More Joys of Show Biz

Okay so it could be worse. Sandi and I are waiting at the dock side straw market in Nassau waiting for the ship to arrive. It was supposed to be in an hour ago and there is no way to really know when it will get here. We are in a temporal warp called Bahamian time, even the locals admit that it is Island subjective. 

Most of the time I am a control freak over-checker who wants to know every detail before it happens.  This trip I never got a hotel confirmation for the over night stay here in Nassau.  I figured that the guy who picked us up would know, so it was not a big deal.  However, it is a big deal if the guy who is supposed to pick you up is not at the airport. This frustration is always amplified by the fact that we started our day in Los Angeles at 4:00am, have been on three airplanes with two layovers and my attitude has been stretched by the airport routine. It must be the stress of the season, during the trip I was witness to three heated verbal fights.  One between a lady and the bus driver who drove us to the American Eagle island hopper in Miami.  It continued as the bus driver followed the lady to her seat on the plane still sharing a piece of her mind. We never really know what the issue was about.

There is a problem landing in a foreign country during holiday season, with spotty cell phone reception and without the numbers of anyone who knows your information. After several attempts to find the number of the shipping agent, a fact I usually obsess about, we reached a man who had no clue what I was talking about.  He said that he would find someone who did and call me back in five minutes.  The Bahamian time equivalent to five minutes is approximately one hour and twenty minutes. But this was a person that was at least aware that entertainers joined the ship off and on in Nassau.  She said my name did not ring a bell.  There was a hotel that RCCL used for overnights and she said I should head there.  We did, and the hotel clerk was the first person that was expecting us, there was a reservation in our name and the room was nice.

The taxi driver called about 10:00 in the evening he was either drunk or I could not understand his accent either way I had to guess at what he was telling me.  He said that the office had given him the wrong flight information and he was sorry but would pick us up at 12:00 to join the ship.  He got us through town and dropped us off at the dock side straw market. We wrestled our luggage around people wanting to braid our hair and sell us pot pipes,  to meet a security guard who said our ship was not in and would not be for at least an hour...that is of course Bahamian time.... so here we are.  The good news it there is free Wifi, with several ships in port today the market is littered with various crew members sitting on the floor with their lap tops. At this time of year the weather is somewhat cooler and so we are not melting in the humidity.

It is always the case. Once I am on the ship it is a really easy gig.... but they pay me to go through the hassle of getting here.

I have said it before and I will say it again.  A job is a job and show business is no different. There are aspects  of every career that justify the salary.  If people are going into performing for any other reason than the love of performing, they might want to think twice about that decision.  

Thank for letting me vent here and pass some time till I am on board and can start to relax. Yesterday we boarded a plane before the sun came up on the west coast and landed after the sun had set in Nassau. It wasn't so much a physically demanding day, but mentally I feel like I was stuffed in a pressurized package and sent across country to be sold to cruel ship captain.

More later when I can find some more free wifi.... probably not on the ship.

As you were,

Jay