Sam The Champion Living In The Ghetto
It was August of 1988.
I was three months removed from my last semester at Penn State - Erie, PA campus. What an illustrious two year career. I began my college experience in August 1986 and was introduced to a whole new world. My freshman dorm roomate’s name was Mark Hoffacker. I said “Hello, my name is Sam Crowley, nice to meet you.” Mark replied with “Dude! This is a 30 week party with a six grand cover charge!”
Uh oh.
Needless to say, I majored in being the life of the party for the next four semesters. I stopped attending classes in January of 1988, my last semester. It was just too cold to walk across campus and listen to a lecture on psychology, so I focused on my work-study job, which was the campus pool hall. My boss was a lady by the name of Marge, everyone referred to her as “Large Marge” and warned about how nasty she was. I was determined to win her over. Before long, Marge was giving me all the hours in the pool hall, I could certainly handle them because I wasn’t going to class anymore. It was a match made in heaven.
When the spring semester ended and I had skipped my last class, Marge pulled me aside and said with her Barry White type voice ”Honey, I have never had someone work as hard as you have this year. I would like to promote you to Pool Hall Manager. I was flattered. Marge had taken my breathe away by offering me such a lofty position within the Pennsylvania State University. I thought about it, but then realized I had dropped out of college, so after careful consideration I had to answer “no.” Marge was crushed because she just lost the best employee she ever had, I was crushed because my free ride was about to end. I dropped out of college with no job, no money and no plan.
Fast forward to August 1988. I was at my favorite bar in Bradford, PA with my friends. They were all talking about the fall semester at college. What classes they were taking, when they were leaving, etc. I turned to my buddy Pat and asked what he was doing next month. He said he was transferring to the West Palm Beach campus of his school and said “Dude, you should come with me, it would be a blast.” That’s all I needed to hear. Five days later we were in his Grand Am driving 24 straight hours to West Palm Beach, FL. The entire trip I was dreaming of the ocean I had never seen before, palm trees and everything that went with living in Palm Beach. I had forgotten one thing however, I had $200 my sister Kate had sent me and the clothes on my back, didn’t look like I’d be taking surfing lessons anytime soon.
We arrived and checked into the Days Inn. After a couple nights in the hotel, we found an apartment in one of the worst sections of West Palm. The only thing that looked familiar were the palm trees on our street, unfortunately I was more focused on the people who looked like prisoners that were our new neighbors.
As I mentioned, I had nothing but a grabage bag full of clothes. I had no bed, but I was in luck. The same night we moved in was garbage night in the neighborhood. Just my luck, there was a twin AND a king size mattress on the curb down the street. I sauntered down there and dragged them back to our apartment.
Sam, meet your new life. You’re a 20 year old college drop out with no friends, living in the ghetto of a new city. No job. No money. No life.
I was feeling as low as I had ever felt. What the hell did I just get myself into? At least my friend Pat had college to attend everyday, I had nothing. Reality started to set in. It was the first time in my life I felt like my back was up against the wall and I had no plan.
But then I remembered something. I was a CHAMPION. Yes me, “Sam The Champion Crowley” had arrived in Palm Beach, FL. Nobody knew me here. They didn’t know I was a loser, time to reinvent Sam Crowley. There was no time to feel sorry for myself, I had things I needed to accomplish-greatness was calling my name. What does a 20 year old college drop out with no future do next?
Simple, he becomes one of the youngest people in the state of Florida to ….
To be continued tomorrow
Sam
P.S. Do you feel like your back is against the wall? Do the winds of adversity blow on your boat frequently?
Have no fear, The Everyday Is Saturday *Blueprint* is almost here. To be notified when the sales page goes live, send me an email at sam@everydayissaturday.com
