is it november yet?

Birds fly south for the winter, and so do old people.

It's official, October is "touristly" over. There are no more weekends, and that means it's time for them to take their Cadillacs and their Buicks and head to their winter homes.

The tourist season starts in May, continues ever upwards, so high that you think it can't possibly get any higher. That's August, when you are up to your elbows in octogenarians with too much money. September comes, and you get a little rest - they're only up to mid-thigh.

And then it's October, and you can't breathe, the air is so thick with them.

It's a mixed bag, really. October is the time to make money. The restaurants are so busy that even if you give crappy service, which you will, because you have seven tables and the kitchen is behind and there's a thirty-minute wait, you'll go home with enough money to pay your rent. I peaked out two weekends ago, where I made $275 in two days. The trouble is, you end up wanting to kill yourself.

And the weather, that fickle creature Mother Nature, has been gorgeous. It rained all summer long, keeping business down and our pockets empty. But not a single drop fell on an October weekend this year.

Until today. That cloudy sky had to be the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. (No, scratch that. My computer clock an hour behind my alarm clock was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.) After a hectic breakfast, lunch slowed down and by 2, Joe said I could leave. I hadn't left before 4:30 in weeks, even on the days I opened up the place at 8 am.

There was a weird atmosphere today. I think we all knew it was over, that we made it and that half the staff will probably quit before November's over. The radio in the kitchen was tuned to some oldies station, and there was some interesting karaoke going on. Ever seen a couple of waitresses waltz while a pair of guys make sandwiches and sing "Unchained Melody?" Just in case you were wondering what we were doing while your coffee cup remains empty. It was a good time, a wonderful relief from the running around and screaming.

And now it's over. I lived through another tourist season with little to no damage to my physical and mental health. And a few weeks from now, when I'm going home after six hours of work with $20, I'll wonder what was so bad about October. I just hope someone reminds me.