Paying Dues

I started catering alot. Tonight we were called in for 4pm to a mosaic tile showroom. The event went for 3 hours but did not start until 6pm. Set up was easy, service bar for champagne and oj while on the other side of the showroom the kitchen prepped to pump out sweet pea and ricotta on crackers, Grilled cheddar with pickle, and asparagrus cheesy puffs as needed through the night. The guys I was working with were the regular group I was teamed with so I knew operation would run smoothly.

The night did conclude with little interruptions and that's been the pattern for the past few weeks. 2 to 3 nights a week dedicated to late nights of dealing with the pompous, pretentious, scavenging populous whom attend the events I serve at. Every beginning to my nights as a caterer tensions exude into my muscles as the thought of the what appear and act to be famined and desperate for food guests to the event huddle around the exit of the kitchen area awaiting our platters of finger foods like lions around a cave entrance with a wounded puppy that has a really sad (cry for me) look on its face hiding inside. There was one group of older women who were beyond curvy that after I stopped going over to where they were sitting to serve them they laid down napkins on the speaker which was directly in front of the door where we exit to begin to serve guests at the party and would surround each guy who came out with a platter taking two or 3 hors duerves at a time. We had to begin to come up through the elevators and emergency exits because the guests were hoarding entry points for the food. We were like wounded chipmunks attempting to feed our babies amidst a forest of rabid cats with heat sensing night vision. I cater and work as often as possible because (it brings me to unique places around NYC AND) I've decided that if my modeling career is to move forward I must travel overseas to explore different opportunities for success. My goal is to be living in another country by July.

(Second floor of a house party I worked at; yes thats a pool, yes thats a dude in a canoe with a captains cap, and yes those are some triply visuals)

"every day I'm hustling"

Fast forward to May 14th. I wake up at 8 am and consume a large amount of cooked egg whites. The day prior, Friday the 13th, I had found a posting on Craigslist titled "real models for T shirt Look Book". I noticed that the shoot was scheduled to be in my neighborhood so I said to myself- why turn it down. Compensation was low but I got a free t shirt out of it as well and it was literally a five minute walk after I had crawled out of bed.

The folks I worked with ended up having a huge apartment and we shot the photos on the roof. My co-models were a DJ from Park Slope, a world traveler/dermatologist, and a variety of other regular people from the area. We shot about 5 t shirts then the DJ and I were cut so we could tend to other obligations the day had in hand for us.

I headed back to my place but dropped into the mini market for milk, a ramen noodles packet, and a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew. When I got in I made a bowl of cocoa puffs with protein mix, watched some of "The Beast", and then consumed my ramen and beef stew. The reason I ate so much was because I knew I had a long day ahead of me and was trying not to spend any more money that day.

My next assignment for the day was to meet with a Korean coffee company's marketing team for a quick photo shoot in Times Square. There were 10 regular people models including myself (ouch), the Korean photographers, and others who were employed at the office we gathered in initially. We were handed branded shirts, berets, and aprons before walking outdoors and suited up. The official American team for Caffe Bene, Koreas attack against Starbucks.

We lined up in front of the infamous stairs and took a few shots with a large sign for the coffee shop and held a few coffee cups for variety. After the Koreans were content with our performance I stripped myself of the ridiculous outfit and signed for my compensation. Good ol' cash money...

I continued the busy rhythm of my day by hitting the gym for a few hours before my next and last job. It was a weak session as my motivation was minimal but it felt to be the best way to kill time before heading to the birthday party I was to barbecue at. I sat in the sauna, showered, then hit the train to make the commute.

Upon arrival I met up with another model whom I had worked with at an event a week or two ago. We were contacted by a designer that we had shot together with and he wanted to know if we'd bar tend and serve food at his relatives event. I told him that we were in no way professionals but that we had experience in the service industry and were pretty sure that we could handle his requested tasks. So from that gathering a guest asked us to provide the same service at her upcoming birthday party. We agreed and this was our arrival to the mentioned party.

Two older women were celebrating their birthdays together and fortunately for them they were neighbors and had connecting outdoor areas on the 3rd floor of the high rise their places were in. There were already people partying when we arrived and Frank the other model was put on the bar so I hit the grills to see what I was working with. 3 charcoal barbecue grills = a dream come true. One of the birthday girls showed me what was on the menu and I threw some marinated chicken legs and thighs as well as a big slab of beef which I didn't catch the name of. The smell was flawless because they had purchased bags of wood charcoal and the seasoning of the meat was dripping down so it was the epitome of a BBQ smell.

Coinciding with the grilling both birthday girls had their ovens on and were cooking spinach triangles and mini broccoli and cheese quiches for the guests to snack on. So I was running back and forth between apartments making sure 3 full racks of heur deurves per oven were cooked perfectly, a little stressful but fortunately the hostesses were really laid back and helped out when they could.

The guests were getting the munchies and were going through my bbq goodies almost as quickly as I was cooking them. Being on an elevated patio the wind significantly fueled the coals causing almost too much heat in the grills. This caused me to have to constantly tend to the meat so the outside did not blacken. At the end of the night the party goers were content with the food. I made a fillet for the hostess and her first word was "amazing". My boy Frank handled the bar like a champ and we ended up getting tipped out from that.

We stayed longer than anticipated and our hostess did not compensate legitimately for this but I just said "fuck it". We got her event through another event so maybe one will come from this. I made a G&T for the road and made it back to my place a little past 4 am...