Gee, "LONG time no blahg Kola, what gives?!" Well if you know anything about me, you know I stay exploring the wonders of the World, even if it's just from the comfort of my fleece blanket... Today is Columbus Day '11, and so in honor of the land swiping hooligan's holiday I'm inspired to treat myself to a much needed visit back to my hometown of NYC and do some exploring of my own. According to "BING" there's an 80% chance that fares will drop (and I love the thrill of a great deal!) but if it's anything like my local weather forecaster I think I'd better just go with MY gut and book my ticket now before it starts raining benjamins on dat price tag, you feel me son?! lol :)
So I'm gonna be 27 and people constantly guess that I'm just about 22, 23, and while I totally agree with the phrase "Black don't crack!" I must say Blasian is Amazin! Besides, nothing rhymes with JamaicaRicaNese unfortunately... Sadly though I see way too many folks moping about at the thought of aging, and some are even younger than I!!! If you ask me (and you're welcome to) I think people need to STOP WORRYING in general and LIVE IN THE MOMENT!
Like so many great ideas that seem catch 22-ish, this lifestyle recommendation can be misconstrued to be based in irresponsibility, when I believe the exact opposite is true.
For me, every moment of Life is so precious that I try to allow all possibilities to potentially manifest at any given time. For instance, I wake up early for work, feel slightly out of sorts and exhausted from that work, so I decide to call out sick. After a few hours more of much needed rest I awaken refreshed and think to myself "Yes I could've pushed myself to go to work even though I felt cruddy, I would've made it through the day, but ultimately I'm not saving lives at this place, I don't get the respect I deserve so what's my first "sick day" gonna hurt?" (A: It's NOT!) Then a few hours later I receive a message inviting me to work as an interviewer for some visiting Food Network stars event, but as I was so engulfed in 'chill-mode' ended up missing out on that opportunity, but still reconnect with an old videographer friend. Moral of the story being, I chose to close one door and another one opened, but like the saying goes "Luck is OPPORTUNITY MEETING PREPAREDNESS" possessing only half of those qualities in my day caused me to miss out on something that would've been AWESOME! Needless to say, I don't beat myself up about it because I take a step back and look at the situation and realize WHERE I WANNA BE, where I BELONG and WHAT I'm PASSIONATE ABOUT, and lemme tell ya it's certainly not where I'm at yet, but it's another reminder and inspiring force that's telling me to wake up and smell the coffee, then drink it up before someone else gets the last sip. (But even if they did I wouldn't WORRY 'bout it because I'm a tea drinker anyway! And there's LOTS of tea to be had in this World my friend... lol)
I bet right about now you're thinking "What is she going on about now?" But since you're still reading I'll tell you... Just the way I try to motivate by example, I'm happy to say that since I got back from my first marketing tour manager gig I decided to go to bartending school because I wanted to find the most flexible job that provided the most income and least responsibility while I $ave up and develop my creative life plan, and BAr TEnding certainly allows for that (sometimes). Unfortunately finding the perfect bar GIG proved to be a whole different animal and so I hopped from corporate hotel bar to uber-liberal Hard Rock Cafe bar to a place strewn with strict-yet-inconsistent standards inside the world's busiest airport bar and *PHEW* am I tired of the incessant non-sense affiliated with [almost] all of upper-management in The World these days!
While I made great money [on occasion] at the hotel, the routine of simply dealing with downtown Atlanta parking (or lack thereof) combined with downtown Atlanta patrons (or lack thereof) made me realize that I CAN'T STAND visiting DOWNTOWN ATLANTA, let alone work there! Between managers lazily pushing their workload on me, to "shared tip jars" (whoever came up with this idea must be the anti-christ of bartenders) and goofy uniform policies I just about had it with bartending until I finally got the call back from AHJIA (ATL Airport). "Finally!" I thought- "Third time's the charm!" and after acing my interview, promptly began working at a bar where 9-11am was one of the busiest times! (woohoo?) until I realized the SMOKEY ENVIRONMENT was probably not gonna work for me (can anyone say cancerous emphysema?!)
Thankfully as the baby Jesus and the Buddhas answered my prayers, ended up moving me to a cozy joint just a few yards down the concourse where the mornings are ALL MINE and the jealous, two-faced fellow bartenders were long-gone. BUT as fate would have it I was once again reminded of just EXACTLY why I know I was born to be A BOSS and not an employee because irresponsible, unhelpful management, unorganized co-workers and contradictory policies began rearing their ugly heads again. Now as I enjoy my birthday week OFF I sit back and contemplate my next move... one that involves taking my rightful place at the throne, at the helm of my life's ship, because I can do it, and failure or life spent tolerating mediocrity in the workplace are just NOT options I'm willing to accept anymore.
Needless to say, bartending at the world's busiest airport is not without it's moments of sheer wonderment at the tales I have to tell about meeting some of the most random people. In three months I've met people who just got out of prison, a self-published motivational author and musician, the manager of some Canadian hockey team, a self-made wealthy dude who told the tale of how he went from "rags to riches" from London to Australia through the banking industry into head of global acquisitions position for something to do with the stock market (this conversation took place with myself and a stick-thin, tattoo-laden, soft-spoken chick who turned out to be a dominatrix! *girl power! lol) I held my very first BLACK AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD (it felt like a piece of onyx titanium with gold print) belonging to some middle eastern dude who just wanted a bottle of water and some crappy food to go (dude if I had a BLACK AMEX I'd have a personal chef living in my pocket!) I've seen monks, met a band named "Graham's Number", "Carl" from Living Single, a writer from the Chicago Sun Times, I saw that dude Jason from "The Hills", Swiss Beats, a tranny from RuPauls' Drag Race, a lady with boobs bigger than basketballs and one with so much plastic surgery her face looked like it was made out of smooth lumps of clay. I've seen speeding wheelchairs, a newlywed couple that weighed about 600lbs in total and lots of people who get so frazzled with flying that they order drinks for others and then forget to take their own shot! I've made a signature drink called The Ginger Kiss (double shot of maker's mark, half a shot of black raspberry liquor, fill with ginger ale) and customers love my bloody mary mix, despite the fact that my coworkers think that putting barbecue sauce in it is WEIRD even though- HELLO- it's a perfect way to calm down the tabasco sauce and black pepper since that's all I've got to work with!
Through all the drama (and there is a lot) bartending is mostly fun, but due to it I'm constantly reminded that it's just a means to an end, or in my case- a beginning :)
Ultimately I see myself moving back to NYC for a bit as living in ATL has grown a bit monotonous for me; and nobody like monotonous!
My immediate plan involves telling my GranMa how serious I am about learning more about my Chinese/Jamaican/English/Syrian heritage and the awesome recipes she knows through her life's work as a chef (and ultimately becoming her apprentice). I see myself running our family restaurant, starting my official food blog and working my way up the ranks to becoming a Food Network STAR! :} I'll keep ya posted on all that, mmkay?!
Love Always,
KoLa*
No comments:
Post a Comment