Rained Out

Just finishing the book by Michael Gates Gill, "How Starbucks Saved My Life," I have come to a few realizations of my own. The book talks about how one man goes from being in the upper-middle class of riches and privledge to being fired from his advertising executive job and ten years later working at Starbucks as a barista. His work started there in his late sixties, making it difficult to teach old dogs new tricks, especially entry-level bathroom cleaning. The story is very inspirational about how one should never sit so high that the little things in life are taken for granted and people are just shadows to the passerby. 

As I currently find myself still searching for what I think of as my "dream job," this story brings lots of things into perspective. I thought that I could come down to Chicago and find what I was looking for much faster than anyone else had done so from the little village of Fenton. Guess what? Not true. Experiences so far have been all growth and learning toward what the real world is really like and if one doesn't make that impression, one finds him/herself in the shadows of resumes and cover letters. If one finds something that truly could be a great opportunity, research the hell out of it, and if it turns out to be a great thing - Go For It with all you've got. 

Recently, I took a position at a local country club in Northbrook called Sunset Ridge caddying. Previous experience caddying has been playing golf my whole life, belonging to a country club growing up, and caddying for my little brother in a few tournaments. This has been a very humbling experience, running around raking sand traps, getting clubs, replacing divots, cleaning clubs, and reading puts for people I would normally be playing golf with. Thinking back to the days when my father would ask me to play golf with him on a summer Saturday morning and my oversleeping from being drunk the night before, didn't make the tee time. What the fuck? Didn't think twice about it back then, what did I really gain from being drunk with my friends the night before? Why did I place hanging out and drinking as a top priority when my father wanted to enjoy my company? Granted this was after sophomore year of college, still no excuse will suffice. 

When I almost got hit in the face with a golf club yesterday after an angry player hit his second ball in the water, things were brought into perspective. Go drink with your friends and have a good time but always be up in the morning to enjoy other's company, especially that of your father. Take the job of being a servant to others so that you can truly appreciate what it's like to be on the other side of bar. Never take little things for granted and don't forget to stop and smell the roses, for those precious moments we will never get back. 

Be humbled, humbled, HUMbled.