Moving to Los Angeles has taken much more adjustment than I hoped. With lots of broke stories under my belt over the past decade of learning to balance artistry and capitalism, Los Angeles has certainly added to my repertoire. I’d rather share with you all than let me pride hide these gems.
I woke up not too long ago with a bank notification. Negative $144 in my only bank account. My phone bill went through. Surprisingly. Ya know, that’s good and bad some days.
Starting the day in a…frankly… shitty way, I hopped out the bed to head to photograph a 10 million dollar home in the middle of Beverly Hills.
The irony is hilarious.
At this point in life, I’ve been transitioning from “UberEatsin” to working for a few real estate photography companies. The problem at this particular point was that I hadn’t gotten paid for my work yet. Ya know, most companies pay twice a month. UberEats pays immediately after each delivery. Damn.
Luckily, I had the gas money to get to the appointment, but I had NO money for anything else. I mean no coffee. No gas. No lunch. Until they pay. Which was supposed to be later that day. All good, right?
Well… halfway through the shoot, the boss looks at me and says:
You want to go get lunch?
I tried to think of an excuse or reason not to for about 3 seconds. Then, for two seconds, I restrained myself from breaking down and crying in his arms. All that came out was:
Sure, let’s do it!
As I’m driving down the hill, all I can think about is how am I going to get out of this without admitting that I have no options to pay for lunch. No credit cards. No change. Nothing.
Just the other day, he had offered to pay for lunch while I was training with him. So my one hope was that he would offer, and I wouldn’t have to say anything.
But before that, guess what? I’m in the middle of one of the richest areas in the f*cking world so of course there is no free parking. I can only park at… you guessed it. Parking meters. I’m rolling down the hills, passing parking officers, realizing that I will have to find a way to park without getting a ticket.
I do a loop — no luck. I loop again and see an open spot. It’s red. Which obviously means it’s expired. I take a deep breath and proceed to step out of the vehicle to attempt and swipe every card I own.
Can you imagine if someone was watching me??
Like this grown-ass man, steps out of the car and swipes 3 cards on the parking meter — gets in his car and LEAVES.
So yes, no cards worked.
Then, right in front of me, an angel got in his car and drove away from his spot. IT WAS GREEN!!! I was free to park without paying. I would get no ticket. And I could now walk inside the fancy Mexican restaurant to test my fate once again.
I was so prepared to say that I am not hungry. Prepared to sip on water and starve.
But as soon as I got in, the boss said:
LET’S GET YA SOME LUNCH.
Let’s go!!!!
A win of the century. The tacos were bangin’. Coke was delicious. Even had some dessert (because he offered). I was paid shortly thereafter. Got gas on the way home. And told this story to my girlfriend while sipping some wine in my Silverlake Apartment.
All is good in the world.
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