When you are young, it is true, you can dream of being anything you want and in some cases these dreams can actually come true. My story, 'My TSE Life', is a story of personal evolution and culture shock and something as different as a dream that never was, coming true.
In 1980 I had just finished my second year of university at York where I was majoring in Philosophy and English. I was working for a year to pay for my ongoing educational costs and to put food on the table and a roof over my head. I was a good student and did ok but the truth be known, like many other university students of the day, I was there for the social experience and the party. My time at Glendon College of York University was fantastic. In addition to my studies, I was totally immersed in the social life on campus. I was the President of Residence Council, which gave me the greatest room in residence. I had a radio show on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 8:00 to 10:00 pm. I wrote Jane Does' for the newspaper, Pro Tem. I was a #3 seed in the squash rankings at York. I played hockey regularly against the dreaded Chiropractors whose campus was just down the road on Bayview Av. I ran 5 miles 3 times a week. I played in a couple of bands on campus and I consumed copious amounts weed, hash and honey oil. Mostly with Brian Cook. Hey bud! So it was hard for me to take my 3rd year off to work, but my meager financial aid was not forthcoming after my second year, I had no choice. Unlike so many other students of that day I was there on MY dime...not on daddy's dollars. Like almost every other Canadian university student of that day and this, I was a raving socialist. I thought that the most dangerous enemy we all had to face was raging capitalism. I literally didn't have a conservative bone in my body and immediately hated anyone that I thought might. This brings me to my mentor and physical bastion of capitalist thinking....Steve Curry.
I first met Steve Curry in January 1980. He was dating my girlfriend Jodi's lifelong best friend, Andrea Stern. At the time I thought Steve and Andrea were the most unlikely couple on the planet. Steve was bold and brash and arrogant, and he loved to throw around his lifestyle and his money in lavishing Andrea with little gifts like mink coats and diamond jewelry. Andrea was brash and bold with big tits and a bigger than life personality and looked very, very good on Steve's arm. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is anything wrong with flash (today it's bling) and arm candy, it's just that where I came from, with Marxist cravings for socialist dogma, these two were akin to a toothache. They weren't really such an odd couple, they were just...different. Different from me and everyone I knew. Steve and I argued a lot. In the times we met I'm not sure if ever had a normal low energy discussion. Well, to be perfectly honest I argued, and Steve laughed at me.
On a Thursday evening, March 27th to be exact, as we sat in Jodi's kitchen, waiting, waiting for the girls to get ready for the evening we had planned, Steve and I had one of our philosophical discourses around the topic of 'money'. Steve said that people who thought the way I did usually had no money and were more jealously than philosophically driven. I immediately flew off into a rant about how that was the only kind of real argument people like Steve could ever hope to use against guys like me because he couldn't argue points with me based on logic. Steve laughed at me and said there is nothing logical about hating money. He asked me how much money I made last year. I knew this was going to hurt because I was a student but ran my own painting and renovation company, which being a part-time job, was unlikely to impress Steve Curry. I told him I made $20,000.00. It was a lie. I actually made about $12,000.00 but just couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth. Steve quipped that 20K wasn't bad for a full-time student. He then told me 'That is about what I paid in my last bar tab and laughed his ass off. I got so pissed off I could have sucker punched him and felt OK about it. But I didn't. He told me he wasn't trying to hurt my feelings, which he did, but was just trying to make a point. He told me I was wasting all that good 'in your face' arguing with my socialist bullshit. He challenged me and my so-called principles with a very hard to walk away from offer. I thought he was just bullshitting me when he asked me if I wanted a job. A REAL job. I snidely asked him what kind of job? He answered, "What the fuck is the difference, I'll start you off at $30,000 and if you are any good at all you can make a lot more in bonuses". At first my ego was insulted, because I was a bit of an insecure idiot. That was my socialist ego. My capitalist ego (I didn't know I had one) was quite intrigued by the offer. You have to keep in mind that these were 1980 dollars. The equivalent dollar value today would be roughly $75,000.00. My other egos were just stroked, so they were happy. I told him I would take him up on his challenge but would NEVER change over to the dark side with him. He told me to steal a white shirt and tie and show up on the floor and ask for him on Tuesday morning at 9:30 and to bring him a double double coffee. He, of course, knew he had me then. He told me that everybody has a price and also told me he thought I would be great at this job, but the real secret was never undervaluing yourself...because surely everyone else will. Shit, I thought I was the philosopher! When the girls finally made their way downstairs, we grabbed a cab and headed out to dinner and drinks starting out at a new 50s throwback diner called Lime Rickey's because Andrea heard that they had the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever. She wasn't wrong. We finished dinner and did a walking tour of almost every bar on Eglington Ave. I woke up Friday morning feeling the effects of what would soon become a pattern in my life and times with Steve Curry. Man, what a hangover!
I drifted through the weekend in a bit of a daze. Some part of me knew that I was about to embark on a significant life journey. No matter how hard I tried to deny myself even a tiny bit of excitement over the coming challenge, I could not deny the overwhelming feeling that I would never be the same after putting my foot in the door and my head into the mouth of the capitalist beast. As I considered the possibilities in front of me, I told myself I would work until September and take my money and run back to school laughing all the way to the bank, I didn't really believe it. I said it, I meant it. I just didn't believe it. Then something struck me. I realized that the coming Tuesday was April 1st...April Fool's Day. Fuck! I thought for sure that Steve was going to be playing a cruel and unusual joke on me by having me show up and then he and his capitalist buddies would have a great laugh at my expense. Oh shit! What kind of an idiot was I being.
But what if he wasn't setting me up! Wow, this was scarry!
Stay Tuned For 'April Fool's...My First Day'!
No comments:
Post a Comment