New Year

First off, Happy New Year. I'm sure you've been told enough for it to not resonate even a little bit but I figured I'd branch out and tell you anyway. Its going to be a good year. I feel it in my stomach. That has to mean something.

Tonight was exactly what a New Years Eve should be. It was spontaneous. It was new. It was something I've always wished for the balls to do but never nutted up to try.

I had to work tonight. I know, it was some bullshit. It was 7 hours of constant dishes and nonstop disappointment. With a 3 hour buffet, and a numerous amount of dick headed comments, I just had a hunch that tonight I was going to quit. I told myself before hand that I was going to go in to work knowing that I was going to leave jobless. I just knew it. Maybe because the damn place wasn't paying me what they told me they would. Maybe it was because I didn't want to work till 4 on a holiday for less than I was promised to be payed. Who knows. But either way, I knew tonight I was going to have to make some decisions that were going to directly effect my financial well being, as well as my character.

At around 11, I told the other dish washer that if they let him go any time soon, I was going to walk out. I hear things like this a lot. People threatening to stick up for themselves and fail to follow through or just acting hard for the sake of saving face. But after the employment I've had with this company, I wasn't blowing hot air. This time, my words were solid. They were printed into the destiny that would become 2012 and I knew, deep down, that I would fucking walk out when I damn well felt like it and no one was going to stop me. I sat down to have a cigarette.

' This is some bull shit. I'm about to start drinking, my back is killing me.'

' Yeah, I dont blame you man.'

' I have a deuce in my back pack. I'm just going to start right now and say fuck it.'

I went inside and quickly got my beer. I didn't care at this point. It was 11 and I had plans at 10 and now I was sitting in desolate, filthy kitchen with 3 hours worth of dishes to do. If I was going to stick this out, I was going to do it hammered or at least drinking. This was no way to bring in a New Year.

Right then, two girls stammered into the kitten. Lace, black dresses. High heels, no taller than 5'4 with ridiculous legs and obviously drunk. They smiled at me.

' Hi!'

'... Hi... you'

The bath rooms were stacked with a line out the door so they had come into the kitchen to use ours. I'm sure their looks helped. They opened the door and I turned my head.

' Hey... your sexy'

'...Thanks...'

I laughed. That kind of caught me off guard seeing how I was wearing grimy ass clothes, a chefs coat and 3 aprons. However, I wasn't going to question that. It definitely made me feel good.

About 10 minutes later, they stumbled into the kitchen again to use the bathroom.

'Sexy dishwasher!' they said.

' Ha... hi again.'

'Your way too sexy to be doing dishes back here tonight.'

'Yeah, you should be , like, doing dished naked.'

'Or at least with your shirt off'

' Oh.. should I?'

'Yeah, definitely.'

I'm not too good with compliments. I wish I was. I wish I would have lifted my shirt up or done something macho but instead, I acted really naive and coy. As they walked out of the kitchen, I realized that I really should not be in there. It was 11:45. Everyone who I'm friends with was 15 yards away from me, with drinks in their hands, dressed all nice and enjoying the bars. This wasn't how I was going to bring in a new year. This was how I spent the past two months of my life but not tonight. I took my aprons off and told the other dish washer that I was going to take a break.

'Man, fuck this. I'm done. I'm going to take like an hour break and I'll be back at 12:30. If Scott says shit, just tell him I'm out front. I'll come help you out afterward I guess.'

I hurried to the back, changed my clothes and sprayed an enormous amount of axe to smell better than dish water and made my way back to the bars. On the way out, the two girls were there grabbing champagne and shots for each other.

'Sexy dishwasher! Here, take one.'

They handed me a glass and took a shot with me. I smiled. Being that it was loud and completely awesome these two sexy ass chicks were talking to me like that, I simply took the shot and went on through out the bar looking for my friends without thinking twice about the opportunity that just fell into my lap. I guess I'm that guy. I'll regret it tomorrow.

I searched for my boys for a minute. It took a while to find all of them but after the ball dropped and I randomly spent the last seconds of 2011 on a cluttered dance floor with some black dude with my hand in the air screaming, I stumbled across them. They were all dressed in ties and fucking vests and weird random fancy accessories that I just didn't have the time for, or the care. I looked fine. That was good enough.

We drank and talked to aimless amounts of strange people. It was beginning to look a lot like every other night out except with 3000 more people and less interacting. I made my way back to the kitchen to see how much work still had to be done.


'Tim!? Are you here?'

' Uh... yeah, I'm going to clock back in why?'

'Your done man.'

'What do you mean I'm done, like I'm fired?'

' Yup'

'... Okay, right on.'

I said bye to the people that mattered to me and continued on with my night. Eventually, the night came to an end and there we were, stranded at a bar with past co workers and people who I met through someone who I met and we had to find a ride home through all of the haze and nonsense.


We made our way to the parking lot across from the bars. Standing there between some cars were two guys. One, scrawny with glasses and a 2003 Tommy Hilfiger polo and the other, about 6'1 wearing some long sleeve stripped shirt. They said Happy New Year but afterward, called all three of us faggots. My boy stopped and looked at them, asking them what they said. I stopped and turned around.

'You heard me, I called you guys faggots.'

'Oh really? We're faggots huh? Better watch your god damn mouth,' my boy said.

We were with this one chick, who I didn't know but one of my friends did. She came rushed in.

'You guys are better than this! Stop. Lets go.'

I looked at the curb, pointing out the cop car and said,

'Dude, were in front of cops you dick head. The fuck is wrong with you?'

He looked over at us and said,

'Good thing you got that bitch with you to protect you from getting hurt. All that big talk for little guys, we'll fuck you up.'

Mind you, were all pretty small. My boy is my height, maybe a little taller and my other friend is maybe 5'9. However, were all fighters. Tall or not, we know what to do with our hands. And this girl who he called a bitch wasn't just some girl. She was my friends girl. Not just some chick we were with, but his girl. She turned around from trying to stop us and started stepping towards the dudes talking shit.

'Oh, I'm a bitch!?'

Out of no where, my friend popped out from behind me and stuck the dude in the throat. Kind of an awkward punch. Mainly because he was drunk but also because he hit him in the bottom of the jaw. Then, my boy stepped up and hit him in the face. The guy fell. The guy in the glasses stood there against a car and just watched as I jumped on the guys back and began to choke him. He through me off. Right then, a bouncer from the bar across the street ran over and punched my boy in the face. Then a cop came. I picked up my back pack, put my coat over my head and walked the other way.

I'm not going to lie, we jumped him. It was totally unfair but at the same time, he should not have been talking to us like that. Especially if he didn't know if his friend would back him up or not. Small or not, you dont ever talk shit to 3 people. Never. It just never ends up right.

Anyway, we got back home safe. I have some scratches on my hands, elbow and shoulder and my boy is going to have quite the shiner but all in all, it was a good night. I did something most dont have the guts to do. I stood up for myself, in both situations. I walked out on a job that wasn't paying me what they promised. I backed up my word and my boys. I got in a fight after years of not fighting. Even though most of this sounds delinquent, it still felt good to do something I'm not comfortable with. A lot of people can walk through life complacent with getting bitched at and talked down to and not respected. A lot of people can walk around thinking they can't defend themselves if they need to or more so, wouldn't if they had to. I did both. I stood up. I said fuck you. And I acted, instead of talked.


This is a new me. This is a new year. This is my new voice. Bring it on 2012. I'm ready.