Learning a Lesson

Living in Vegas, it’s hard to get a moment’s rest. It is the one place where you have a nonstop flow of people coming to visit. They all need something. I’m not one to ignore people because I don’t like to be ignored. Sometimes I end up meeting the greatest people by helping out. I never expect anything in return other than knowing they had a good time and appreciate it. I know it opens me up to be taken advantage of, but I believe do good things, good things will come to you. I was excited for Memorial Day Weekend. I had the whole weekend planned. I counted down the minutes until 5 p.m. on Friday. At 5:01 p.m., I saw my car had been keyed badly setting off the weekend’s mishaps and annoyance. There were  good moments, but I was definitely getting taught something to prepare for what’s next to come in my life. It’s usually how it works for me, especially around my birthday. In ancient times a birthday was a time of rebirth to become older and wiser.

Friday night I had plans to go to Haze. I had a friend coming in with a group. I received a text the table I had set up got bumped. I wasn’t surprised. I got a good deal on one of the busiest weekends in Vegas, it happens. My friend told me to check out some other places. I contacted various hosts, but he decided to forgo the table and just go in. It’s really hard to get guys in anywhere so I knew I would have to walk them in. I told him to be there early. He messaged at 8:30 p.m. stating he had 24 people and wanted a table for $3K. I started to stress out, but I followed through. I was over it and didn’t need to be there anymore. I hit up Cait and LBC to just chill. At 10 p.m. he told me had 13 people and didn’t want the table, but walked in. There is nothing more embarrassing than asking for a deal and not having it work out. Visitors don’t understand the work it takes to set things up. If you get the reputation of having flaky people, eventually hosts won’t deal with you anymore. At 10:30 p.m. it was 8 people and wanted a table for a small minimum. I told him he was on his own. I had to explain on holiday weekends; clubs don’t care who you are or what you want unless you’re willing to spend.

Cait and LBC told me I needed to stop. I was doing too much, and it wasn’t worth it for someone I wasn’t close with. They said I was being taken advantage of. I’ve known him for a bit, but I was helping because of the connection we had through someone else. At midnight, he told me he was at a club with four guys and asked what I could do. I told him who to ask for, and he would be taken care of, which they were. I was happy it was over… or not. He was unhappy with the service and the credit card machines were down. I told him to be grateful he got in. On a busy night credit card services get overloaded and people swarm the bar. It is one of my favorite places to go on The Strip, and a lot of my close friends worked there. I was pretty upset and offended. I was over helping and went to bed.

Saturday I had a friend of a friend in town that wanted to go to a pool party. She knew it would be hard and said if it couldn’t happen, she totally understood. Those are the kinds of people I love to help. I got her in, and she had a great time. I was feeling better about things until I checked my bank account and found out a hotel I was at earlier in the week accidentally charged me $105. I called the hotel and after going back and forth, I was told the funds couldn’t be returned until after Wednesday. They gave me a $100 comp at the hotel after apologizing numerous times. I rolled it off knowing nothing could be done. I just wanted to forget it and got ready to go out.

I picked up Cait and headed to The Cosmopolitan, where Young the Giant and Kaskade were preforming. I was meeting the girl from out of town, friends in town, and the guy from the night before. I told everyone to be there by 9:30 p.m. Everyone was there except the guys from the night before. The concert started at 10 p.m. and we went up without them. My friends told me not to go down if they come later. I did anyways when they arrived at 10:45. I went downstairs, but they weren’t there. I waited and nothing. I was so mad. I went to go back up but was stopped by security. There was no re-entry. After begging and pleading, I got back up. Right then I got a text that they were at the spot. I didn’t make the same mistake again and left them on their own. The show was awesome and the area below was opened where you could basically touch the band. Everyone that came with me was so grateful and nice. I was happy they had a good time. Cait and I left the crew and went to Kaskade. It was an amazing experience. Two thousand people dancing and singing together. The energy was unexplainable. If this was a preview to EDC, I can’t wait. If two thousand people can come together for music, imagine what it will be like for 300,000 people.

Sunday I woke up excited to head to San Francisco. I tried to check in for my flight, but it wasn’t working. I realized it was 10:17 a.m., and my flight left at 10:35 a.m. That’s what I get for drinking too much. I booked a different ticket, which was an hour delayed. I finally arrived and met up with my best friend. I don’t get to see her very often so it was worth the trouble. We headed down to the Marina to drink at The Brick Yard with a big crew. I loved this place, good service, good food and the crowd was really, really good looking. Three Don Julio shots, one Bushmill’s shot, a margarita, and three Bud Lights later, I didn’t care about anything. We left the bar and went to Unami, one of the top sushi restaurants in the Marina District. Our friend was a chef there and brought out a selection of goods and two sake shots, which led me to send drunk text messages… oops.

Monday I didn’t feel too bad. I made sure I had the correct flight time and checked in early. We went for breakfast at Mo’s Diner in North Beach. I love little diners off the beaten path because they always have the best food. I had never flown out of Oakland and took the Bart there. The Bart goes directly into the San Francisco so I didn’t know in Oakland I had to take a shuttle to the airport, which was $3.00. I only had ninety cents on my pass and no more cash. If I didn’t make the shuttle, I would miss my flight. I was digging for change, but was still $1 short. This guy saw me stressed out and kindly handed me $1. I felt like a panhandler. I was embarrassed but so grateful.  I don’t know why but that small act of kindness changed my perspective on my life.

As I went through my drunk texts, I came to a conclusion. I had someone once say to me, “I never want to be a stress for you in your life, only make your life happier.” It was the best thing I’ve had someone to say to me. Unfortunately he lied, but the statement was powerful. Those are the only kind of people you should want in your life, not those who take advantage of you or disrespect you. Friends should support you and be happy just to know you. If you associate with people that will walk over you, then you will attract more people like that. It’s no different than having friends that are drug dealers, cheaters, hustlers, two-faced, unintelligent or rude people. Not to say those people are bad, it just reflects who you are. “Birds of a feather stick together… like attracts like” so people will automatically assume you are the same. If I want my life without the stress of pleasing everyone or getting hurt, I have to eliminate those who take advantage of me or don’t appreciate me. No matter where I have lived in my life, I’ve gained a reputation of someone that people want get to know and work with because of who I surround myself with. I think I have done the same in Vegas, but I’ve been vulnerable to allowing the wrong people affect me. Negativity reflects in the universe, the more I stress the more stress comes. If I want to grow and continue to be successful in the things I do, I have to remain positive and be true to myself. So maybe it wasn’t a perfect weekend, but things have to go bad to go good right?