That one time I got fired

I was walking around downtown Seattle last week on the way back to my car from the dentist.  I walked past the only business I've ever been fired from, and accross the street from that business was a pretty freshly demolished building, and the parking lot had already been ripped up.  Knowing Seattle, it will probably be another condo building by the time this actually posts.  So I thought that it might be fun to tell the story of getting fired.

When I first moved to Seattle I had very few spots to go hang out at, Lighthouse coffee was one of them, and I was there a lot.  They were opening up a second location in downtown Seattle called Wheelhouse Coffee.  When Wheelhouse opened up that was my new second home since my internship at the time was downtown, and Jon Mansen worked there so I would stay there for his entire shift goofing around and getting work done.  Wheelhouse put in beer taps and was going to start serving beer.  They had a "grand opening" event and they needed a bartender (someone who had a permit to serve alcohol) so I told them I'd do it for free beer and some tips.  It was a super fun event, Jon and I just served up coffee and beer all night.  I apparently did well enough that the owner, Ed, asked me if I was interested in working there.  I was part time at Tutta Bella, so I had the time to pick up some early morning hours at Wheelhouse.  This was so exciting for me because at the time I wasn't super happy at Tutta Bella, we had gone through another set of managers and I had lost my bartendering shifts.  I thought I could stick around at wheelhouse long enough to graduate to Lighthouse, which would have been perfect because at the time Dana and I lived down the street from Lighthouse in Fremont.  I was also friends with the crew at lighthouse.  Things were really looking up.

Fast Forward and I work 2-3 mornings at Wheelhouse and one of them was a open-close shift on Saturdays mornings.  Saturday mornings at Wheelhouse were not the most exciting shifts.  I would bring my computer and do some writing, send emails,  or watch netflix because I would normally have about 10 people come in all day.  We were so slow at that point that as a joke we had made a twitter account for Wheelhouse and would tweet dumb stuff, innocent stuff, but dumb none the less.

At this point, you're probably thinking, "Man Sam sounds like a pretty terrible employee!"  Well the truth is that I was.  Even my unhappiness at Tutta Bella could be tracked back to the fact that I just didn't care, and it showed in my work.  I loved connecting with people, it was just all the other things about working that I didn't really care enough about to work hard.  I was a punk ass plain and simple.

Back to Wheelhouse,  One day in particular I decided that as a joke I would "live-tweet" my shift.  THis is a dumb joke because basically nothing would happen.

The first customers of the day were almost always without fail Toyota car salesman.  They worked at the dealership accross the street and they were my least favorite customers.  They always pulled on the locked door 20 minutes before I opened up at the butt crack of dawn, Knock until I walked over an unlocked the door, order 4-5 drinks, 4-5 pastries and tip me at the most $1.  The other times they'd come in would be in the middle of a rare rush, and while there were little kids in line they would really loudly swear and cuss and "talk shop" and they'd try to give me "the nod" which works if you're not a douche (basically the nod communicates to the barista, "hey I'm just getting the usual, if you want to start it now, to save us both some time).

So As I was live-tweeting my shift, I was tweeting things like "still no one here". "I promise i showered today, come hang out with me at Wheelhouse!"  And then a crew of really rude Toyota folk came in and I just started to see red.  After they left, I started tweeting about them.  It was mostly just rants, and then as the day went on, I started to tweet at them.  I would say "hey at Toyota of seattle, why do your employees come in and cuss and swear in front of kids?"  And "hey at Toyota of Seattle We open at 6 on saturdays not 5:30, please let your staff know".   I didn't think twice when I was just complaining on twitter about them, however when I started to actually tweet at them I did have a moment of pause.  I thought to myself, "Sam you could get in trouble for this..." and I decided at that point that I didn't care about the extra $60 a week I got from working at Wheelhouse and hit send on those tweets.

