As some of you know I was employed by the New York City Department of Education for over thirty -two years first as a teacher and later as a social worker.
My final stint lasted fourteen years in one school where I literally had five different jobs simultaneously. Primarily, I was the person who was responsible to provide regularly scheduled counseling sessions to individuals and groups of children who were mandated to receive this service. I worked with over sixty children a week and some of these children were seen more than once a week.
In addition to that job, I was the person who: reported all suspicions of child abuse or neglect and interfaced with the appropriate authorities and agencies; monitored the attendance of all the children in the school and worked with parents and authorities to prevent/handle educational neglect; provided staff development training about child abuse and maltreatment; worked with parents and informed them of their rights when I submitted teacher referrals for their child to receive special education evaluations; ran weekly pupil personnel committee meetings; provided “safe kids” training to each of the kindergarten classes.
Needless to say, lunch usually meant a fifteen minute break and the return to tasks at hand.
When I retired from the job one of my greatest pleasures was to have lunch out in a lovely restaurant in the city with one of my fellow retirees. For several years every month we enjoyed the Prix Fixe luncheons in some of the lovliest and elegant restaurants.
Over the years the monthly luncheon was replaced by monthly visits with my dear friend. We’d sometimes have extra nice lunches but going to the fancy restaurants to celebrate our liberation from our former school building was no longer important.
To celebrate my December birthday, this week we decided to return to Le Cirque, http://www.lecirque.com
This was our third visit to the “new” Le Cirque ( it moved and completely changed its appearance in the new venue). Sitting in a decorated, comfortable room with delicious, beautifully presented food is very relaxing and luxurious.
Our waiter, Julio, provided great service and the two and a half hours we were there was simply a delight.
Here is a slideshow of my luncheon at Le Cirque. I hope that you enjoy my pictures of the menu, the room, the building it is housed in, the plates, flowers and food.
Meryl Chodosh-Weiss 