having a bad day?

my morning commute thru downtown flagstaff, az.

stop off at cafe espress for breakfast/brunch. immediately befriend one of the waitresses - denise. sit at the bar and we just start talking. she's really cool. wants to open a coffee shop / restaurant / consignment shop/ art gallery / performance space one day. i think i do too.

while chatting it up with denise i notice one of the other waitresses. looks like she's having a bad day... i've always been attracted to people who are having bad days. or vice versa. emotionally distraught women gravitate towards me. how lucky? i think it's because there's a part of me (or a part of everyone) that wants to be "the one" to brighten their day. maybe they sense that on some subconcious level? maybe not?

the distraught waitress walks behind the bar to the register in front of me. rings up a customer. when that customer leaves, she looks at the bill... "they didn't tip me!!" she exclaims. followed by some other words / noises of displeasure.

"having a bad day?" i ask. while shoveling spoonfuls of soup in my mouth. she looks at me. then slowly... and silently... mouths the word, "a-l-w-a-y-s." then runs in back to the kitchen. denise comes out. walks by. seconds the motion, "don't mind her. she's just having a bad day."

i continue shoveling soup in my mouth. thinking -

i wonder what happened... if anything? what could i do to cheer her up somehow? maybe offer to take her out to dinner? pretty sure i could at least get a smile out of her with my antics... wait?! is asking out someone who is having a bad day, a bad idea?...

probably.

surely, i can come up with something more original than that anyway. keep thinking... i'll figure out something when she comes back out...

i wait. and wait. drinking one cup of coffee too many in the process. yet she never comes out.