Fast forward to the next week.  I am at Tutta Bella in between shifts and I get a call from Ed the owner of Wheelhosue and Lighthouse.   This was years ago, so I'll give you a paraphrase of the conversation we had,
Ed:  Hey Sam, what up with this Twitter account?  I didn't even know there was one.
Sam:  Oh yeah, I started it as a joke, just messing around we only have about 8 followers.
Ed:  Well if its not a big deal why did I get a call from Toyota today?  What the hell were you thinking on Saturday?
Sam:  Not gonna lie Ed, I had a bad day on Saturday and those guys just got really under my skin.  I was out of line, I'm sorry
Ed: Well I can understand that,  but running your mouth like that isn't good for business.... You know I have to fire you right?
Sam:  Oh damn, yeah i understand.  I'll post an apology to Toyota and delete the account tonight.
Ed:  I didn't want to do this Sam, but you kind of forced my hand here.  I need you to get that apology up now and delete the account right now.  You can't mess around with social media like that...
Sam:  Yeah I figured, I'm sorry Ed.  I'll get it done as soon as we get off the phone.
Ed:  please do.  Bye

One thing you should know an out Ed, is that he is a pretty chill old dude who has been roasting coffee for decades.  Word on the street is that he basically taught the guy who started stumptown how to roast coffee.  The 1st stumptown in Portland looks eerily like Lighthouse coffee.  Ed didn't care about social media at that point at all.  I don't even think he has a Facebook account.

So even though I knew what was coming, the feeling of getting fired was really weird.  I felt unwanted, not good enough, angry, sad, and relieved.  It was just this nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach.  Even though I was literally at my other job, and starting to like Tutta Bella more and more, I still couldn't shake that feeling for a while.  I don't think I'll ever forget it.

 Firing people is one of my least favorite things of my current job.  I had to do it last week, and even  though everyone involved agreed it was for the best for all parties, it still sucked.  I failed that person, whether it was in training, being clear in feedback, having unreal expectations or maybe I failed them by hiring them.  Firing someone means admitting that failure.  It doesn't feel much better on the other side of the table either.

I'm glad to see that Wheelhouse is still there and much busier than they were in the beginning.  I am also  confident that anyone I've fired has another job now, and I hope they are happy and successful there.

Not going to lie though, I was really happy to see that the Toyota dealership closed and got demolitoned.  It was like sweet vindication when I saw that.  I smiled a big goofy smile so that my freshly clean teeth showed all the way to my car.

Have you ever been fired? Have you ever fired someone?  Let me hear about it.  Hope all is well with you and yours.  I'm starting to make a series of videos where Garry Potter learns to do things.  I post them on all my social media accounts and YouTube channel. Here's a link to my YouTube channel.  Check them out, Let me know what you'd like to see Garry learn.

Where is Hillman City?

I'm sitting here in a somewhat random part of Seattle that could be considered "dangerous" by some. I would be willing to agree with them, however I look at the danger of Hillman City in a different way.

I know a couple of dangerous people in Hillman City and I will do my best to introduce you to them.

Ben Hunter is a dangerous guy.  He along with a whole community of fantastic volunteers, artists, creatives, and other non-profiteers had the audacity of dreaming.  They had a vision of a community filled with immense diversity to have a space to gather together to discuss, create, love, play, cook, and grow.  Ben lead the charge behind the Hillman City Collaboratory.  This is a co-working space at the corner of Rainier Ave. S and Orcas.  It's not just any plain old co-working space.  The Collaboratory from day 1 has been and continues to be an "incubator for social change".  There is a community pea patch, amazing outdoor event space, giant meeting room, a full kitchen, and a handful of private meeting rooms.  The Collaboratory is dangerous to anyone who doesn't want to challenge the status quo of how multi-cultural communities, in an underserved area of a major metropolitan area,  do life.  It challenges the idea that we should all just stay in our lanes and mind our own business.  It is a breeding ground for breaking down racial divides and doing work that matters in regards to bringing people together.

