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My Left Foot

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It’s 1:25 a.m. and I am being serenaded by one single cricket outside my bedroom window.  He (or is it she?) is loud enough that I can hear it through my closed window.  It doesn’t stop for a second.

I’m trying to determine if one Robax Platinum and one Advil Liquigel will work in tandem for my back and feet. All of one or all of the other I am thinking won’t cut it. I have been lying here writhing in pain, thinking it’s a good thing I sleep alone tonight. A partner would either have left in a huff or taken pity on me and massaged my tender tootsies – if I were particularly lucky.

Despite having soaked my feet in my cool pool – maybe a salted footbath would have been better – the throb continues – particularly in my left foot. I give in and pop a second Advil and let loose a little prayer.

I’m reminded of my first season at the golf course, four years ago. It took me months to adapt and my feet had a hard time of it.  Good shoes go a long way.  Orthotics help as well. Last year I had a much better year with fabulous shoes. Of course, with the mileage we do during a summer, one season is all you can ask from a pair of shoes.

So, this year, the shoe guy came directly to the club with all sorts of samples of the same type of shoe I had last year. Woot! But, not the same model. Not woot.  I opt for a pair and hate them on my second shift. I cannot return them so I go shopping. Find another similar to last year’s and figure I’m good. Nope.

Last year I swore it was my last season and here I am again. What in the blessed fuck am I doing to myself? It is only mid-August and I have until the end of October before golf season ends. Then, come November and December we have 8-10 Christmas parties and then we’re done.  I mean DONE.  January till April will be mine.  And lemme tell you, I am not the only one dreaming of the end. Some of us have been dreaming of it since last June.  It’s been a tough one with lots of huge events like this past night’s. 300+ guests for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Great cause and they amassed over $300K.

I am not going back next year. I promise myself that. I’m too old for this shit.

It is now 2:30 and I feel the Advil kicking in and hope a visit from Morpheus is pending.

108 thoughts on “My Left Foot”

  1. Oy for the aching feet and I hear you for night pain being … well … a pain …
    It can be the worst, really, to be tired and hurting and lamenting the day and worrying about the day to come and not finding a comfortable position and – of course – having some cricket serenade to add to the cacophony of the senses.
    We have our weight on our poor feet every day. Not something to take for granted. Knees and hips and back and shoulders and neck and this heavy head we carry on top of it all … they’re all connected …
    I hope the Advil helped. I hope you got some shut eye. Will a massage and/or a good stretch help alleviate some of the accumulated ouchees?

    Hugs (from someone who understands, in her own way).
    Na’ama

    Liked by 1 person

    • I didn’t even talk about the pain shooting up my shins to my knees… but oy indeed.
      I took the bartender’s job because it was supposedly easier. Hah! It is much better to run around on a large floor than to stay withing my, I dunno, 24 square feet 😉 Not that I don’t run around way more but still.
      I want to get into yoga (it has helped my sister with her knees tremendously) but with my schedule it is quite difficult to squeeze it in. In the meantime, it is my duty to myself to start a better stretching regimen. And dammit. Buy new shoes for the rest of the season coz this won’t work for me!

      Thank you, sweet friend.
      Dale

      Liked by 1 person

      • I think it is the hardest thing to be on your feet all day. I’m not very good at standing … Can walk pretty far, but standing? Nope. I can only imagine (well, would rather not …) because my poor spine and leg – long story – would probably cry “Uncle!” about 15 minutes in … and it’d be downhill from there.
        I hope new shoes would help – a friend of mine who works in a restaurant spends more on good work shoes with enough support, than on almost any other thing in her wardrobe, but it is a necessity to her, too.
        Yes to stretching … and I’m sending some good juju and healing energies and all that jazz.
        XOXO your possibly sweet but certainly no stranger to achy friend … 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  2. I’ve got arthritis in my feet and there are days when I can hardly put one foot in front of the other, but once they get the idea they have to get me somewhere, they settle down. Ibrufen is usually recommended but I can’t take that long term as it affects my kidneys. Bummer. Paracetamol works OK but gives me the trots if I have to take them regularly. Double bummer. I do have an aspirin based cream though which is great for my feet, my hands, my knees, back and any other part of me where arthritis is lurking to spoil my day. I can get it on prescription (free as I’m over 60) though if I wasn’t it is now available over the counter at about £8 a tube, which lasts ages.
    Sympathies to you Dale.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. Soak feet in warm water and epsom salts (Dead Sea Salts or Himalayan salt will work as well). Sleep with feet rested on a pillow (helps that they’re not resting on the bed). And use something like Deep Freeze Roll-on Gel (is that available in Canada?) which is deliciously cooling to take down inflammation without resort to any drugs. Advice from a hiker.

