photo courtesy of tennessee-mary
..i was 18/19, working in a bar in Birmingham, in the delicious purgatory between school and university, supposedly saving money to go travelling but actually spunking all the money up the wall and having a fantastic time.
With no real commitment to anything, other than having fun, work was a means to an end. I was paid at the end of the week, ensuring i had the resources to squander on Saturday and Sunday hedonism, and that was just fine.
Hanging around with school friends but no school, the independence and new world of work, with money but without responsibility, living at home but not spending any time there - it was a perfect recipe for indulgence.
I remember chatting to one of the managers of the bar after work over a beer one night. she was going on about her career: moving onto a bigger bar, getting promoted, and the acceptable trade off between working ridiculous hours and moving up the ladder to "make it".
I quite clearly remember being utterly perplexed by what she was saying. i really could not grasp why she held her job in such high regard. why she gave up the best bits of her life for the worst bits. why she traded the now for the when. was she stupid? did she not get it? did she have no friends?
I also quite clearly remember saying to my self, and possibly to her, "i hope i never end up like that".
oh how things change.
Great post. I did something similar at 18.. I can remember it vividly.
Though, it was at a Service Station (the memories have yet to be erased).
Posted by: Will | June 15, 2007 at 02:10 PM
thanks mate, it seems a long time ago now! beers soon!
Posted by: MJ | June 17, 2007 at 10:58 PM