Tomorrow, October 16 is Boss’s Day, and for the occasion, I bought my new boss some flowers.

Eh, who am I kidding, I never really need a good excuse to buy flowers. At least not when beauties like these are just lingering around Trader Joe’s, flashing their electric blue loveliness my way. I’ll tell you what though, these stems are confusing the heck out of all my fall decor I just put up. (I think the pumpkins were hoping for some sunflowers.)

So, Boss’s Day got me thinking about all the bosses I have had throughout the years and I landed on the one who gave me my big break into marketing. I was a wide-eyed intern, learning the ropes of professional lunching and after mistaking his water glass for mine, he taught me the old “B” and “D” trick. Do you know it? Hold up your fingers in the “#1” position. You should have a lower case b on the left (for bread plate) and a lower case d on the right (for drink). So helpful! He also shared a quick way to figure out the tip of a bill if you want to leave 20% by taking the first number of the total and doubling it. (A $58 check could round up to $60. Take the 6 x 2 = $12 dollar tip.) And hey, I don’t mean to insult your intelligence here. This one is likely a no-brainer for you, but I am tragically bad at basic math. This tip saves me from fumbling around and staring at the ceiling while I “carry the one” in my head and count decimal places. (Or pull out my phone and pretend to text someone when I’m really using the calculator.)

Of all the things to remember, these practical tips have stayed with me. Have you been given any helpful advice from a boss, either past or present?

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P.S. A card to recognize all the mamas out there.