{"id":1046,"date":"2013-02-20T10:34:58","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T14:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.summerofjim.com\/?p=1046"},"modified":"2013-02-20T10:34:58","modified_gmt":"2013-02-20T14:34:58","slug":"the-incident-at-the-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=1046","title":{"rendered":"The Incident at the Pool"},"content":{"rendered":"

I stared down at my jambalaya, took a glance at the Ranger-Bruin hockey game at the screen in the far corner of Ash Creek Saloon and savored a sip of my Wild Turkey Rye on ice.\u00a0 Folks to the left and right of me were drinking quantities of Hurricanes, the ladies were festooned in flashing gizmo glasses and beads\u2026 many, many strings of beads… it being Mardi Gras<\/em>, even here in Norwalk, CT.<\/p>\n

Hector offered me a taste of a Hurricane.\u00a0 Not bad\u2026 it reminded me of Planters Punch, which I used to enjoy years ago when traveling to warm weather destinations.\u00a0 I stayed with my Rye.\u00a0 But the guy seated to my right was to content to keep pounding Hurricanes\u2026 which he did without apparent enthusiasm, pausing only to scribble a few words onto a sheet of paper, actually several sheets of paper\u2026 stationary<\/em> that appeared to be stained by Hurricanes and shreds of spicy chicken wings.<\/p>\n

And here I thought I was the only patron who used the Ash Creek\u2019s bar for writing purposes!\u00a0 After a couple of forkfuls of jambalaya (very good, by the way), this guy started to bug me.\u00a0 Not a regular.\u00a0 Drinking Hurricanes like they were OJ\u2026 and writing<\/em>.\u00a0 Writing what?\u00a0\u00a0 For the first time I had a sense of how folks at the bar would view me!\u00a0 Writing what? And for all I knew, he was a gifted <\/em>writer!<\/p>\n

Well, even gifted writers have to go and relieve the accumulating pressure on their bladders\u2026 if you know what I mean (and I think we all do)\u2026<\/em> particularly if you have been guzzling Hurricanes.\u00a0 And when this fellah left to take care of his bathroom needs, I couldn\u2019t resist taking a peek at what he was writing.<\/p>\n

Thru the various cross-outs and re-starts, legibility seeming to be negatively impacted by the volume of Hurricanes, I could make out the following… \u201cDear Jorge: Thank you for attending the Conference, your participation was instrumental to its success and greatly appreciated by the firm\u2019s Partners & Senior Management.\u00a0 I personally wanted to offer my sincerest apologies for the incident at the pool. On behalf of our Team, please accept this gift\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Incident at the pool?<\/em><\/p>\n

Hector replenished my Rye Whisky, the Rangers were up 2 nil\u2026 did I mention the Jambalaya was top shelf?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whatever this \u201cincident\u201d was\u2026 it had to be special to send this guy to composing a letter of apology thru the fog of Hurricanes at Ash Creek Saloon! Who knows\u2026 maybe there was the risk of losing a key client or contact? Maybe his job was on the line?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Halfway thru my second Rye, I figured it out\u2026<\/p>\n

First\u2026 the pool.\u00a0 It had to be outdoors, embarrassing incidents don\u2019t take place at indoor pools other than peeing in the pool, and peeing in the pool doesn\u2019t require getting sloshed on Hurricanes and writing a letter of apology. Next, the Conference.\u00a0 It had to be International\u2026 Jorge, right?\u00a0 Super Brain, super connected with multiple degrees from M.I.T., Wharton and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, multi-lingual, makes big bucks and wears tailor made threads.\u00a0 Time and place? The conference just concluded in some warm weather location.\u00a0 Outdoor pool, right?\u00a0 This Hemisphere.\u00a0Barbados?\u00a0 No, closer to the States.\u00a0Bermuda?\u00a0 Wrong season. OK, Turks & Caicos.<\/p>\n

The nature<\/em> of the Conference? The demise of the Spotted Owl?\u00a0 Global Warming? What killed off the dinosaurs?\u00a0 Ixnay.\u00a0 It\u2019s impossible to create an embarrassing incident that warrants a tactical fix-up in a Conference involving a beaten-up subject.\u00a0 This Conference clearly involved big time<\/em> players, with heavy money at stake.\u00a0 Probably in the bio-medical sphere\u2026 sorta like Jurassic<\/em> Park<\/em>, only real!\u00a0<\/p>\n

And this Jorge dude?\u00a0 He\u2019s the technical lynch-pin.\u00a0 He\u2019s the one that the \u201cTeam\u201d was counting on to close the deal with the international investors (which probably included the likes of NASA, the Colombia Drug Cartel, Walt Disney and an unnamed Shanghai Restaurant).\u00a0 Jorge is a w\u00fcnderkind, <\/em>in addition to being a genius, child prodigy cello player and a great dresser, he is an avid sportsman\u2026 exceptional downhill skier and polo player.\u00a0 In fact he met his future wife while competing in a polo tournament at the Taupiri Polo Club in Auckland, NZ. <\/em>\u00a0She is a five time Sports Illustrated <\/em>Swim Suit Model & a member ofSweden\u2019s Olympic Downhill Ski Team.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the \u201cteam\u201d\u2026 Our \u201chero\u201d, taking a wiz (and maybe more) in Ash Creek\u2019s loo<\/em>, works for a hedge fund\u2026 <\/em>one that has a ton of money, and was left unscathed by either Bernie Madoff or Wall Street\u2019s collapse.\u00a0 The \u201cTeam\u201d (with \u201cSenior Management\u201d involved) had spent 21 months putting together the deal, and the \u201cConference\u201d in Turks and Caicos (actually the third one during that time frame) was in preparation for signing-off on the details and before the official \u201cproduct roll-out\u201d.\u00a0 Mr. Hurricane was probably lower down on the feed chain <\/em>(either highest level mid-tier, or lowest level upper-tier), but in anticipation of the beaucoups of green<\/em> that would fall into his lap, he had already gone to contract for a good sized home on Meads Point in Greenwich.<\/p>\n

