I'm no heroine, at least not last time I checked/ I'm too easy to roll over/ I'm too easy to wreck

For someone who claims to have thick skin, sometimes I let little things really get to me. Like today, I opened up eightyone to find my ad, which was right in the front in a great location (sometimes you really do get what you pay for). Then I went to the food section to read what their critic had to say. She hadn't reviewed me, nor anyone else for that matter, but I was mentioned-- "The new owners of the Tea Bazaar renamed it Darjeeling Cafe."

Just a little sentence. Nothing to upset me (except that I opened in July and this is the first mention that I get), but one little "s". "Owners." I know it sounds petty but there is only one "owner." Me. I'm the person who is here every damn day, I'm the person who has not gotten paid since I opened, I'm the person who, regardless of whether this does great or fails, is responsible for it.

In the past two weeks I have been set up by ABC (they sent in a kid who was under 21 until 2011, whom I IDed and refused to serve-- kudos to me for doing my job) and had a health inspection with zero violations. These two things are a reflection on me and my business. If they had not gone well I would have been the one who had to pay fines, face criticism in the newspaper, or, worst case scenario, close.

Also, I was talked down to by some good old boy in Lowe's that I almost punched in the nuts with a two by four. This was because I was a young woman in a pink coat who asked where to find hanging equipment. I figured out what I needed on my own, no thanks to Boss Hog, might I add. Being a young female entrepreneur I have to deal with people treating me like I don't know what I'm doing a lot. Don't get me wrong, sometimes they are right. And, sometimes, they are just sexist ageist assholes.

I have not had a complete day off since September 18. I know that this is all part of owning a restaurant and I did this to myself. I'm not complaining. I come in and cook and clean and make tea and smile at everyone that comes in and pay bills and sometimes-- a lot of times-- I spend too much time on the internet instead of actually working. Those are the perks of restaurant ownership.

And maybe I'm letting my narcissism get the way here, but I think I deserve the credit of being the sole owner, singular, of the Darjeeling Cafe.