Cigar Shack | johnozed

Ok, I just got home, surprising myself to be home by 10:00. I expected to be home later since closing turned out to be a nightmare. Too much money here, not enough money there. How to make it even, how to reconcile? I figured it out at the last minute and I wound up leaving the cigar shack at 9:30. I didn’t expect to be able to catch the bus but I guess I had a karmic payoff and caught an express train downtown which got me to the bus terminal where I sat on the bus at the gate for another 5 minutes.

I want to work, I actually like to work despite what that ~~yeast infection~~ control & it’s ilk seems to think. I just want a Monday through Friday job. That’s all I ask.

Today at the cigar shack was a day unlike any other. It started off awkwardly, just trying to get back in the swing of things after having 2 days off in a row. It didn’t help matters that Thomas was a bit hung over despite his complaining about how he was feeling after having mixed drinks followed by half a bottle of wine for dinner. What that boy won’t do to get that sale, I don’t want to know.

Jerry Vale came in and did his thing. Since Jerry Vale is still in training, his job is to stand around and watch how things get done. And he’s quite good at standing around. Thomas and I butted heads briefly for a few minutes, his hangover mixed with my slow starting. He went to lunch and I followed an hour later.

Much to my surprise the president of the cigar shack showed up unannounced. I called the flagship cigar shack across town to let them know the president was in town, thinking that he might be headed over there. No, he was there already, they said, mentioning that they should have called us to get a heads up. Yes they should have. Nothing was out of line, everything was running smoothly.

I went to lunch and enjoyed a cigar near the park, finishing up Uncut Magazine. I was somewhat stressed during lunch and though the cigar I smoked was quite good, it did not do much of anything to alleviate my tension. I came back to the shack and Thomas mentioned that there was something wrong in the bathroom.

I went to check and yes there was something wrong in the bathroom. The toilet was blocked up and nearly overflowing with shit. No one knew how to use a plunger so it was up to me to fix it. It smelled horrible of course, shit usually does. And the cheap plunger the cigar shack has kept inverting, causing me to carefully try to revert it back to how it should be without getting shit on me or my clothes and shoes.

After about 20 minutes I was able to get things flowing properly again. But for a few hours afterwards all I could see and smell was shit. I felt dirty and though I scrubbed my hands with Purell a number of times, the feeling never completely went away. Everyone eventually has to literally deal with shit at some point in their lives, other peoples shit and today it was my turn.

Thomas was understanding and probably could see by the look on my face that I was disgusted. He suggested going outside for 15 minutes and get some fresh air. Normally I’d shrug it off and say it’s OK, but there was the shit I had to deal with so I went outside for about 5 minutes.

It literally was a shitty day.

Is heroin a problem for you?

This idiot (& a few others) kept looking at their devices, and did not signal the 10:15 bus to stop and then got upset when the bus did not stop. I sat and smoked my cigar waiting for the 10:30 bus.

It’s a Monday and it’s a day off. It’s been a pretty mellow day, last night I took off my wrist watch before I went to sleep. I always sleep with it on but last night I wanted no ties to the real world or real time. It worked well, and waking up was certainly different. But I got out of bed and started the day nicely.

Some coffee, some bagels and a nice breakfast. I decided to just clean up the apartment today, which meant mainly cleaning up the table next to the desk on which this computer rests. Lots of mail and bills that needed to be shredded. I did that for a while, filling up a few bags of shredded paper. It was certainly a better way to start the day than yesterday.

Yesterday started out alright, met Bill at the bus stop for a few minutes before I boarded. Bill had just gotten home from driving a bus to and from Atlantic City. It was too short a time but better than nothing. The bus soon filled up somewhat. I was sitting in the middle of the bus, across from the back door.

Next to me was a guy who promptly fell asleep after a minute. It was crowded as we drove through the tunnel. As we were exiting the tunnel there was a commotion. A passenger, seemingly from Europe accused a black man of taking his wallet.

The black man said that it was his wallet and the European yelled for him to show it then. After a very long minute the black man said he was sorry and offered the wallet back. The European said he was going to call the cops. The bus approached the bus terminal and the ramps leading up to the gates had quite a few Port Authority police on them.

There was a construction project going on and the cops were there to make sure no cars were going through as well as making sure the buses would queue up correctly since there was only one ramp available. The bus driver signaled the police and they came over to see what the problem was. Both the European and the black man got off the bus to tell their sides of the story.

Other buses passed us going in and out of the bus terminal as we sat on the ramp for about twenty minutes. After that the European got back on the bus apologizing for the delay and outside the black man could be seen walking up the ramp in handcuffs with a Port Authority police officer on each side. It was a strange situation, since there was no escape for the black man.

We were on a bus in traffic and there was no way off the bus until we got to the gate. It seemed to me that he almost wanted to be caught. Needless to say I wound up being late for work and texted Bradley to let him know. It was only about 15 minutes but I do not like being late at all.

The day was a breeze and it was fun competing with Bradley for top sales. At one point I was in the lead by about $30.00 but I wasn’t having that. It was too close a margin and I have to admit I became a shark, greeting customers as soon as they stepped into the cigar shack.

At the end of the day I was in the lead by about $300.00. I did lose the coin toss and wound up having to close, but since it was a Sunday and the cigar shack closes early on Sundays- I really did not mind.