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THE EPILOGUE: LOVE IS THE BEST STARTING PLACE
Yesterday I was not feeling particularly well and so all of the little things were annoying me much more than usual. Each little mistake, foolish comment, failure to see that the LIGHT IS GREEN, GREEN MEANS GO! IT IS THE PEDAL ON THE RIGHT! During these times when my blood pressure starts going up, my jaw gets clinched, and a low growl is spilling out of my mouth I have to pause and think about the source. What I am actually mad at? Who am I actually upset with? What is the purpose? I start most days with the plan of being the best version of me that I can. Not some insane tall task like solving cold fusion from my desk at a Liquor store, but just doing a great job of helping people find yummy and answering all of their questions in a way that is understandable. Making sure I do a good job of guessing what we need for the shelf for the rest of the week so folks that chose to come here can leave here happy. I have learned that if I do my part of the equation the sales pretty much take care of themselves so my main concerned is customer service and providing quality choices. That comes from a place of love. Drew asked me if I wanted to take the rest of the week off and I said, "no thanks, I actually love what I do." It is a pleasure to come to work and work with this amazing collection of bottles and help all of you wonderful customers. I could not have even conceived that I would get to play and build this playground and have so many fantastic playmates! At no point during the long drive from California did i think "I will have an Amaro section, and the biggest Scotch and Gin section I have ever seen, and people will buy these bottles and be as excited as me!" My thought was more like, "just give me a chance because I think I can build a cool and fun place if given the opportunity."
Hate is a powerful and blunt instrument, that is capable of inflicting swift and powerful damage. You can get yourself worked up and be certain that it is a mean and cruel world that can only be survived by getting them before they get you but what an awful way to live. Don't trust anyone, screw them before they screw you, everyone is just out for themselves anyway?? No thanks! It is quite unfortunate that just one of these people can cause chaos for anyone in their path but that is just the way it is. We greatly outnumber these sad and angry people, but their voice is just louder. If you are just singing along to the Bangles in your car with a great cup of Coffee from The Lights and the person behind, you starts honking because you didn't make the turn fast enough it can really just ruin your whole morning. They were going to be miserable either way but you were fully enjoying your morning. "Just another manic monday" and now beeeep beeeeep beeeeep. Now you are walking into work and there are four emails about the question you answered yesterday already, and this is suddenly infuriating! The hate is sticky and it just gets all over everything. You get a new haircut and twenty people LOVE IT, but one snarky schmuck tells you it stinks and that is all you can think about.
Here is the good news. The hate, the anger, the nastiness it dissipates. It is powerful and swift, but it doesn't last. It has no legacy other than an awful mistake. People apologize, make amends, improve their behavior and we learn to avoid certain folks. We remember the people in our life that radiate light and appreciate them more and more the older we get. The art that was created from love and passion stands the test of time. The money grab commercial hit vanishes from all memory. The only tears at Putin's funeral will be ones of joy and relief. When Robin Williams died, it still hurts to even type that, we were collectively sad. I just happened to be in San Francisco the day after and it felt like the entire city was grieving for the man. People still go and visit the Acropolis in Athen's, but no one will be lining up to see Bank of America stadium. Whenever I have to taste a soulless bottle of booze that was created by a team of marketing gurus that is what it tastes like. It has no personality and is almost indescribable. Just busy and bland. No one stayed up nights trying to figure out how they can make something magical and memorable. When Alexander Gabriel came up with the Pierre Ferrand Yuzu, he took a big risk by asking the farmer to let the Yuzu grow until they fell of the vine. The farmer said, "Okay but if it doesn't work you still have to buy them all." Well, it did work, and it is a thousand times more wonderful than mediocre bourbon number 5672 that was created to try and make someone rich since bourbon is hot! The afterthought Gin they make to help pay the bills.
The folks at Publix have quite a few bottles of wine but none for me. It is just a collection of factory wines with zero personality that are mass produced to fill shelves and be inoffensive. The people that decide on which ones go in don't like wine or no anything about wine. It is just a job for them and those are just products. If the chardonnay they just ordered a hundred thousand cases of doesn't do well, they last place they would check is the quality. At my second liquor store the regional manager asked why a particular wine wasn't doing well. She asked if we had tried moving it to a different location. I said, "we should move it to the dumpster because it sucks." This is an excerpt from future book "how to ensure you never move up the corporate ladder no matter how talented you are". Later that year they called us to find out why we were selling so much of a particular wine. "Because it is awesome!" Another thing they had never considered. Now I am not saying that this system was built on hate. It was built on a cocktail of fear and indifference. I have been promoted past my ability, but I just care about making my numbers. I could not have a conversation with them about booze despite the fact that is their JOB!
