"Nobody told me it'd be easy or for that matter be so hard
but it's the living and learning that makes the difference and makes it all worthwhile"
-Drive By Truckers
How true the above lyric rings to me. In the preceding 7+ months I've grinded out a living as a lowly Bar Back, making $6/hour + tips, taking all kinds of shit from shit from people that have been doing this kind of work for years and years. My God. Winning these co-workers over has not been an easy chore, to say the least.
A few weeks ago, my "fellow" (air quotes indeed) Bar Back got off early (I was closing, for him, because he needed to leave, but instead parked his ass at the bar and got drunk) reiterated how GREEN I am and how I "only got this job because of your brother", and not apparently not because I spent a full year working the Door at another club owned by the same bosses.
Fucking Prick. And this is nothing compared to the shit I have to eat from the kitchen staff. You would thing helping them out, washing dishes for them would endear me to them, and it's helped, but MY GOD. This is a tough racket to break into when your're 30 years old.
I frequently hear co-workers think aloud about going back to/finishing school, and having already done so, I bite my tongue, walk away, not vocalizing nor complaining about the enormous debt I've incurred doing so, and more importantly, where it's gotten me. Like, HERE.
And you know what? I don't feel sorry for myself. I really don't. Sure, I complain about the physical pain, and the late nights hours keep me from seeing my friends, and my lover, but I'm happy to have the work. For NOW.
That being said, I envision much, much, bigger things for myself than running food, bussing tables, stocking beer and putting up with certain people that have such a narrow world view that they cannot, or will not, see the BIGGER PICTURE.
I hope that doesn't sound preachy or worse, pretentious, because 98% of my co-workers are genuinely smart, talented, nice people, and I won't let the other 2% drag me down. And I refuse to be sucked down into the quicksand that is the Service Industry.
That all being said, I'm gonna work my ass off tonight..."Service with a smile" and all that.
