Under The Weather

Wednesday January 30th, 2008 - Lake Villa, IL

Thank God I don’t have a day job. For whatever stupid decisions I’ve made in my life at least I didn’t do that. Every time I’ve tried to work for someone else I ended up miserable. I thought about that today as I hung out at the house and got some work done on my own. I felt a cold and/or flu bug coming on and thankfully I had nowhere to be the whole day.

That kind of stuff doesn’t fly at a day job. Feeling sick? TOO BAD. Get in here and get it done. That’s why we’re paying you the paltry wage that’s just enough to own your soul. It always bugged me when I had a job that my services could be had for such a low wage and there wasn’t much I could do about it because I really needed the money. It still rots.

To a certain extent I spent years doing it as a comedian too but at least that was my call. I am a business owner, sales person and product all in one package delivering myself over and over again around the country dropping off my load of jokes. But at least I’m the boss and if I feel sick one day I can stay home if I want and nobody yells at me. I like that a lot.

I have some gigs this week starting tomorrow and I thought it would be a good idea just to rest up so I can keep bringing strong shows. I’ve been on a roll lately but I’m not about to get cocky any time soon. I’ve still got a lot to improve on and I won’t walk through any of the shows this week. I need to use my stage time wisely and I intend to do exactly that.

Today I sorted through the 5000 count box of baseball cards I bought last week for $20. I’m not going to get rich on them but I did get a great value for my money. I found a lot of star cards with recognizable names that aren’t worth much to hard core card collectors but would make great giveaway bonuses when I sell merchandise after shows. I can use them.

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I am going to be a sports card dealer and not fight it anymore. I’ve dabbled with it my whole life and I really do enjoy it even though I know it isn’t ‘stable’. What is stable? Nothing in my life has ever been close to being stable. From my earliest memories I’ve been on shaky ground so why not just embrace what I enjoy?

To me standup comedy is stable. I know how to make a living at it and so far I haven’t had to live in a cardboard box under the freeway and bum change to get something to eat. I think the words of my grandfather telling me to get a civil service job ever since I could walk has had a lasting affect on me. I never wanted to do that but he always harped on it.

I tried to please him and did it for one day and then quit to do what I’m doing now. It’s been a bumpy ride to get to this point but I’ve sure had some amazing adventures that I’d never have had behind a desk working for the City or County of Milwaukee. I am finally starting to look at myself as a success for just surviving this long doing comedy. I did it!

Assuming I would have taken my grandpa’s route and worked for the city I might have had problems taking a day off today to rest up and prevent my oncoming illness. Plus it’s just plain COLD and I didn’t feel like leaving the house. Try telling that to a supervisor.