Ben is in a band with his buddy Joe, and they also go to school and host workshops to teach and explore bluegrass storytelling, music, and musicians.  Even my hometown recognizes Ben's brilliance. They won 1st place in the International Blues festival hosted in Memphis, TN.

Ben is also leading the charge to have Hillman City and Columbia City to be officially recognized as  Arts & Culture districts with the City of Seattle.  He and some friends took over and are renovating an older building across the street from the Collaboratory and rebranding it the Black and Tan Hall.  His non-profit, Community Arts Create, hosts free music classes for middle school and high school kids every Wednesday through December from 4-6.

He has so much going on all the time. He has a healthy tour schedule and is seemingly always on the go.  I don't get to see Ben that often anymore, but I see the effects of his hard work all over this part of town. Ben is the type of person that lights up a room and whenever you get a chance to talk to him about any sort of creative endeavor (your own or his) it's really hard not to get excited. Ben is an instigator in the best of ways. Also, I beat him at Settlers of Catan once.











The next dangerous person I would like you all to meet is Joya Iverson.  You CANNOT stop
Joya.Literally.  She has been hit by 2 different cars.  She overcame major head trauma and after she could get out of bed, walk, and function in her daily life she got straight to work tenaciously pursuing her dream.

What was that dream? Well she's lived in Hillman City for a long time and she wanted to do something for her own community.  She also spent sometime abroad, and fell in love with all things coffee. So she set out to open a coffee shop for Hillman City, since the closest one was actually a pizzeria (Where I worked and met Joya- in between car accidents) 7-10 blocks away.  She opened up down a block and across the street from the Collobabratory.

Dana and I had the honor of stepping in and helping out in the early stages of Tin Umbrella's kickstarter and Go Fund Me campaigns.  I love coming here because as I sit outside at the Hillman City Parklet right outside the shop that wasn't here 3 years ago, I think of how far Tin Umbrella has come since day 1.   It just makes me smile knowing how veraciously Joya loves her community and works every day to better it, one cup of in-house roasted coffee at a time.

She didn't just open up a coffee shop.  She has developed relationships with other local business owners to help everyone really engage and thrive within the Hillman City community.  She has a desire to help others sort out what helps a small business thrive (beyond 7 day work weeks, heart-work, and an incredible amount of strength and resolve that comes with the herculean struggle that comes with forging a new way of interacting with the community.) so that she and her friends can help continue this amazing growth.

Despite how well her business or health are doing (as of writing, both are doing very well!) Joya is a constant source of grace and joy (pun only slightly intended).  Seeing how much she's grown and all of the exciting things that she has done with the shop and the community is incredibly inspiring to me.  Joya is a true delight and every time I get to see her I am encouraged and excited for both her and what the future has in store for Hillman City

So there is something brewing in Hillman City (pun intended). Some would say it's gentrification seeping southward.  (There is a pet grocery store closer than a human grocery store) and I wouldn't argue that, however I do know that every time I am in Hillman City I feel this unique energy.  I wrote a chapter or 2 of my book at Tin Umbrella.  I occasionally peruse for rental listings down here because i would love to live down here.  So, do I lock my doors and worry about getting robbed in this "dangerous" part of town?  Eh, not really.  I actually do more creative work and think outside of the box, when it comes to my writing and the direction I'm going in my life, when I sit down and enjoy my favorite little corner of Seattle.

So if anyone reading this is in Seattle, go to Hillman, check out what's going on, because there is much more than just these 2 things.  There is more than I can write on in one blog post.  Hillman City, feels like a place where anyone from anywhere could be welcomed and feel a part of the community - if they got out and engaged with it.  Just watch out for those movers and shakers, like Ben and Joya, they might just get you excited enough to pursue something that you are passionate about or get you to help them help others.

