The last Monday

During the last four years of my life, I've often found myself engaged in an internal struggle stemming from the fact that I'm a bartender. The work hasn't been all that stimulating (well, besides a little stimulation in my pants) and this inner dissonance I've had to deal with has been largely due to the fact that I was a college graduate, with no direction, working in a profession that I just couldn't see myself pursuing as a career. Frankly, I thought I was wasting my time.

After last night, though, I can honestly say that I've gained far more from this simple service industry job than I could have ever hoped for.

Enter: Eric from Applebees.

Monday night has been my regular shift for nearly three years now, and it's been Eric's regular night to come to the restaurant for nearly three years, as well. In the beginning, Eric would come in with a friend or two from work, sit at my bar, laugh at me when I made stupid mistakes, and bail me out when I hadn't the slightest idea what was in a Manhattan. Each week, he would bring in more and more people, and eventually we would begin to hang out outside of work.

He became my favorite regular, my marketing manager, and my friend.

Last night was the last Monday night, and Eric came in with a small army from Applebees. They sat, they drank, they laughed. And I ran around like a chicken without a head. When closing time came, we said our goodbyes and the bar cleared out. Then, I scooped Eric's tab off the bar and found the most ridiculous and completely unnecessary tip I've ever received.

I immediately sent him a text: "Eric. I can't take all this money, man. That's crazy."

And Eric's response was something I'll truly remember: "Ultimately, it boils down to 'thanks for being our friend and not just our bartender.'"

It's been a wild ride since graduating from college, and admittedly I haven't always been content with where I'm at. But, after last night, to have even entertained the idea that I've been wasting my time seems completely ludicrous.

Money comes and goes, as do jobs. But relationships endure.

I've grown immeasurably as a person over the last four years (yes, even as a bartender) and I've come to realize that if the only thing I take with me from this chapter of my life are a few solid friendships like the one you've just seen, it will have been more than worth the time.