2002-01-08


El Jefe is a giant. There are few people I've met who rightfully command the amount respect as does my boss. Why? It's not because he lets me come and go as I please. It's not because he hands out jaw-dropping holiday bonuses. It's not because he leaves his keys in his ignition as though it were still the 1930s. It's not because he genuinely appreciates & pays his employees what their talents are worth. Some may disagree, but it's not because of the times he's poured 4 ounce shots of Patron, for me at my desk, upon the completion of a particularly difficult or odious task. No, it's not even due to the fact that in a new book of photography documenting the history of the Fillmore East he is seen at age 18, sideburned & sitting in the front row of the balcony, on New years Eve 1969, when Jimi Hendrix played a show with the Band of Gypsys - a concert that was recorded and released as an album.
And still there is more...
But what truly impresses me, and what makes all the difference, is El Jefe's hard fought success & acquisition of prosperity & security without having to pay the soul-sucking price of sacrificing his dignity & lowering himself - without corrupting & crippling his conscience and sense of right - without kissing neither ring nor rear - without relying on dishonesty, deception or pretentious facade, especially in a business rife with it all.
Yes indeed, I am truly grateful to be here for it is a living Hell to slave away endlessly at a job that is beneath you - that grinds you down. I know the indescribable personal agony one can feel while operating a friolater, and yet many choose to die a thousand deaths and drown daily in murky grease on behalf of the Man, rather than take the risk and strike out on their own - and who can really blame them? -no money, no honey, no life. Even my friends who rake in 6- figures, often describe their world as grim, soulless, subordinate, stupid and morally confusing. They wish they were farmers - Green Acres is the place for me.

Today, I'm leaving late,
taking off at 7,
but El Jefe will remain here,
as he often does,
till well past 11.
Such hard hard work I view with total awe.

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