I Almost Died Vol. 1

Lately Dana and I have been experience some really insane traffic incidents where people bust a u-turn right in front of us from a dead stop and almost kill us or we get cut off in traffic, more so than the usual nightmare that is Seattle traffic.  That gave me the idea to tell you all about a few times that I almost died on the road.  So here we go, buckle up!  (Pun absolutely intended)

One of my first jobs was as a sandwich artist at Schlotsky's Deli in Southaven, MS.  I've got stories about that place that I should probably share before I forget but now is not the time.  I was 16 years old, and most of my friends worked at Domino's in Hernando, MS which was about 15-20 down the interstate.  I was a young driver and my parents didn't want me to drive on the interstate, especially when it was raining.  However, on this night the North Mississippi All-Stars were playing a show at the square in Hernando and all my friends were planning on being there, so I told them I'd meet them after I got off work.

Work ran late, so I hopped onto the I-55 south to get down there in time for the last half of the show.  It had started to rain right before I got off work; but it wasn't a bad storm so I figured it wouldn't be a huge deal.  Boy was I wrong.

I was listening to Speakerboxx by Big Boi and cruising down the interstate.  I was going below the speed limit, being cautious, and jamming out because that's a pretty sweet album.  There was a grandma in a grandma type of car, driving like a grandma in front of me.  Seriously going 40 on the interstate!  So I decide to pass her on the left.  I never used to believed it when people told me that the roads are always slicker when it's barely raining because the oil in the asphalt comes to the surface or something along those lines, but I absolutely do now.  I get over into the left lane, and go to pass her. This is a multi-lane interstate divided down the middle by a shallow grassy ditch of a median.  As soon as I get in the left lane and well ahead of the lady (I am going 50, the speed limit is 60 I think... Could have been 55) I hydroplane for the first time in my life.  When your car hyrdoplanes a they tell you not to turn the wheel or hit the breaks just take your foot off the gas and stay straight.  The thing is, I did none of that...  I hit the brakes, and try to get out of the hydroplane which puts in a full horizontal spin.  

<<I like the way you move.... I like the way you move...>>

So I am now spinning clock-wise to the right about to head off the road. When your car is spinning, they tell you to turn into the spin, don't hit the brakes.  The thing is, I did none of that.  I once again press on my brakes and turn the steering wheel to the left.  This somehow caused me to start spinning in the opposite direction, so I am now heading left in a spin.  My car spins into the grassy median, and I look up and all I can see is headlights of oncoming traffic

<<Yell out timber when you fall through the chop shop,  take a deep breathe and exhale...>>

a little light reading...

I wasn't quite into the lane of oncoming traffic, just at the top of the other side of the median.  My car immediately (miraculously) shuts off and roll backwards down to the bottom of the median.  I had such a tight grip on that purple '97 Dodge Intrepid's steering wheel that I remember my hands hurting afterwards.  I tried turning the key again to get it start a few times, no dice.  I also don't know anything about how a car works so I am screwed.  Luckily I lived in Mississippi where you can throw a rock and hit someone who knows how to rebuild a transmission in their garage or reads "How Small Engines Work" for fun in high school (I'm looking at you Joey Treadway).  There was an angel of a man who pulled his big ole pick up truck to the side of the road.  He yells out at me, "ARE YOU OK?" I yell back at him that I'm alright, but I can't get my car to start.  The next part is a blur, but we end up getting my car started somehow.  I turn the car off and put the car in neutral.  I get out and he helps me push it to the top of the median.  He says, "Alright son, when I say GO you smash the gas and get on home now ya hear?"  So I say yes sir,  he waits for traffic to clear and yells out GO so I hit the gas like he told me to.  I scoot on down the interstate; I get off at the next exit and take the back roads all the way home, driving like a grandma the whole way.  

I missed the show, and got home in one piece.  Also, this might be the first time you're hearing about this mom and dad, and so sorry I didn't tell you, I didn't want to lose car privileges, and ultimately everything worked out just fine, so no need to worry you!

Strangely enough I remember never being able to find that CD ever again.  Which I guess if you were going to lose something in a traffic incident like that, that's probably the best case scenario.