I don't have a lot of skills but one thing I can do is I can compartmentalize. I can make that a little world that I can go back to so I can be a waitress or I can be a teacher and then go and work on my book.

I worked as a secretary a waitress and a dance teacher - all in high school.

I'd much rather have sat there and just been a fly on the wall instead of having to smile at people. I'd rather have been a waitress. Just gone round and stared at people.

I'm not a figurehead for anything. I was a single mom with two kids. What else was I going to do? It was either be in a band or be a waitress.

I'd probably be famous now if I wasn't such a good waitress.

I prefer ordinary girls - you know college students waitresses that sort of thing. Most of the girls I go out with are just good friends. Just because I go out to the cinema with a girl it doesn't mean we are dating.

My mom was a waitress and my dad was a plumber who worked for the City of San Clemente fixing mains breaks so not too glamorous.

I get heartfelt thanks from all kinds of people. Today I heard from a waitress in Georgia who has lost her job and is trying to figure out how her local bank can change the terms on her credit card and I heard from a physicist at a major research university who wants to explain a better theory of financial stress tests.

I started in the restaurant business at the age of 19 as a waitress. I loved the atmosphere and the camaraderie of the restaurant business. I loved not having to go to an office. I loved making people happy.