    Liked by 3 people

  4. oh you poor, poor thing. I in any case couldn’t do what you do to save my life. In fact, there are so many things I couldn’t do to save my life that I should be grateful that it doesn’t come to that…. I also admire not only waiters but also cashiers, many who are never allowed to sit at all, who have to stand all the time and push the groceries along to gide them over the code reader. I have greatest respect for all people with a ‘standing’ profession, be it what it may be – I’m a ‘nulle’ in nearly every respect. I do hope you get to find the proper shoes in a hurry; and I do hope that you get help such as foot baths, creams, treatments etc. I’ll think of you with love…. and IF you can, financially, stop doing that. There must be other occupations which are killing you more slowly…. 😉

    Liked by 2 people

    • I always respected waiters/bar tenders/tellers… Now? Ever more!! Plus, at the golf course, the work is doubly hard (according to those who have worked in restaurants) as there is the whole banquet set-up, moving tables and chairs, etc.
      I wrote this post for the hell of it, not to garner sympathy! Though I’ll take it anyway 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  6. I hate to join in the aches and pains but I am having trouble with my left foot too! It like someone has put an elastic band around my ankle which makes the whole foot feel swollen and the first toes hurt but feel numb! Omg the joys of growing older! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I really do hop the Advil worked for you and you got some rest. I also hope you get your comfortable shoes they are so important when you are doing barwork 💜💜💜💜

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I’m so sorry you were–are–in such pain. Would inserts in your shoes help at all? I hope you can find something that is less taxing on you after this season. Now I have extra respect for all who do this work. (And nurses–I can’t imagine doing that!) Hugs!

    Liked by 1 person

    • It really blows, Merril. There are days worse than others and yesterday was a particularly grueling one. I had to ditch my orthotics as I think that’s why my left foot is worse! I am shopping for insoles today – doubtful I could find new shoes in my home town. We can wear running shoes but they must be black which limits us.
      Thanks!

      Liked by 1 person

  8. When I first began nursing my legs ached so much, even at that early age it’s just really a lot. I can sympathize Dale. I m sure you know good she’s are essential, in fact nursing she’s are fabulous for standing and walking. Wishing you a pain free day! 🤗

    Liked by 1 person

  12. I have always been in awe of people who can manage jobs where they’re on their feet all day. How do you do it?!? I get a small dose of that at conferences, where it’s go-go-go from 8 am to 10 pm for two to four days in a row. Even in my “comfortable” heels, that’s a hard ask. Even though I get to sit down during the sessions, there’s a lot of standing at all the meals and receptions and walking between sessions and getting to the restaurants and hallway talks and… jeesh, can’t we sit down for this conversation? Whew. By the third day even just resting my feet on the floor while sitting hurts. Plus I’m setting my briefcase down every second I can because the extra weight is more than my sore feet & back can stand. But hey, at least I only have to deal with that occasionally. Most of the time I get to sit at a desk (which is why I have this back ache that’s keeping me from sleeping, but that’s another round of old-lady kvetching, lol…).

    On the one hand, it’s a little reassuring to my own wussiness to hear that you aren’t actually a superwoman for being able to do this standing thing all the time. On the other hand, OUCH, how awful for you! I hope you find a good pair of comfortable shoes. And yeah, something else next year. We’re all too old for that shit. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Nothing like finding yourself in someone else’s shoes to bring you down to earth and back to reality. I thought I understood nurses, waiters, etc. I had no clue. Now, I have sympathy and empathy. You do get “roded” (not sure if this term is used elsewhere but means to get used to, to adapt. Not even sure if it’s not “roaded”!) with time, but there Re days where it is just a bit much.

      I worked in offices for 30 years… My body sure wasn’t roaded!!

