Super Great Wall Buffet 2011 年 1 月 17 日星期一
女儿这次回来,宁子几乎没怎么陪她。先是陪父母,父母走后的第一个休息日自己独自搞了一次乾坤大挪移 --- 把北屋主人房的 King Size 床移到南屋客人房来,把客人房里所有东西移到主人房里去。还没来得及享受,就做了 12 天的水工。只到今天才有机会在床上沐浴了五个多小时的阳光。 把所有的欠觉都补了回来。
刚起床,女儿就过来打招呼:“老妈,你醒啦。”
宁子问女儿:“你晚上想去哪儿吃饭?”“在家里吃呗。”
“你不是在你走之前要去吃顿生日饭吗?”
“我想去很久以前去过的那家中国 Buffet 店。可是 Daddy 说很远。也不知道那家店还在不在。”
“你不是想去韩国烧烤嘛?”“我就想去吃那家 Buffet 。”
“是不是前年冬天你会学校前我们去的那一家?”“对。”
正好江子夫打电话过来,告诉宁子那家店还在,叫 Super Great Wall Buffet 。而且在网上还可以打印出 10% 的折扣卷,不过节假日除外。宁子说:那你打电话问问他们,今天是马丁路丁节,银行学校邮局股市都不开门,是国假日,但算不算餐馆业的节日。宁子做 Coupon ,“ Exclude Holiday ”的意思是指一年里餐馆最忙的四天:情人节,母亲节,圣诞前夜和新年前夜。
江子夫提前两个小时下班,告诉宁子那家店今天不用 Coupon 。并说:这家太远了,去韩国店旁边的 LD Buffet 也不错。宁子说:今天是吃她的生日饭,由她挑,她喜欢哪家就哪家,再远也要去。
宁子第一次来吃这家是在 07 年,当时是在 Private Room 里给宁子的上司 E 开欢送会, E 在公司做了十年,是科罗拉多的原老,她的走让很多人都很难过,科州几乎所有分店的经理都来了。当 HR 的人打电话告诉宁子时,宁子还不敢相信。 HR 的人问宁子有没有与 E 的合影,所有人都知道宁子与 E 关系很好。宁子想了半天,还真没有。宁子就即兴地写了一首打油诗发给 HR ,被主持人( HR )放在投影仪里公布于众。
An Everlasting Photo in My Mind------To E
When I first joined in Panda,
Your were my MUM,
I always called you my MOM,
Although you are much younger than me.
You led me from a Panda infant to elementary school,
You were the reason why I could stay in Panda.
Then you became my ACO.
I told you “too bad so sad, I couldn’t call you MOM any more,
But I was so so so happy for UUUUUUU.”
When you first told me you were leaving,
I thought it was just your thinking, not your decision.
I have been dreaming your changing mind.
Now the fact is unchangeable and
I become very emotional.
All my past 2 ½ year Panda GM life
Flashes like a movie in my mind
With my eyes full of tears.
We have totally different characters:
You are soft like Pacific Ocean while
I am hard like Rocky Mountain .
But they are perfect Ying and Yang.
Your walk-to-talk leadership shows me
To be a human being first
Then to do the business.
You are a really servant leader model.
You might not have a degree in college,
But you are a post-Doc in Panda.
Because your 10-year Panda experience
Makes you bigger than most problems
So that a big problem to me is no problem to you.
We used to cry together:
Cried for the understood and misunderstood,
Cried for the fairness and unfairness,
Cried for the success after a warrior’s hardworking,
Cried for the failure after a mistake.
I’ve never got a picture of yours
But your calm attitude when frustrated
Your tender eyes when offended
Your soft voice when angry
Your smiling face when satisfied
Always last in my programmed brain.
I feel like a child being abandoned by a MOM
Because I know this time I totally lose my Panda mental backup.
But I am happy for you if you think it’s good for your own real daughter.
And it’s time for me to grow totally independently.
每次来这家店吃饭,都会想起那天的告别宴。也许是命中注定,女儿返校前也选这家店。
这家店的菜确实不错:有生蚝,炒蚬,椰汁虾,椒盐虾。都是宁子和女儿爱吃的菜。还有 Sushi (当然宁子不回碰),蒙古 BBQ 。
环境也蛮好,宁子和女儿都对吊在正中央空中的由无数个玻璃珠串成的帆船感兴趣。
宁子所工作的店里的会计师一家今天也来吃饭。这世界真小。但意外碰见熟人也是一个惊喜。
这一个城市住得太久必然会有很多沉淀和回忆。难怪人说美国人在一个房子里居住的平均年限是七年。也许是该挪窝了。
吃完饭上了车,女儿礼节性的说了声:今天吃得很开心,谢谢老爸老妈。