Membership has its rewards.

Well, OK, Café and Bar Bernardo doesn't have a membership; if it did, I'd sign up. As it is, I'm just a regular and not even the kind of regular whose name the staff knows. But they know my order, and that of my almost-tocaya, speaking of names.

For a few months we've been trying to go once a week and we usually make it. I value these lunches; we talk about work, our work and details before getting down to more personal topics. Sometimes we eat quickly and get back to our respective computers, but most of the time we can linger a bit, la sobremesa.

Tocayos are people who share the same name. My almost-tocaya and I have many other things in common and we always order the same thing at Bernardo. Sometimes the servers remember...

On Monday I went to Bernardo, but not with my almost-tocaya. I went with my mentor, who can be a bit formal and always appropriate. We approached the counter to order, "Go ahead, Val," he nudged me forward.

The dimpled waiter/cashier smiled and asked, "The usual 3-salad sampler?"

"No no, not today... I'll be doing something a little different. Just the Thai noodle, please." And I let a tiny bit of panic show in my eyes. The kid's a quick study; he winked almost imperceptibly and asked, "Anything to drink?" instead of his usual, "And the usual Sauvignon Blanc? One now and one after?"

I'll be sure to take good care of his tip jar next week...