Today Was A Good Day

I’ve been working at the beach for three days so far this go round. The first two, I was assisting on a photo shoot at this super fancy house. It was Moroccan themed and everything was really over sized. Tall ceilings. Tall doors. Big chunky dining table. Great island in the kitchen. It was super swanky.

In my younger days, I would have turned my nose up at such niceties. And, if I’m being honest, sometimes, I have to stop myself from doing just that. I think it comes from a place of poverty. Growing up poor, I was never taught to even imagine having something so nice. It was almost like luxury was not even put on the table for me to think about.

I was meant to just get by. I was not raised to thrive and have more than enough. So when I see people who have more than enough and then some, I think the little twinge of jealousy in me comes across as disapproval. But, in reality, I’m really happy when people have nice things for themselves. I’m even more happy about it when they are genuinely nice people.

I did not meet the people who own the gorgeous house but I did see family photos and they look like people I would easily be friends with. So after the first day of convincing myself that they probably had so much money they were just trying to unsuccessfully buy happiness, by day two, I was mostly rooting for their happiness and was genuinely hoping that they were amazing people who also just happened to have enough money to buy a swank house near the beach.

It always amazes me the things we carry with us from childhood. Or the things our parents said to us that have rooted themselves deep into our character.

After two days of that, day three was my day at the beach. I didn’t go to the beach, but I got to work at the bar and grill on the beach. I think I wrote about it last time I did this. I got to play hostess for the day. I may get to for the rest of the week if the weather cooperates. If not, then I will play some other role. But for today, I got to play hostess and seat people. I really like chatting with people from different parts of the world. Today most of them were just from different parts of the country, but mostly Georgia which is Tennessee’s neighbor. So I guess if we were splitting hairs here, I didn’t meet too many people from “different” parts of the country. I met neighbors.

All of them were nice. Even the young ones.

It always amazes me how much freedom some of these teenagers have. I think about when my kids were teens and then I remember that I couldn’t afford beach trips so when they did go, they went with friends and those friends’ parents probably let them wander around and eat alone at restaurants.

Thankfully, all three of my came out on the other end of it unscathed. And hopefully all of the kids I met today will too. There were no rude kids today. So, kudos to their parents. Everyone was polite and followed directions for the most part. I can’t speak for their behavior after they sat down but while they were standing in line, they were all awesome.

There was also not very many drunk kids today.

Last time I did this gig, there were lots of drunken college kids. I only saw two today. And one drunk dad.

If only people could see how stupid they behave when they’ve had a few too many. But I was really good at having a few too many and being overtly stupid before I quit drinking so I guess we all learn those lessons about ourselves in our own time. I’m really happy I don’t drink now. But I have to admit, I’m a really good time when I’m drunk.

But doesn’t everyone think that?

Not sure where that left turn came from.

Either way, the sunrise and the sunset were awesome today.

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a dozen times that if I worked at the beach it would not be as good as just visiting the beach on vacation. And I gotta say, if I have to have a job, being at the beach makes it a little more enjoyable.

So there’s that.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring? The meteorologist says rain. We will see.

Stay tuned.