Sunday, July 05, 2009

Working Holiday


I spent the afternoon of the 4th of July sitting on a pier on the Hudson River. I was working on a tour boat tending bar for people that wanted to watch the fireworks from the water. What I've been doing for a living isn't terribly interesting, nor is it especially profitable, but I'm managing and I'll fill you in one day soon. At any rate, they were filling up boats and manning them with bartenders, and mine was the 8th and last boat to go out. I sat on my ass, and got paid a substandard wage, for almost 4 1/2 hours before my number was up.

We then took on about 150 passengers and headed out to the middle of the river. Where we joined literally hundreds of other boats, sailboats, yachts and about 15 or 20 police boats patrolling the river. I served surprisingly reasonably priced drinks for a few hours before the fireworks began, after which we waited our turn to return to the dock. The whole thing was over by about 11:00.

I made a little money, got to see the Macy's fireworks from a new perspective, and ended up getting a fairly nice tan on my face and arms from sitting on the waterfront chatting with the tourists that were sooooo excited to be spending the 4th of July in NYC.

I've had worse days.

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