Author: Matthew Groff

  • The Jobs I’ve Had

    Over the past couple of mornings, I have been thinking about all the jobs that I have had. From my first job sacking groceries at 16, to the last one, at the start of the pandemic, running a kids dance studio. And I will define “job” as paid employment. Not work, because I have worked on a lot of things, and never got paid.

    The first job was at a grocery store. Then I worked as a telemarketer, and at a Blockbuster Video. I worked at a Barnes and Noble, and delivered pizzas, then made pizzas, and then managed a pizza shop. I managed a costume shop at my university, and then did marketing for an outdoor theatre. I also did marketing for a small publisher, and a little copy editing, too. I was a background investigation specialist, and theatre director. Then I was a temp around NYC, doing a lot of emailing for different companies. Then I was an office manager for a rehearsal studio. I was a working actor, puppeteer, director, and even did a short stint as a producer. Then I managed another rehearsal studio, then ran all of their operations, and finally I was the managing director of the whole joint. Then I was the managing director of a different joint. I got paid to write a review of a B movie for an online magazine. Then I was the operations director for an art center, thus ending on running the kids dance studio.

    I think that’s all the job’s I’ve had. I might have missed one or two.

    And I can say with 100% Honesty, I worked the hardest for the jobs that paid me the least.

  • Follow Through on Writing

    One of the many benefits of sending the kid to a Summer Day Camp was that I was going to have an opportunity to write. Unobstructed writing was the plan. And I was a little nervous heading into the two week stretch; would I actually follow through?

    Follow through has always been a problem for me. And procrastination. I have had many opportunities in my life to get ahead on creative work, and for one reason or another, I found a way to watch tv, or clean, or snack, or find some errand that I HAD to accomplish first before I could start writing.

    I remember once when I was in junior high, and I was semi-sick, and my dad let me stay home from school. I promised him that if I was home, I would practice my trumpet, as I was in band, all day. The old man agreed, and I stayed home, and watched tv. Didn’t touch the trumpet once. When my dad came home from work, and asked me about the trumpet, I was honest and told him I didn’t practice. He didn’t get mad at me, he just said he was very disappointed that I wasted the day, and didn’t keep my promise.

    That moment still sticks with me. Whenever I have the chance to work creatively, and I decided that I should, instead, watch my favorite episodes of Mad Men, that memory pops back into my head.

    I am testing my follow through this week. To see if I am really serious about this writing thing.

  • England Lost

    It was just heartbreaking. There was a pit in my stomach when extra time started. I knew, just knew, that if England didn’t score in the extra period, that they would lose in penalty kicks. I don’t know a ton about international football, but what I do know is that England has a bad history when it comes to shoot outs.

    And that history continued.

    I don’t blame the game plan that Gareth Southgate had for his English team. It has been working since The World Cup in 2018, and in each following match, their defense got better and better. Think about it. In the Euro 2020/21 Tournament, England only gave up two goals. That’s pretty amazing. That was the plan, and it was working. England scored super early, and played its defense. Even after giving up a goal, The Three Lions were bending, but they didn’t break.

    But Penalty Kicks. It had to be Penalty Kicks.

    And England’s goalie, Jordan Pickford, did an amazing job, and kept them in it. But Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italy’s goalie, had the better day.

    And that’s how matches go. You can have your best day, but if there other guy has a better one, there’s not much you can do.

    And I felt awful for Bukayo Saka, when he missed the final penalty kick, sealing England’s loss. He’s a kid; 19 and playing the biggest game of his life. I just felt awful for him. The only solace I found was how the whole English squad rallied around him after missing the kick. Saka was in tears, but all of his team mates were there consoling him. They even showed Southgate giving him a hug. And if there is one name in England who knows what that feels like, it’s Southgate. And if there is one man who can tell Saka that one play doesn’t define you, it’s also Southgate.

    Thus comes to an end for Euro 2020/21. I had a lot of fun watching the matches, learning about the players, and even enjoyed rooting for a team that came so close.

    All I can say is that I am looking forward to the Men’s World Cup in 2022, and Women’s World Cup in 2023.

  • ODDS and ENDS – Euro Final: England v Italy, Now What… Olympics?, The Emotion of Summer Vacation

    “Odds and Ends” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    Shock beyond shock, I’m going to talk about the Euro 2020/21 Final on Sunday between England and Italy. Looks like I am only about 50% correct when it comes to picking finals, so I am pretty happy about that. It’s not a done deal for England, who I thought didn’t look great against Denmark, and now they have a real competitor, Italy, who is playing at the top of their game. It should be a good match, and no matter what the outcome, this is the best an English team has done is 50 years, so hats off to this squad.

    And then after Sunday… no real big sporting events to look forward to. Some of you might point out the Olympics, but man, should that even be happening? Shit is bad in Japan with Covid, and there won’t be any spectators, and as we have learned in the past year, sports without fans is kind’a dull. I’m not knocking any of the athletes in Tokyo, but this sure must be a little of a letdown for them as well.

    We are two weeks into Summer Vacation, one week in on the Summer Day camp, which leaves nine weeks until school starts up again, and according to my kid, Summer goes on forever. I remember that feeling of optimistic listlessness. Nothing to do, not wanting to do anything, needing to do something, and it felt like this wonderful inertia would go on forever. I thought I remember what Summer Vacation felt like, but I had forgotten. It’s like I knew the right words to say when an adult talks about it, but having the weight of the correct emotion behind it was lacking in me. Now I see it again, living through the excitement of my daughter’s vacation.

  • Again, Parking in New York City

    I have a love/hate relationship with parking the car in the City, and also a strange affinity for waiting in the car for the street sweeper to go by.

    I have issues when it comes to parallel parking, so I have to find a very specific type of spot for me to put our car in. Mainly, it has to be a spot I can just pull into, and not have to parallel park. As you can imagine, it is difficult to find these pull in spots, thus I am resigned to spending 10+ minutes badly parallel parking, blocking traffic, going up on the curb, and doing this “front and back” rocking of the car until I can settle into the spot. It’s an awful spectacle to behold.

    As for waiting for the sweeper to go by, that’s more like a coordinated dance of cars. If things go right, I said “if”, then everybody pulls out and then pulls back in, following a nice orderly fashion. Some people are even willing to help guide your car back into your spot. If we work together, we all win.

    And then there are days like today, when I sit in the car, waiting for the traffic cop and sweeper to go by… but they never show up. I got to our car early, and sat, and waited. Normally, you can see the traffic cop coming down the street checking to see if people are on their cars, if not, the car gets a ticket. Then, usually five to fifteen minutes later, the sweeper truck comes by. This fanfare usually happens within the first thirty minutes.

    Not today.

    A whole hour went by, and nothing. That left the final thirty minutes, which only made me edgier. Was this their plan, to catch people off guard? I checked 311 on parking rules, and they were in effect. What was happening? What would cause both the cops and the sweeper to be delayed?

    When we reached the end of time, 10am, I and everyone else on the block emerged from their cars, with a look of confusion. What is going on? Is this a trick? Do we have the day wrong?

    I mean, good things don’t happen when it comes to parking in New York.