The Second Half

Shallow thoughts and reality checks

One of the most stand-up guys I have ever met is on the cusp of putting himself in a casket. He’s worked himself to the bone for 30+ years and now he’s facing health problems that none of us would want. He’s one of the most generous guys out there, and he puts everyone else first. He works 14-16 hours per day and sleeps 3-4 hours a night because that’s all he knows. 56 years old and he’s looking at less than five more unless he walks away from the restaurant business……… like yesterday.

When I walked away from the Grand Hotel at age 26 I was 100% convinced that I had just worked as hard as I ever would in my lifetime. Ridiculous hours – occasionally racking up more than 112 per week, never ending stress, rapid weight gain/loss, and in the end – a hernia from physical exertion. And for what? Someone else’s profit margin, and a one way ticket out if the day came when I couldn’t perform anymore. After 4 years, that was it. I walked away and never looked back on the Island and that life.

Thanks to that experience, I seem to have figured out the work thing, and with it, balancing family and my needs pretty well. However there’s a price to pay for everything, and now I’m faced with a cap on my earning potential at a small property which translates to a long term savings account that will pay my expenses until the average life expectancy of a typical American -74 years old. So, I may have today dialed, but tomorrow? As Sammy Hagar says “F*ck tomorrow because tomorrow may not never come”. Sammy the wordsmith…..the fact that I can quote that is frightening and a testament to bad taste in music and not very conservative logic. F*ck it, that's who I am.

Back to my bud….He has a “come to Jesus” meeting with the doctor tomorrow that will surely dictate his short term decision making. Getting an old dog to change his ways will be tough.