So I have come to the realization that I am very lucky to work where I work. Yeah, maybe it's not considered "respectable" amongst people (let's face it, people don't take waitresses seriously) and maybe it's a grimy bar (it's the second oldest bar in Toronto, at over 100 years old) and the management is absolutely whack, I actually really like everyone I work with (asides from the owner and manager). There are only about five of us ( I don't really count the new kids because they barely make it past 1 month, I'm not kidding when I say that the management is absolutely fucked), but we all have each other's backs. Perhaps we're not friends because we never hang out outside of work, but while we're at work, we function as this nucleus that protects itself and each other. The bartenders always make me drinks and give me boy advice and help me restore my faith in the male species because they are all really good and awesome guys, the cooks always make me food, I always present everyone with coffee or tea and share my tips, we stand up for each other if someone is being an asshole and we always manage to make each other laugh and come up with schemes to help us get more from where we work, it's called hustling.
And you know what? It makes working bearable and even enjoyable. I would rather work where I work than have some high paying office job being surrounded by a bunch of manipulative people who are only looking out for themselves or for the best interest of the company. We work a shit job but we look out for the best interests of each other and I don't feel like that's very common anymore. I feel like the sense of commodarie is gone in most places in today's dog eat dog world.
I can come into work an hour late and no one will care, I can wear whatever I want, talk however I want and act however I want and it's okay. I don't need to put on this personality pretending I am my work, because I'm not. And neither does anyone else. Or maybe just maybe, and I hate sounding like this, but it's easy working where I work because everyone I work with is male. Guys are more simple and don't feel the need to be controlling or have something to prove (unless they're insecure douchebags...which thankfully, these guys are not). When girls buy clothes and act a certain way, most of the time they're trying to impress. Or try really hard to be accepted. And the guys I work with are cool enough to see right through that. Maybe it's just a perfect balance of testosterone to estrogen ratio and being down to earth and modest. This delicate balance of a combination has set itself through fate in this little bar on the lower east side but won't stay this way for long.
Because I doubt that any of us are going to stay there for any longer than over a year. And so I think it's very interesting that life works that way, that sometimes people and things come together at a certain time in life, for a reason. We're all trying to get somewhere or find something and on our journey we come across each other. I find it interesting that you can meet people from different backgrounds and stories and have the opportunity to learn something from them, and have them learn something from you. I think life is so crazy that way and it's important to keep that in mind. To take yourself out of your own little bubble and realize the importance of the people in your life right now, maybe you don't think that they don't play a huge role but chances are, they're in your life because they're filling a piece of the puzzle. I mean, just take a step back.
Out of all the people and places and situations that you can be in in the entire world, you're in this particular one at this very moment. What are you learning?
Because chances are they won't stay there forever, life is fluid so are people and ideas and concepts, it's like a river. These people might be gone for a while and then sometimes unexpectedly they are back when the time is right...or sometimes even wrong, or maybe they're the person sitting beside you on the bus, but everyone is each other's teacher. Whether they make you sad or angry or happy or make you feel nothing, you're learning something.
Okay, enough with this hippy shit, I need to go buy myself some boots because it's snowing.
Peace.