The Ins and Outs, Ups and Downs
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The restaurant where I work is a multi-level building. As a customer, I used to joke that the place started out as a foyer, and grew in fits and spurts. It starts off great with nice wide doors and plenty of open space to turn a wheelchair. The main dining room is fantastic -you'll never have to worry about bumping chairs with your neighbor. This is great for a waitress carrying 8 dishes on a platter.
Come to think of it, the entire place is spacious, well planned and easy to work in.
But the stairs, oh lord the stairs. There's a little step up to the waitress station, and a little step up to the sinks. There's a half step down to the utensils storage area and a flight of stairs to the sub-basement. And finally, there are several steps down to the basement bar. The upstairs bar is being renovated, and opens on Sunday.
I visit the sub-basement several times a day, and it's like being in a white and steel funhouse. Because the sub-basement has a lot of rooms and storage areas. I still haven't been in all of them. Each one has a different height above sea level. The floor gently rises and falls from area to area, and no doorway is directly aligned with another. It's fun. And I'm really getting my exercise. My whole backside hurts from this new work out. Seriously. I have pain from mid back to ankles. I haven't felt like this since I did ballet, except ballet made my front muscles sore too.
Here's the funny thing. I feel good!
I'm stiff and sore and tired, but for the first time in years I feel healthy. I feel young. I'm so happy that my body can do what I ask of it. I can walk the stairs. I can carry heavy things. I can! Oh, it feels so good!