Cincinnati Kid

I think I discovered my destiny.

Not so much my long term destiny, but more like the immediate destiny involving my in-limbo professional status.

And it would involve living in a van down by the river.

Okay, so I'm kidding about that part... well except for the moving by the river thing.

I ran into an old group of friends Saturday night quite by chance. If I hadn't been alone in a downtown bar at 1:15 in the morning... then I wouldn't have heard about this particular job opening.

I ran down to McCarthy's to meet up with some coworkers late Saturday night. A friend of mine and I were already wrapping up a late midnight dinner at Applebee's when we decided to race downtown to catch up with some guys from work. We went in separate cars, so I had to wade through the crowd all by myself to find my peeps. This particular bar is a multi bar spread that's always packed to the gills with Irish folks, artsy fartsy people and other casual drinkers.

Well, I searched high and low for my friends, but I couldn't find them. What I did find was far more surprising.

This bar, McCarthy's, used to be my hangout years ago when I was a younger girl hanging out nightly with a motley crew of Tee Vee people. We were a tight knit bunch, spending all our time together in and out of work. Relationships were made and broken within the little clan, but no matter what happened we were all resolved to hang tight at McCarthy's and Rosebud, our other favorite watering hole.

Well, people change and so do their vocations. Some folks moved on to other stations in other states, others (like my at-the-time best friend T-homas) got out and went to Law School. Still others stayed in Lexington and got out of the business. We all stayed close for a while, but after time we meandered away from the group.

My distancing involved a bit of drama I won't go through now, but it's that drama that led me to not speak to these very people whom at one time I used to cry for, I cared for them so much.

Anyway. Flash forward almost two years, and there I am standing in McCarthy's, at 1:15 in the morning, staring T-homas right in the face. I gasped, knowing full well I'd come to this day in time... seeing him in a random spot. I was pleased with how well we received each other... hugs all around from all the guys there. Guys I'd kissed, guys I'd crushed on, guys who'd crushed on me.

One of those guys is a producer in Cincinnati. He was always one of the funny ones of the bunch... a bit funny because of the things he'd say, a bit funny because of the things he'd do. We used to be tight way back, and suddenly it was like old times all over again. He was asking me where I was... what I was doing... when we suddenly realized we had something in common.

I was looking for a job, and he was looking to fill a producer position.

This guy isn't management in Cincinnati, but he told me he's tight with the people who count up there. My friend told me the opening was for the Weekend gig, meaning I'd only work four days a week (which is a vast improvement from the beast-of-a-five-day-week most stations schedule for their weekend producers), I'd likely get a 10 thousand dollar pay raise and the contract would only be for two years.

So far I'm not seeing any problems with this job.

The position's at the city's number one affiliate (meaning good ratings, good money, good morale), which is owned by a huge media conglomerate that made mad money last year. Reading between the lines, my friend told me I could pretty much get any salary (within reason) I wanted. He also divulged that this station puts family first, a huge plus in my book.

I asked my friend what his finder's fee was, and he said, "Just another cool friend to hang out with. As long as you want to hang out with me..."

How cute.

That one sentence melted any hurt feelings I had, any embarrassment I may have had about the huge drama I vaguely mentioned.

Earlier on this blog I know I've talked about how God has a plan for me, and I'm just unsure what that plan is. I know I have to be patient because He'll reveal his plan to me at the most unexpected time.

Well, folks, I think He just may have revealed that plan at McCarthy's Saturday night.

And now, I'm anxious to pack my bags and head back to Censor Nasty, the city I grew up in.