On Giving Up
Or not wasting your entire life
Note: This is a repost of my last article. I’ve omitted the introduction due to personal concerns. Thanks for understanding.
After graduating college I made my way to Los Angeles to make good use of my Bachelors degree in Music Business. The degree was an experimental program that had launched just before Napster had brought the recording industry to its knees.
Upon arrival I realized just how useful my music business degree was going to be. Since I was the only one in the entire city with such honors, I’m not sure they knew what to do with me — so nothing they did. I then did what every other transplant with no discernible skill set does when moving to Los Angeles. I waited tables.
It would be three years that I was slinging beer & burgers to impatient tourists at an establishment that one yelper describes as a place “I would usually only recommend to people i hate.” They were spot on.
The manager was a hunchbacked divorcé who had a creepy obsession with asian women. His attire of oversized dress shirts and ill-fitting dress pants were a testament to his years of under performance. His BA in restaurant management hung in the office — this job was his crowning achievement and no one was going to take that way from him.
He’d never miss an opportunity to publicly shame an employee, letting everyone know they are just as dispensable as the next. Firing people mid-shift without letting them finish their tables. Yelling at staff on the floor in front of customers. A real morale booster.
After three years I was going no where — everyone around me was advancing in their career, going on vacations, getting married, having babies. I was stuck.
After a particularly grueling evening of squeezing rent money out of 5% tippers I was driving the hour back to Alhambra, with my soon to be wife, when I found my car had been impounded for having more than five unpaid parking tickets, tickets I had accumulated working late nights at the restaurant.
I picked up the phone — called my manager and told them I wasn’t coming in tomorrow, or the next day, or the next week. I gave up.
I had no plans. No discernible way of earning income. No skill set to fall back on. But I’d quit, and that was the first step.
The next day I day I started learning html & css.
The next month I had my rent paid in full. That was five years ago, and I’ve never looked back.
If you’re looking for more tips on growing your business I co-host The Rocketship Podcast where we cover business topics from early growth to funding and everything in between.
On twitter: @michaelsacca
