
Current mission:
Put the laundry into the dryer.
Put the delicates into the washing machine.
Buy Pokémon cards.
Maybe get a haircut too.
Very reasonable agenda for the three hours before work.
Then I remembered something important.
I still had pizza from last night.
And honestly, this is what I love about me.
Sometimes I accidentally prepare for my own future.
Yesterday-me ordered too much food.
Today-me gets breakfast.
Beautiful system.
So I heated up the leftover pizza and suddenly felt much more prepared to face the day.
Around 9:35, I left the house to catch the 9:46 train.
I arrived at Waitematā just a few minutes before 10 and went straight to my favourite barber:
Hair for Men.
Bonus point:
it is literally only a couple of minutes away from Vagabond.
Very dangerous location for my wallet.
By the time I finished my haircut, it was around 10:15.
Vagabond still didn’t open until 10:30.
I had already accepted that I was going to arrive a little later to work anyway, so I made my way to my lucky chair in Chancery Square.
Sat down.
Waited for the shop to open.
Honestly, not a bad way to start the morning.
Then Vagabond opened.
I bought my stuff.
The Pokémon part of today can live over here:
[COMING SOON: LINK TO POKÉMON JOURNEY POST]
After that, I made my way to Starbucks for the important part of the morning:
coffee.
Today’s order:
Venti extra-sweet iced shaken espresso with oat milk, salted caramel, plus two extra shots.
Or, in Starbucks-partner language:
Venti quadruple oat milk extra salted caramel iced shaken espresso.
Which sounds less like a drink and more like a system diagnostic.
Either way, it was exactly what I needed.
And maybe I notice these things more because I used to be a Starbucks Partner around five years ago.
Back then, the drinks felt more personal.
The cup was part of the interaction.
You wrote on it.
You used the lingo.
The customer watched their order become something specific to them.
Now everything gets printed onto a sticker.
Efficient?
Absolutely.
But somehow less special.
I think Starbucks lost a little bit of its human touch when that changed.
Maybe most customers don’t care.
But as someone who used to stand behind that counter, I do.
There was something beautiful about the language around the drinks and the feeling that every cup had passed through an actual person before it reached you.
A sticker gets the order right.
Handwriting made it feel like somebody made it for you.
Anyway.
I arrived at Rosie’s around 10:45.
We had a lot of big bookings coming in early for lunch.
And yes.
We got slammed.
One of the bookings had pre-ordered their food and expected everything to basically appear the second they arrived.
Brother.
I am not asking the kitchen to cook your food while you’re still somewhere else.
Plans are plans.
But plans also change.
What if you’re an hour late?
What if something comes up and you have to cancel?
I would much rather wait until I know you’re actually here before telling the kitchen to start.
And anyway, our tacos come out in under five minutes.
Please have some faith in us.
The nice thing about the pre-order was that everybody had put their names against what they ordered.
And because I am me, and I love personalised service, I basically took over running the food for that booking.
If somebody ordered something under their own name, I wanted to make sure it actually reached that person.
Not just:
here are some plates, figure it out.
Maybe that is slightly unnecessary.
But I like people feeling like we actually know who they are.
In the middle of all of that, James also gave me someone doing a practical interview to look after.
I felt a little bad for her because lunch was so busy that I couldn’t give her 100% of my attention.
But honestly, from what I saw, she handled herself well.
She was proactive.
She didn’t just stand around waiting to be told every tiny thing.
Afterward, James asked me whether I thought we should hire her.
I said yes straight away.
The rest of the shift went pretty well until dinner.
I also managed to get a break with Mariele again, so naturally we continued our little break ritual at Parasol.
There was one problem during the shift involving what I would politely call the weak link of the team.
I decided I had dealt with enough.
So I passed it to Steve.
Hehe.
Delegation.
After I finished my report and cashed up the reception till, Steve asked me to come over to Lula’s for a chat.
He mostly wanted to know what I actually do outside work.
And honestly?
I didn’t know how to answer.
Because lately it feels like I’ve been working every single day.
Meeting after meeting.
Task after task.
Preparing for DJ sets.
Preparing social media.
Thinking about training.
Thinking about the venue.
Even when I’m not technically on shift, work still seems to find a way into the day.
We also talked about the current management team at Rosie’s.
I gave Steve my two cents based on what I’ve been observing.
Nothing dramatic.
Just the things I’ve noticed from actually being on the floor with everyone.
As we were finishing our drinks and wrapping up the conversation, we went inside Lula’s to put the glasses away.
And somehow we ran into Jamie Freeman.
Of course we did.
Jamie bought Steve and me another drink.
Am I complaining?
No.
Should I probably have said no considering I’m opening again tomorrow?
Also probably yes.
We spent another ten minutes or so talking with him before finally making our way back to Rosie’s.
I clocked out.
Said goodbye to everyone.
And finally went home.
And I think Steve’s question stayed with me a little.
What do I actually do outside work?
Because the answer should be easy.
Pokémon.
Reading.
DJing.
Writing.
Perfume.
Coffee.
Friends.
Random little adventures.
All of that exists.
But work has been taking up so much space lately that sometimes those things start feeling like small islands between shifts.
Maybe that’s something I should notice.
Not fix immediately.
Just notice.
Today’s Co–Star told me to talk to people.
And I did.
Customers.
Staff.
Mariele.
Steve.
Jamie.
People I needed to manage.
People I needed to listen to.
People I actually wanted to talk to.
Maybe connection doesn’t always mean one dramatic emotional conversation.
Sometimes it is just being present enough to let people into the day.
I got home.
Heated up some leftover pizza.
Filled my tumbler with water and put it beside the bed.
And then?
Straight to sleep.
No overthinking.
No extra chapter.
No late-night detour.
Just done.
Maybe after talking to people all day, there was finally nothing left to rehearse in my head.
And honestly?
That felt pretty good.