The wedding21:28 Jul 02 2008
Times Read: 815
I worked a wedding last night. Half the side was Persian, the other half Italian. I guess this is what most people mean when they say "culture clash"...lol
I had gotten there a little early, so most of my set up was done, so I was regaling the cooks with stories from the wedding the previous night...
I walk into the kitchen in the middle of that one, and state that I am in hell, and as soon as it leaves my mouth, the supervisior is in hysterics...as I am telling the cooks this, THEY are now in hysterics....
Andrew (the supervisor for the earlier wedding) says, in between gasping for breath, WHY am I in hell (he is now hanging onto the counter top to keep from falling down) at which point I look him dead in the eye, and squint...again gales of laughter, which some of the servers have now joined into. I look around raise my arms in the air, and say"
I am a southern woman
Living in Canada
listening to a Vietnamese woman
SING ELVIS
I AM IN HELL
At this point, the cooks, the servers and Andrew yet again are all dying laughing at me, because we all know I am just SO serious when I do shit like this....and at that point, guests for last night's wedding are starting to filter in after running half an hour behind...so off we all go to our appointed stations and various jobs...
The toasts went well
The slide show went well
Everybody was very poilite (you Canadians I swear...)
After the serious stuff was concluded, the lights went down, the dj got revved up, and the dance filled up, with the people who hadn't gone outside to watch the Canada fireworks from the patio- we had a glorious view from where we are...
That's when the screaming started....
The uncle of the groom had fallen on the dance floor. He had a history of heart trouble, and had apprently suffered a major heartattack. Several people with cell phones immediately called 911, and the two doctors who were at the wedding went to work doing compressions and cpr, etc. The girls who were working the wedding were completely freaked out, so I made myself useful. I grabbed napkins, becasue he was vomiting and blocking his airway, I kept tabs on his pulse while the other two worked on him until the EMT's got there.
This man stopped breathing 6 times while he was there...I felt so helpless.
His wife was wailing from the far side of the room, but she was surrounded by family, so had the support she needed.
The EMTs fiunally got there, they got him stabilized and out the door, and the guests that hadn't already left, started to drift out of the room.
Andrew (the function supervisor) didn't quite know what to do, so I told him to go round up the girls and get them out on the patio so they could all calm down, and I went and took care of the bridal party- helping them load every thing up, making sure people had what they needed, getting water for people, cleaning up , etc.
Later, when the last few people were outside the front door, they asked us to call a cab, which due to the fact it was Canada day, they were exceptionally busy, and wouldn't be able to get up the mountain for at lteast 30-45 minutes. Since 3 of the 5 were going to New Westminster, where I live, I offered my services to get them home, with the approval of Andrew, so I was home by 1 am.
I never want to have to do that again.
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