"The Party Never Stops"

(I wrote this in 2010 as part of a reflective journal I needed for a school project. I needed to discuss current events, and that was the week that the CBS special aired with Sal and Claude. It sums up everything Sal meant to me)

I was really fortunate to work with a guy named Salvatore Defalco. He turned 54 this year, but he still bartended. My nickname for him was old man! Oh, the stories. He knew every famous person there was to know, blah, blah, blah. It wasn’t until he asked me for some help finding pictures from Studio 54 that an internet search showed so many stories I didn’t know. He was a fashion model, he was on magazine spreads, and he was in the Advocate, a gay periodical, twice. He won a first of its kind lawsuit in Atlanta against a nightclub that fired him for being HIV-positive.

The stories quickly changed from gossip to history. He knew people who rioted during Stonewall. He showed me movies I had never seen. Funny Girl! I grew up being open about my sexuality, but I wasn’t gay until I saw Funny Girl! He taught me about *my* culture, *my* history. And he helped me and many others when we found out our own HIV status, over the years.

Entry Level - 2 yrs Exp. Required (F#$% My Life!)

Lost my job last week. Sucks, I know. I had just caught up when this happened so it feels like I am right back where I started. Losing your job can make you feel like you are losing your independence. It can make you feel worthless and devalue you as a person.

I am glad I started school two years ago. School is one of the things that has kept me moving forward over the last few years. Thank God for the stimulus and the fact that I was able to get Pell Grants to help me through Broward College debt-free.

Once I finish this semester, I will have my AA. An AA is about as useless as a high school diploma, so I am still focused on completing my Bachelor's and Master's in Computer Science (hopefully at Nova Southeastern University).

Even if I finish school though, what chance is there that I will ever find a job in my field? My sister has everything a corporation could want. She is detail-oriented, project-driven, geared for success -and- flexible. To top it off, she doesn't even drink AND has good credit!

She has her AA in Accounting. She has eight years of experience; it just happens not to be in Accounting. So, she invests all of this time and energy into learning how to become an accountant, but to get a job she has to have experience being an accountant.

How in the hell does one break into the industry if they have to have experience before they can? This gives me absolutely no confidence that I will ever be able to find the right job and makes me fearful that after I get my Bachelor's, I might end up still being a bartender.