I do think that the creation of bad music, bad food, bad booze, bad media etc is connected with a certain amount of contempt for your fellow man. These sheep will eat, drink, and watch anything! We just have to figure out what that is! How about super-fast and gross hamburgers and two hundred superhero movies??? Make a sequel and just take some meat like product and fry it! They are tired from working all day and just want to unwind and travel to somewhere else. Who can blame us? If I am at an ABC store, I have to find the best of the worst. If you are here then you can find quality at every price point. If you are able to find the time and parking at Optimist Hall, you have heaps of wonderful choices. Given some extra time, we can whip up some Carbonara or Meatloaf at home and we would love to watch a great movie if they even put it in the theater instead of giving five extra screens to Superman 26!
It is harder to work from a place of love and passion. You have to be vulnerable and believe in both your fellow man and in your own vision. You can just shrug, adopt the attitude that all attempts at greatness are pretentious or silly and just give up or buy in to the power of cynicism. These constructions of mediocrity and contempt for the audience diminish us all. I started watching Ludwig and the first thing I noticed was how it did not insult my intelligence. When I sat down with Chris Morris and their new addition to the barrel program, Caroline on Tuesday to pick a delicious Woodford on Tuesday there was no talk of sales, marketing, synergy, shelf placement. Just three people that love bourbon finding the tastiest one "78 DC TIME" A big dark chocolate beauty of a whiskey that will land sometime next year. The point is the contrast between a slick rick and the real deal is glaring and obvious. The real deal wants to talk to me, and I want to talk to them. Slick Rick doesn't like me because we are working in opposition. They only have one move, fudging. Signs, posters, key chains, pens, lower the price, improve the shelf position! Making a better bottle is not on the table, not up for discussion, and not even in the realm of possibilities. Quality was never part of their equation because love was never part of the process.
You can't eat money. You can't just spend more and automatically get better or the best. My biggest bill eating out was NOT my best meal. That wasn't an inspired menu created by a Chef that loves food more than anything. It was designed to bring in big bucks and that's what it does. No one that ever ate there thought that was the best meal they ever had. The service wasn't great either. When you go to Supperland it is so clear the level of love and care that is involved with all decisions! It is the kind of experience that restores my faith in humanity! I was trying to go somewhere recently but they were closed so I said screw it and went to some chain and was handed this bland nonsense and I paid more for it then I would have at the place I actually wanted to be at!
We can all do an easy experiment at home. We can review our selection of happy memories and think about what they have in common. We can write down our bad interactions and think about what they have in common. What do you remember? What do you cherish? Did the thing you worked so hard for give you that? You survived that big thingy at work, and there were high fives all around and now it is on to the next obstacle. What I remember is tasting a beautiful Irish whisky that was a gift yesterday with a wonderful customer. And I will remember that much longer than all of the irritations that happened yesterday etc. A fantastic bottle and a thoughtful gesture! Love is what we remember and what fills us with meaning. Navigating the hate is a much bigger challenge than just "love please" but it is a goal worth remembering! Do I love doing this, do I love being with this person, do I love having this, do I love going there. Sure, we have to suffer through things, we endure a lot, we have so many unenviable tasks that are given to us and the prize at the end is rarely even a win. The thought is always I will eat the brussels sprouts so I can have the Pistachio Gelato, but it rarely works out that way. Next week, next month, next year etc., but it is not the right time now. Now is the time to suffer and toil for the sunny promise of tomorrow. I hope we all make it, but I vote for finding some love asap. Last year on my birthday, Shontelle took me to Prime Fish, and we ordered everything the chef recommended. For that price i could have ordered about 110 Chalupas at Taco Bell on my way to the emergency room! When you guide your way into the light you are moving away from the hate. Both in the biggest and smallest sense. From a decision to give someone a break to the getting up in the morning and driving to Vicente Bakery for a wonderful treat. Technically speaking, high in calories and not good for losing weight, reality speaking a joyful eating experience. The protein bars will still be there on Monday. My last thought on this earth will not be..."should have skipped that Pistachio pound cake!". If you find yourself rubbing people's faces in your accomplishments etc. then you are in fact doing it wrong. It costs you nothing to root for others and want success and joy for people. I'm not on the misery loves company group, I'm on team lets raise all boats.
Cheers
Keith
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