To the incident<\/em> itself.\u00a0 \u201cAll work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy\u201d.\u00a0 And it is clear that at this high powered Conference<\/em> where the work was undoubtedly intense, a gazillion dollars hanging in the balance, and when matters concluded, the play<\/em> would be equally intense. And so we find our intrepid hero, rubbing shoulders with the heavy hitters<\/em> on the Team, and the other heavy hitters<\/em> at the Ocean Club West\u2026 a tall beverage in hand, admiring the beautiful free-form pool with its bridge connecting to an island with tropical flora and a gazebo.\u00a0 Azure waters, blue skies, a settling sun, the sweet scent of gardenia lifting on a pleasant sea breeze, a satisfying Mojito\u2026 or Planter\u2019s Punch\u2026 or maybe even a Hurricane <\/em>in hand! Life was good\u2026 no, make that: life was great!<\/em>\u00a0 Conference done, 95% of details locked up (which the higher ups<\/em> felt was good enough to launch into a happy dance<\/em>).\u00a0 And life was getting even better<\/em> with each frosty cocktail.\u00a0 The sun continued its descent to the horizon forming a breathtaking sunset. Aided by the booze, the natural inhibitions for Mr. Greenwich Hedge Fund also descended.\u00a0 Caught up in the moment and in the scenery (which included spectacular looking women) he strolled across the arched bridge to the island with a Rum-Whatever in each hand, finishing off one, he merrily tossed the empty glass into the pristine pool and approached a woman who he had culled<\/em> from the herd of fabulous looking women that populated the artificial island.<\/p>\n

Perhaps he didn\u2019t adequately measure his point of attack.\u00a0 Or maybe he was just using a line that he used as an undergraduate.\u00a0 Or maybe he was just too stewed<\/em> to know any better when he approached this rocket<\/em>, \u201cExcuse me Miss\u2026 I\u2019d give the world for several strings of beads so I could have a look at your breasts!\u201d<\/p>\n

Well\u2026 maybe it worked when he was an undergraduate\u2026 or at least when he traveled to New Orleansfor Mardi Gras.\u00a0 Call it unfortunate that his target on this occasion was none other than \u201c5 Time Swim Suit Model\u201d\u2026 the fact which he rapidly discovered when the previously unseen Mr. Jorge stood up from his near-by chair to defend his wife\u2019s honor.\u00a0 Making things worse, our friend, on realizing the gross faux pas<\/em>, accidently spilled the contents of his Long Island Ice Tea (or whatever he was drinking) down Mrs. Jorge\u2019s cleavage.\u00a0 And understandably, Mrs. Jorge got up from her chair with quite a start, knocking into a small table, badly twistng her ankle in the process, losing her balance, savagely gripping Mr. Jorge\u2019s arm\u2026 who in turn lost his balance, collided with a waiter bearing a tray full of mojito\u2019s, rum swizzles, flaming scorpions & etc., and with no hope of recovering their collective balance, the trio\u2026 Jorge (in his bespoke tailored suit), Mrs. Jorge (who also\u00a0lost a heel in the commotion) & the waiter (who gamely tried to retain as many cocktails on his tray as possible) tumbled into Ocean Club West\u2019s free-form pool.<\/p>\n

Maybe that vision of calamity was on Mr. Hurricane\u2019s mind as he returned to his place next to me at the bar.\u00a0 Maybe he was thinking about the missing 5% on closing the mega-deal. <\/em>Or maybe the Hurricane\u2019s took him to the blue skies and puffy clouds, before <\/em>the regrettable incident at the pool transpired.\u00a0 Would that it be true\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Hector put yet again another Hurricane before him.\u00a0 It was an Ash Creek Special\u2026 $20 for all the Hurricanes you can drink, and clearly this guy was getting his money\u2019s worth!<\/p>\n

He picked up his pen to put it to the paper, he blinked a couple of times and let the pen fall from his hand\u2026 he tried to wipe the haze from his eyes\u2026 he turned slightly and looked at me\u2026<\/p>\n

I looked back, smiled and sympathetically nodded my head, \u201cWriter\u2019s block?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I stared down at my jambalaya, took a glance at the Ranger-Bruin hockey game at the screen in the far corner of Ash Creek Saloon and savored a sip of my Wild Turkey Rye on ice.\u00a0 Folks to the left … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-ash-creek-bourbon-conversation-corner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1046"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1047,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046\/revisions\/1047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}