Bobby and I headed down to Sonny's in Santa Monica to watch the game and see the band The Standells play 'Dirty Water' live. We got there late, but still enjoyed some brew and the game. Dave met us there later on and we all agreed that walking into Sonny's is like warping back to Boston. Saturday morning we were planning on getting up super early and going for a hike in the Santa Monica Mountains. Unfortunately our valet boss called and told us we had to be at a wedding in Costa Mesa at 2:45. There was no way we could fit in a hike and make the wedding so we cruised to the beach for an hour instead. It's ok, the wedding was worth it.
Wedding's aren't usually the best for valet, but at this wedding there were only three of us. We pulled over 60 cars, got great exercise, and made some serious cash. As a kicker, Bobby and I drove a drunk couple to their house in Huntington Beach and they gave us $80. Easy money. The following day my family arrived, but I'm going to put that in a different post, so instead I'll talk about my next valet gigs.
The Saturday my family left I worked a Hillary Clinton fundraiser. I thought it would be cool and I would make good money, but I was wrong. The event was a Pakistani-American fundraiser in support of Hill. Nothing against Pakistani's, but the tips were awful at this event. If I didn't get stiffed I got $1 per car. I guess the guy hosting the fundraiser lied and there were two times the number of cars than expected, totally screwing over my boss.
One thing I have learned from valet is the importance of tipping. For the first time I am on the other side of a tipping situation. Getting tips feels great because I work really hard sprinting to and from cars. When I get stiffed I get pretty angry. If you ever get your car valeted, tip $3 minimum. $3 is a good tip, $5 is a great tip. Anything beyond that (I got a $20 at the wedding mentioned above) is a great bonus.
The following Sunday I worked an art show in Long Beach. It was 90 degrees out and the parking lot was a half mile from the event. By the end I was drenched in sweat, but the guests noticed this and started giving me extra money. For example, people who had $5 in hand reached in their wallets and gave me $1-3 extra for hustling. I ended up making a lot more money than the other valets.
I apologize for the filler post, but I'm on lunch break at work. Coming up soon is the Family Vacation post with tons of pictures and the Phoenix Weekend Trip post. Stay tuned. I'll wrap this post up with a screenshot of this weeks weather in LA. Sure, it's not a big deal now, but come January when ya'll are freezing your asses off you're going to be really jealous.
1 comment:
I am already jealous of that weather forecast. Looking foward to that weather at the end of October when I visit. Did you learn to drive a stick shift? Valet sounds like fun and you get paid as well as exercise. Never realized that events can park cars 1/2 miles away. WOW.
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