      Liked by 1 person

      • Yeah, I would last about one day as a waitress or nurse and then devolve into a sniveling whiner. Give me an office job any day!

        I’ve never heard of roded/roaded, but the concept makes sense: you can get used to almost anything, I suppose.

        Like

  14. Dear Dale,

    Nothing like misery to make for a good write. Still, I wish you didn’t have to go through this. There’s no tougher job than one that has you on your feet running for an entire shift…and in your case, double shifts. And if your shoes aren’t what they should be it makes it that much worse. Being exhausted from lack of sleep and stress food service can cause doesn’t help those aches and pains that go from your toes to your shoulders.
    In any event, I’m saying anything you don’t know or feel. Only to that I add that my shoulders might be narrow, but they’re wide enough for a friend to cry on.

    Shalom and lotsa hugs, (gentle ones 😉 )

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Rochelle,

      I felt like writing something not prompt-related nor “my vacation or walk with Zeke… My feet decided to be my muse! I totally dissed my shins, knees and hips and only lightly touched on my back and completely put aside my arms, shoulders and… You get the point! 😝

      I know you know of what I speak. I think my writing about it is the kick in the pants I needed to give myself to make a change!

      Thanks for your loving kindness.

      Shalom and lotsa love,

      Dale

      Liked by 1 person

  17. You know when people say “I feel your pain?” I. Feel. Your. Pain.

    My son works in a restaurant. I wonder what kinds of problems like this he will develop if he doesn’t find a different path in life. He doesn’t take care of himself, he eats like crap, and I can see him getting old faster than most.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I believe you. There are ways of dealing with it.
      I work with a few who have been in the service industry for over 20 years and they seem to suffer a helluva lot less than I do. And they’re older than me! That said, many of them do less hours than I do and I have found working behind the bar is so much harder on my feet and knees for moving less.

      Your son, of course, like mine, probably thinks he’s invincible. Mine are the same way. Eat like crap, and generally don’t take care of themselves.

      Like

    • Let’s just say yesterday was no better and I’ve two more days to go before my “weekend” – time I will spend searching out a new pair of shoes as the gel inserts I got yesterday did diddly-squat. Thanks for your kindness.

      Liked by 1 person

  19. Q,

    As Sheryl Crow once wrote, a change will do you good. And how.

    You are well beyond ready to ditch your debilitating weight-lifting/cardio program called woiking tables. Because it is an exercise in breaking down rather than building up and there is only so much a body can take before no mas. Which your body has been saying for some time now.

    And it will be a good thing not to have to take something at the end of a work day as well, because that ain’t bueno to be doing on the regular.

    Keep to the hunt and say adios to the club for once and for all.

    B

    Liked by 1 person

    • B,

      You are so right! I swear, that night was the worst I had ever had. I had been doing fairly well… OK. I am lying through my teefs.

      Yes this is a debilitating weight-lifting/cardio programme. No way in hell a trainer would approve.

      Yes, the search is on big time. Ironically, we have lost two servers – both have left the industry completely. They are smarter than I and only in their twenties… My “do something outside of my norm” has served me enough.

      Time to make that change to do me good. Thank you, my friend. I know you are in my corner.

      Q

      Liked by 1 person

  20. So sorry your body is nudging you to make a change. Sometimes it turns the volume up way too loud. Have you tried putting essential oils on your feet? I love copaiba when my feet hurt and don’t have to worry about the damage to my stomach and liver with Advil that I spent years popping like they were Sweet Tarts. Feel better soon.😍

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Crickets and foot pain are not conducive to good sleep. I know that from experience. I remember well trying to find good shoes for when I worked for the Evil Empire and I was on my feet all day. My feet hated me for the longest time. Hope your feet are better now. As for crickets, I can never figure out why they like to camp outside a bedroom window. We have one, too.

    Liked by 1 person

    • And just one can make such a ruckus! Last night I was almost worried as it wasn’t chirping.
      As for the feet. 12-hour shifts like yesterday don’t help.
      Time to move on to something else.

      Liked by 1 person

  23. Feet and backs! Arggggghhhh!
    I decorate my back with Salon Pas/ 3 hour patches. No pills.
    I put one on my sore outstep the other night. It worked! Works for carpal tunnel, too.

    Liked by 1 person

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