My first thoughts this morning turned to my previous post. A bit snarky, poking fun at people, and a part where I ranted a bit and seemed ungrateful for my lot in life. Well, I’m here to tell you, that’s not the case. Maybe I woke up feeling a bit sappy, the wind knocked out of my cynical, sarcastic sails a tad. As I stirred around a bit under the covers, I thought that life is actually simple and we try to make it too complicated with unnecessary crap. What do we all really need? Just love and health (cheeseburgers and cocktails). The wealth part can come in more forms than money.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to make a list of all the things I’m grateful for. No one wants to read that shit. Air, fresh water, a clean asshole, yada yada.

My friend Gabe told me this once: “The trick to life is to want what you already have.”

When I somehow landed a job at Rustic Canyon, I had almost no money left in my bank account. I had just moved to LA from Boston and blew a big wad of cash taking three months off and seeing the country on the way over. For some reason I thought it’d be easy to find a good job here right away. With no foresight, I moved out here without looking for a place to work or live. When I did finally secure something decent, they fired me a couple of months later (I’ve been fired from most of my jobs) and I had to live off unemployment.

From the heavens, I got a call from the former director of operations of the Rustic Canyon Family group. Most big changes in my life have occurred from answering a random number.

I walked in for my first of many interviews and there she stood, this blonde bombshell. A ray of magic light in a sun dress and heels. Destiny. I thought to myself, “This is trouble…” Fast forward seven years later…We’re together and have a crazy ass son. I never would have thought I’d be so blessed and so challenged everyday. Being a father and, for the first time in my life, a more aware partner, is difficult. I was never shown the proper path. My own parents never handed me the tools. It’s a constant learning experience.

Back to Rustic. Yeah, I’m lucky to work there. I have total autonomy. I answer to no one. That’s something you can’t buy. My bosses trust me to do whatever the hell I want. I’m never questioned in my choices. That’s a great feeling. So if you’re listening, thank you, Mr. Fox. I can’t imagine having to work at a place where someone looks over me constantly. The freedom to experiment and play is priceless. Ask anyone.

Angel and Denise are the best for putting up with my scatterbrained ass. I’m disorganized (almost nothing is written down) and I surprise them maybe a little too often with new stuff for the menu. I shoot from the cuff. Our bar program is super challenging. There’s no space for anything. Every available inch is taken up by a jar of salvaged produce or bitters or some new potion. Well shifts don’t save you from having to speak to people while you’re getting pounded in the weeds. We work much longer hours than anyone else in the front of house and have a constant, running list of projects. At this point they could both have cushier bartending jobs where they have barbacks and don’t have to clean at the end of the night, but they stick with me.

I do wonder where the hell this crazy job will take me. In September I’ll hit my five year anniversary as the bar manager. But shit man, at the end of the day I really love it. Maybe that’s the problem. I worked in an office once. It’s not for me. I’ve thought about opening my own bar and the idea scares the shit out of me. If people only knew about the stack of bills that restaurants accrue on a daily basis, they might never complain about menu prices. The path is weird but it always puts a new challenge in the way. Blah, blah. Insert the next cliche where you wish.