Monday, February 28, 2011

hey you! don't make your problem MY problem!

so as some of you know i work (as a bartender) at large arena for very well know professional teams in hockey & basketball. 

tonight, i had a guest come to the bar with a tray full of food, and asked for 2 beers.  i get them for him.  he asks if i have a tray for the beers.  alas, i do not.  "well, i only have to hands here!"  he responds.  well, ass, i'm not the one who bought a tray of food and ordered 2 beers.  we resolved the situation, but that is not the point.

i was thinking how i hate when someone else tries to make their problem your problem.  and i was thinking how this has been an ongoing issue in my life:  taking on other people's problems.  well, i think i had an epiphany tonite. i'm no longer taking on other's problems.  my ex had no where to live, so i took him in (even though he broke my heart), then my ex couldn't get to his doc appts, so i drive him.  i have 100's of examples (with a lot of other people), but you get the picture.

i always want to fix everything and help everyone, that's just who i am.  but i have to start to realize......i just can't save everyone when i spend almost zero time on saving myself.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

i got your back, R....

last weekend when i was up in salem, a local male cop "R" got into a fatal car accident in next town over, while off duty.  while R (the cop) survived, the accident took the life of an 82 year old woman.

i've known R for over 15 years now.  while we didn't always get along, he always seemed to be a stand up guy.  two years ago, when MA (another local cop) was shot to death - R was standing right next to him.  R and the whole PD took the loss very hard.  we all did.  (i dated MA briefly in high school.)  it was truly sad, with him leaving behind a wife and 3 young children (none of them were over the age of 5.)  his wife is still struggling with the loss of MA.  she truly loved him; he was the love of her life.  wife & other jc cops have set up a foundation for MA and she goes on retreats with other wives who have lost their husbands, she participates in many pba events, etc.  all along, many of the PD have been beside her the whole time....one of these people was R.   (after the whole incident with MA being shot, i reach out to R to see how he was....he called me a day later at midnight to see if i wanted to take a ride with him....just to talk.  he was heartbroken over the incident, it seemed surreal to him.....we hung out in a park & talked til 3am.)

last week, when i read the news upon my return from salem, i was devastated.  is the emergency services unit of JC cursed?!   i tried to reach out to R, he didn't respond, but he's had a concussion, trying to fight off the newspapers, etc.  i understand how/why he hasn't responded.  i texted a mutual friend today to see how R is doing.  he advised R is home for 6 weeks with some bruises and broken bones.  he has no recollection of the incident.  what mutual friend suggested is that MA's wife should go public, and stand behind R. public needs to know that R was not some jerk-off cop, but a stand up guy.  i tell mutual friend that i am not that close to wife, but i will mention it to her. i originally hesitated cause i thought the accident would hit too close to home for her.  mutual friend insists that it is appropriate and that R has been there for wife all along, and now it's time for her to be there for him.  i understand.  i send off a message.

i have no idea what happened that day with R... i do know he has always tried to do the right thing.  he has always been a good friend to our mutual friend.  he has been there for wife.  R was not drinking/drunk during the accident.  i feel badly that that woman died.  it is a shame.  the whole incident is a shame.  i just hope R can find some peace.

Friday, February 25, 2011

mind-fucker!

today, i inform my boss (i lovingly refer to him as "gm" for general manager) that the cleanse i started on wednesday has shown some results already:  i've lost 6 lbs.  hard to believe, but that is what the scale is telling me.  i am/was doing this cleanse to "jump start" a (dare i say it??) diet.  i won't go crazy, i've done this before with pretty good results (i was once over 200 lbs and it stayed off for years)...but in the last year or so, i've gotten sloppy and many of those 50 lbs have come back.  well, i won't have it.

as all the managers sat down to eat lunch today, my gm who hasn't had lunch (or breakfast, for that matter) in weeks.  he has lost 20 lbs.   of course, i don't believe in his way of dieting via starvation - but it's not for me to say.  as he's eating some fancy quesadilla concoction he made himself in the kitchen, he asks me how my pear is....a few minutes later he's laughing at me eating carrots.....you get the picture.

he decides to put a bet on the table:  we weigh ourselves on monday (at work) and then the following monday, whoever loses more weight in that week - wins.  (he's putting up $200 - i only have to put up $20).  i only plan on doing this cleanse for a week.  if i do it that long, it'll be 5 more days of me not having pizza.....super sigh.....

my friend was trying to give me suggestions on how to win this bet.  i told him that gm has already won.  if he loses, he only loses $200 - but he still had the power to make me do something i didn't want to do (he knew i only wanted to do the cleanse for 7 days).  if he wins, he gets $20 and still the satisfaction of knowing i was killing myself trying to "beat" him.  my friend's response was, "damn, he's such a mind fuck."  indeed he is.

now, wish me luck. ;-)