“The world is your oyster Anthony, you will be okay.”
In the midst of a seasonal winter funk, I was told this via Facebook by a family friend. She asked how I was doing, and I gave some Dashboard Confessional-eque response, something along the lines of,
“Oh just living at home, waiting tables, single, just living the dream.”
What a cynical way to view things! After a profitable week at work, a last minute trip to Manhattan with a pretty girl, and a quick read in Men’s Health…I had a new view on things.
That response shouldn’t have had a negative connotation to it. Because you know what? I am living the dream. Living at home isn’t that bad: subtract rent from the equation I have the disposable income to enjoy the finer things in life: good food, bar tabs, sweet Nike's, travel, and savings accounts. A random trip to New York really put things in perspective for me. There’s just something about that city that motivates me. Yes, many of the faces I saw that day were probably born and raised in the city. But, I think a big chunk of those strangers had a dream to move there, and they did. The world was their oyster! They did it. Oh, and I probably had one of the best meals of my life. I plan on writing about my several experiences at Otto soon, so I will wait till then.
Most of my peers from college are in the same position as myself. Yes, waiting tables and slinging booze for bad tippers isn’t the most glamorous of jobs. When I worked in insurance though, I didn’t have the ability to take a day trip to the city. I was focused on on my career, wrapped up in my job Monday-Friday. By Saturday, I was acting more like a middle-aged woman with hot flashes than a 23-year-old in the prime of his life. I had to catch up on sleep, press my vanilla Men’s Warehouse work attire and run errands upon errands. So lame. We are young. The highlight of my day at work, and this is not a joke, was when the women in the office asked me to change the water for the water cooler. My highlight on SportsCenter's Top 10 was lifting a five gallon poland spring bottle. Who is in the rush for that stagnant life? Maybe I am, but I'm going to be doing something I love this time around.
Being single aint that bad either. As I see some friends get into another pointless relationshit after another, I get to figure me out. We are at the age when living together is the next step in the relationship, which leaves these people in the friggn’ shitter when it is over. Leases, pets, furniture and appliances are involved. I'm not ready to ask the dreaded question of, “uhm…who gets the nonstick egg pan?” But that’s me. I’m no Dr. Phil by any means. I don’t want to come off like I’m judging people either, I do know plenty of people who are in relationships that I hope for one day. But, I do know being single is good for us. We can connect with old friends, grow with your current friends, date, live, travel and figure it all out.
After putting it off for a couple months for whatever reason, I finally read a Men’s Health article that a friend recommended . It was called “The Hazards of Cynicism: Why Men Fail” by Mike Zimmerman (I seriously suggest you read it). To shorten up the six page article, it was about how cynical people really will get nowhere in life. The author brought up people like Bill Gates, George W. Bush, Derek Jeter, Steve Jobs, the Google guys, etc. These men ARE NOT pessimistic people. So, it really changed my thinking on things. They all had a dream, and they did it. Again, the world was their oyster.
So, if the world is my oyster…then I want to eat it. It is corny, I know. Since my trip to Italy back in 2004, I have gained a serious passion for food. Food is the only thing I think about (well, that and Asian chicks). I have never been a reader, let alone a writer. But, I am confident that I have a lot to share when it comes to food. Not sure where writing a blog will take me, but hopefully it gets me a little closer to what I want to do. BOOM.
-Anthony
