The Last Dance & the Last Straw

Wedding travel & work at our day jobs was really starting to put a strain on Kate & I.  By mid-October 2015, we were both about as exhausted as a rock band after a North American tour.  We had been out of town nearly every weekend from the end of August through early October.

Showing off my Mad Munch T-shirt & my new White Sox hat at a pier on the opposite side of the country in Old Orchard Beach (O.O.B.), Maine, August 2015.     

The final wedding was in San Diego & we somehow ended up hosting the after party in our yard.  Kate was a bridesmaid & suggested it.  A fitting celebration to a long year of events.

But the year wasn't over & we still had to get up every morning at 6am & head off to our day jobs.  Kate couldn't stand hers anymore & I was starting to feel that way about working at the Best Western.  

I punched up a scathing email but never ended up sending it to my boss.  I couldn't risk getting fired, but it was more like a stress relieving exercise for me.  Words like "incompetent" & "unappreciated" littered the draft.  I was tired of repeatedly fixing guest issues & covering for my co-workers.  

I felt like they were taking me for granted over there.

Then they called me on the day of that last wedding.  "Where are you, Zach?  You're on the schedule," my boss said over the phone.

"No, I'm not.  I haven't worked a Saturday in over a year, Anna & you know it."

"Well, you're on the schedule for today," she said.

"Well, I'm in a wedding today so I'm not coming in," I said & she hung up.

I wasn't in the wedding, but Kate was.  Anna didn't know that, but she did know I was off Saturdays.  My manager who made the schedule had copy & pasted an old schedule & screwed it up.

A month later, Anna's dad (the owner) scheduled a mandatory meeting on Thanksgiving Day.  I was livid.  The worst part was that the Bears played that night & I already had plans- because it was Thanksgiving.  

That weekend, on Small Business Saturday of all days, Kate got a crazy look in her eye.

"I think we should quit our jobs," she said.  We were on the couch in our living room drinking wine.

"Yeah?" I thought she was halfway joking.

"No, I mean it," she said.  "I can't stand working for Village anymore.  I'll find more breweries to set up at.  We can make up our own schedule.  But, we'll wait 'til after the holidays- no, my birthday- we'll start fresh in February, & do Mad Munch, full-time!"