Feeding Johnny by O'Brien Colm;

Author:O'Brien, Colm; [Colm O’Brien]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1918904
Publisher: Liberties Press
Published: 2015-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Burning of the Boats

Day one had arrived. We had the keys. We had the opportunity. We were finally in our own business, our fate clearly in our own hands. This was the big break: new city, new career phase – exciting times indeed. But, all of a sudden, it dawned on me. This was it. I was petrified! Metaphorically, we had burned the boats.

In 1519, a general by the name Hernán Cortés set sail from Cuba to the Yucatan, Mexico. Cortez, who had heard of the great riches of the Yucatan and had set his mind on conquering them, was in charge of eleven ships with more than five hundred soldiers, as well as one hundred sailors and sixteen horses. When Cortez and company finally arrived on shore, he suddenly turned to his men and ordered them to burn the boats. His soldiers’ jaws dropped. Burn the boats? Then, how in the world would they get back? Cortez explained that they wouldn’t need the boats, because they would conquer the Yucatan’s armies and make their fortunes. And then they would take the Yucatan’s boats home!

Think about it. We either had to make this thing work, or we were screwed. And all of a sudden, for the first time in this whirlwind adventure, I was scared stiff. Now, if you’ve been attentive so far, you’ll notice that that is a trademark of mine. At almost every juncture, as my career changed, I was scared stiff. Big-time scared. By 1998, I knew that was my natural reaction to breaking out of my comfort zone, but I also knew by that the only way to expand my comfort zone was to break through.

Irrational thoughts flooded my brain. What if I can’t do this? What if nobody comes through the doors? What if I’m not as good as I think I am? What if the staff members don’t gel with me? What if there actually is a big secret and I missed it? What if? What if? What if? It was irrational, I know. I had been doing for my employers for almost two decades what I was now asking of myself. What was there to fear?

It’s 8 AM on Monday, 22 June 1998, and I am about to open the doors of my very own café. I take a deep breath, turn the key and, to my great surprise, the first person through the door is one of my best friends in the world – John Barry, lovingly known to us all as J.B.

‘What are you doing here?’ I gasped.

‘I couldn’t not be your first customer,’ he said. ‘I came to wish you well.’

I was stunned. He had driven all the way from Dublin just to be our first customer. We hugged, and I offered him breakfast, which he accepted. Phew! I was off the hook. I didn’t have to start just yet!

The two of us sat at the back of the café for an hour, batting back and forth about life and opportunity and the future and all sorts of stuff, J.

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