Fatigue sharpens the tongue
I've learned from my 31 years on this earth that things are never quite as dramatic as I make them seem. You can control how you perceive an event, but almost always after the fact. There have been many times I've looked back fondly on something that, at the time, I did not enjoy. Well this weekend, whilst on a mini-tour with Bernard aka Outputmessage to support my cd release, there were certain events that will remain the same as I had felt them at that moment. Don't get me wrong, though. I had a blast this weekend. But the journey wasn't smooth.
Sunday morning, 4 am, International House of Pancakes, Greenville, NC
We haven't even ordered food yet. Seems as if there was a formal of some sort at East Carolina Univ that migrated into IHOP. Mostly black students. For some reason, one individual was acting up and name-calling other folks that weren't a part of his party. Some of the dudes in the larger group kept egging him on. The others told those guys to stop. And in a split second, the name-calling escalated to groups of guys getting up trying to get into each other's faces. And of course, with friends trying to hold the instigators back. The tension froze the entire restaurant, except for the manager. An older gent in his late 40's, while ripping his tie off, runs into the center of the would-be-brawl. The manager starts pushing these big black dudes and starts yelling, "Take it outside!" I mean shit. We just sat down. Earlier we had noticed at a table behind us, this emaciated young gent, with a faux hawk, and a shiny pleather cop costume. We immediately deduced he was some sort of gay stripper. Once the shit started getting serious, Gay Stripper Cop got scared and ran out the back fire entrance door. So as all this pushing and shouting is going on, the fire alarm starts blaring upon the entire restaurant! I look to the front of me to my new friend, Jeremy, and I see that he's just shaking his head. "Man. This shit happens down here all the time. Welcome to Greenville."
Interlude
There's always something that I seem to be forgetting. And sometimes I purposely fabricate reasons and believe them to be true so as not to fulfill the "arduous" task(s) at hand. Almost always, that shit comes back.
Saturday, Dec 2: en route to Greenville, North Carolina, Early afternoon.
I've made grandiose claims of almost dying, but when a minivan has you in his blindspot, trying to merge into your lane at 70 mph; the dramatic interpretation has no room for that one crucial moment where the outcome is either in or totally out of your hands. I jerked the wheel to the right, out of a nervous reflex. The car fishtailed. I tried in vain to stop the rental car even further by slamming on the breaks. The car spun 360 towards what I thought was a deep ditch on the side of the road. Fortunately, it wasn't a ditch, but just a steep incline. We were shaken up, but, we're breathing so that's good.
Monday, Dec.4, 7:04 pm
It's been a long weekend. I barely made it through the work day. I've been averaging 4-5 hours of sleep since Thursday. So I get ready to meet up with my friends Carol and Juliet about some music promotional biz, and I realize that my car wasn't in the lot. Yes. I know. I should have taken care of my expired tags before I left town. My car was towed on the first of Dec. I picked it up tonight and was greeted with a $405 bill. Awesome.
Outro
I didn't really forget. I knew it was there, this molehill made into a mountain. As much as I try to control my life, there will always be something that will hinder me from getting shit done. Usually it's my inherent laziness that's the culprit.
Sunday morning, 4 am, International House of Pancakes, Greenville, NC
We haven't even ordered food yet. Seems as if there was a formal of some sort at East Carolina Univ that migrated into IHOP. Mostly black students. For some reason, one individual was acting up and name-calling other folks that weren't a part of his party. Some of the dudes in the larger group kept egging him on. The others told those guys to stop. And in a split second, the name-calling escalated to groups of guys getting up trying to get into each other's faces. And of course, with friends trying to hold the instigators back. The tension froze the entire restaurant, except for the manager. An older gent in his late 40's, while ripping his tie off, runs into the center of the would-be-brawl. The manager starts pushing these big black dudes and starts yelling, "Take it outside!" I mean shit. We just sat down. Earlier we had noticed at a table behind us, this emaciated young gent, with a faux hawk, and a shiny pleather cop costume. We immediately deduced he was some sort of gay stripper. Once the shit started getting serious, Gay Stripper Cop got scared and ran out the back fire entrance door. So as all this pushing and shouting is going on, the fire alarm starts blaring upon the entire restaurant! I look to the front of me to my new friend, Jeremy, and I see that he's just shaking his head. "Man. This shit happens down here all the time. Welcome to Greenville."
Interlude
There's always something that I seem to be forgetting. And sometimes I purposely fabricate reasons and believe them to be true so as not to fulfill the "arduous" task(s) at hand. Almost always, that shit comes back.
Saturday, Dec 2: en route to Greenville, North Carolina, Early afternoon.
I've made grandiose claims of almost dying, but when a minivan has you in his blindspot, trying to merge into your lane at 70 mph; the dramatic interpretation has no room for that one crucial moment where the outcome is either in or totally out of your hands. I jerked the wheel to the right, out of a nervous reflex. The car fishtailed. I tried in vain to stop the rental car even further by slamming on the breaks. The car spun 360 towards what I thought was a deep ditch on the side of the road. Fortunately, it wasn't a ditch, but just a steep incline. We were shaken up, but, we're breathing so that's good.
Monday, Dec.4, 7:04 pm
It's been a long weekend. I barely made it through the work day. I've been averaging 4-5 hours of sleep since Thursday. So I get ready to meet up with my friends Carol and Juliet about some music promotional biz, and I realize that my car wasn't in the lot. Yes. I know. I should have taken care of my expired tags before I left town. My car was towed on the first of Dec. I picked it up tonight and was greeted with a $405 bill. Awesome.
Outro
I didn't really forget. I knew it was there, this molehill made into a mountain. As much as I try to control my life, there will always be something that will hinder me from getting shit done. Usually it's my inherent laziness that's the culprit.