Throwback
This is a post I wrote back in 2006 when I was a bartender at the Allendale Bar & Grill in New Jersey. Due to my need to fill some space here, I thought I’d repost it. My arsenal is clearly limited.
If you have been one of the few to frequent my profile, your ears have undoubtedly heard that familiar, blood-pumping, funk-spitting, sick-defining sound of the classic RHCP hit “Give it Away.” The band’s ability to stick to their roots over the years, yet mature and remain independent of any whack pop-culture trends that have infected modern music has, in my mind, solidified them as one of the all-time greats. But the sickness of the band is not the topic at hand. Rather, it is the subtle and inspiring message buried within the tune you hear when you visit my space.
The message is one of selflessness. It’s one of charity, one of love. It’s about seeing through the materialism that has become the meaning of life in the “civilized” world, and realizing its role as only a temporary opiate. Let me break it down like a fraction for ya. When you go out and buy an IPod, for the first week you’re probably like, “Sweet dude, I have an IPod.” But after a week, that little piece of all-important 21st century innovation indeed becomes a part of your reality, and the happiness that you might have generated from its purchase subsides and diminishes back to its original level. So what do you do? You go out and buy a digital camera. Or a portable DVD player. Or an f-ing Blackberry. The list goes on, and on, and on, etc.
It’s this type of trap we’ve blindly walked into as a people and it’s essentially what drives our existence. We strive to make money in order to purchase various forms of temporary happiness, leaving us blind to some of the more important events transpiring around us. Now before I go too far with this, let me stress that I am no Socialist, Communist, Marxist, or anarchist who wants to turn society upside down so we can all frolic in the grass and have tantric sex with dandelions. I do, however, try to see the world as realistically as possible in order to conceptualize some sort of realistic ideal. While I suspect we might have our collective hand too deep into the cookie jar to pull it out untainted, what we can do is recognize our condition and manage it. Refine it. Attach a human face onto it. Don’t make the great burden of life to make money and buy the things you see your favorite celebrity flaunting. Put some stock into learning for the sake of learning, being a good person, and giving back to the countless number of worthy causes around. Take some time to look at what’s going on in the world around you and how you can alter it for the better by making the smallest change within yourself. Ask yourself what’s really important in life. Fall in love one time. And if you’re out having some fun with your people, buy a round, tip your bartender about 50%, and make sure it’s at AB&G when I’m working so I can finally get that Blackberry.
