the new apartment is rambling and a bit funky, but that's what i was looking for; a big improvement over the prison cell of my last apartment. i hope not to be moving again any time soon. i've had enough moving in the last ten years to last a lifetime: san francisco, puerto rico, the hamptons, NYC, hoboken, brooklyn, richmond VA, DC, and now Alexandria VA. and that's just since 1997.
what the hell is wrong with me?
excellent question, doctor. would that i had the disposable to consult a professional. the proverbial "grass is always greener" syndrome? maybe they can name it after me instead. once they discover it, as they recently did with the "restless leg syndrome".
excellent question, doctor. would that i had the disposable to consult a professional. the proverbial "grass is always greener" syndrome? maybe they can name it after me instead. once they discover it, as they recently did with the "restless leg syndrome".
you can get drugs for that now.
i'd like to say that part of all the moving has been for work, but that's not entirely true. most of it has revolved around women: either running away from, or moving towards. may i just go on record here, and say that this is never a good idea. "it all ends in tears, as these things usually do." and may i also state that i am fully aware of this fact; but, as we know, advice is easier given than taken.
let's leave the subject of women for another day, though. and let's leave the subject of my idiocy as an annoying, yet constant, thread throughout these postings. the job that sometimes causes me to move is in the restaurant business. let's talk about that for a bit.
i started in the biz as a waiter/bartender and made a successful, if marginalized, living at this equal parts rewarding and demeaning work for many years. after a time though i realized i had reached an income ceiling, so i went into a sort of stylized management, as a wine+cheese guy. it's what i do when i'm not working so why not get paid for it?
i'd like to say that part of all the moving has been for work, but that's not entirely true. most of it has revolved around women: either running away from, or moving towards. may i just go on record here, and say that this is never a good idea. "it all ends in tears, as these things usually do." and may i also state that i am fully aware of this fact; but, as we know, advice is easier given than taken.
let's leave the subject of women for another day, though. and let's leave the subject of my idiocy as an annoying, yet constant, thread throughout these postings. the job that sometimes causes me to move is in the restaurant business. let's talk about that for a bit.
i started in the biz as a waiter/bartender and made a successful, if marginalized, living at this equal parts rewarding and demeaning work for many years. after a time though i realized i had reached an income ceiling, so i went into a sort of stylized management, as a wine+cheese guy. it's what i do when i'm not working so why not get paid for it?
the low-end pay for this sort of work is the same as a waiter's high-end, depending on the market. bartenders in a hot night club still kick our asses, though. that gig requires a strong stomach for late hours, heavy boozing, lots of drugs and far too many assholes, dangerous and otherwise.
aside from financial reasons, i also couldn't deal with walking people through their evening like spoiled children any longer.
aside from financial reasons, i also couldn't deal with walking people through their evening like spoiled children any longer.
anyone who has worked in the restaurant business for any length of time agrees wholeheartedly with me on this proposition: instead of mandatory military service in this country we should have mandatory service industry service. a year in our trenches will give you the outlook required to properly navigate your way through an evening spent dining in public.
the sad truth is that most people are not equipped with either the manners or simple civility to be allowed to eat in public; and a true professional, whether waiter or bartender, knows this, accepts this, and does it anyway.
the sad truth is that most people are not equipped with either the manners or simple civility to be allowed to eat in public; and a true professional, whether waiter or bartender, knows this, accepts this, and does it anyway.
masochists, all? perhaps. but i think there is another reason for it, one aside from the flexible hours and the great daily infusions of hard cash in the front pocket.
is it a true and unshakeable love for the social compact that restaurants engender?
is it a true and unshakeable love for the social compact that restaurants engender?
think about it. what other business operates like this: the customer comes in and takes his place, he orders his food, wine, etc. - services innumerable, spoken and unspoken, noticed and otherwise, take place and all this with only the promise of payment. no actual monies exchange hands until after the transaction is finished. the servers, bussers, bartenders, et al, are only paid on the whim of the patron, on whatever they deem they wish to pay.
it takes a special kind of person to operate at the highest levels of this business. an especially twisted kind of person. mutants and hopeless romantics, for the most part; people who think the world could be, and should be, a more civil place. weirdos and misfits and god help me but i love 'em all.
it takes a special kind of person to operate at the highest levels of this business. an especially twisted kind of person. mutants and hopeless romantics, for the most part; people who think the world could be, and should be, a more civil place. weirdos and misfits and god help me but i love 'em all.
