My Adventure Back Into Public Reading

Well, I did it, I went back into the public. With Tarot decks in hand, I went back into the arena of public reading. Last time I did this was 2 years ago at a Laundramat. But this time, it was cooler,.......

I got to the restaurant and the owner had a place all set up for me. Great I'm thinking. In a small alcove where btw I had a sign that was made by the establishment which said, "Get Your Fortunes Told Here." <sigh> Note to self, if you're going into restaurant, or anyplace else for that matter, make sure you bring your own signage. The next thing is the owner does is ask me, "Where is your get up?' I look at him and say "get up?" And then I realize,...a costume. <sigh> I took the owner by the hand and told him to sit down. The table they had provided already had a tablecloth on it which I promptly rolled up to reveal a very lovely, old wood table.

I love wood. I love to hear the cards being shuffled on the wood it,.... well I use sounds to ground me. Yeah I know, I'm weird. I pull out my decks, I brought RW and Thoth. I asked him to pick a deck and to shuffle it, and think about what he wanted to know.

So he shuffles. He askes should he stop? I tell him do you want to stop?

He continues to shuffle. He shuffles until he is done. Then I tell him to cut the deck, which he does, and then I start.

And I turn the cards over and I just start talking and telling him things. After a while I stop and ask him for some water. He can't move because I told him stuff I would never have known. Then I asked him "Think I need a get up?"

Well, needless to say I will be wearing regular clothes, no costume.

The rest of the night went pretty good. I had about 3 (4 if you count the owner), readings, and things went wonderfully well.

Frannie, you are not the only one who freezes on occasion. I did tonight, and that is when I relied on the sitter and myself to work through the card. It happens.

I look forward to tomorrow and the rest of the month. I haven't done much public reading, prefering to do one on one private readings at my home. So I had fun, learned a great deal about the public (they are funny), and relearned about reading for the public. I really enjoyed it.

Baroli

Way cool, Baroli! Way to go.

I'm so happy for you, Baroli! The story with the owner is awesome! Good for you - I hope it continues in the same vein for you!

\m/ Kat

Nice one Baroli, it's good to see that you took the owner to hand over the 'get up'. Maybe you can work on that sign sometime.

I think 3 or 4 clients in an evening is enough so that you are not over tired, but also not so few that you are hanging around waiting too much, so sounds likes the right amount in a few hours.

Congratulations, Baroli! Keep telling us more

I would be very happy to relate the continuing saga and adventures that I have.

Sounds like a good start. Got me thinking too. It has been a while since I have done readings at the coffee shop. Always one thing or another stopping me. Maybe I should get back to it.

Good for you and well done

Keep the updates coming.

Saturday Night

I decided to continue to relate my saga, my adventure as it were back into public reading.

If you haven't read Umbrae's "The Process" you need to do so. I have had a couple of things happen to me that was similar to what I read in his posts. Fortunately, I did read them and had some sort of inkling as to what was going to transpire.

I don't drink,..........much. A glass of wine here, mixed cocktail there, but for the most part, I don't drink. Why??? I can't hold it. I get very buzzed very fast. So I stay away from it,......unless it is champagne, then I take the bottle and say "see ya tomorrow, maybe." That's another story.

I arrived at the restaurant a little early so that I can set up and see if there is anything new, they may have moved my table, which they did and I needed to make sure there is adequate lighting, which there was. They are way into dinner time and the place is packed. Great!! I have this bag that I keep with me where I carry my decks, and I take them out and put them on the table, which I noticed is now bare. They remembered I don't like tablecloths. Now if they could just remember I am not a fortune teller persay, not like the gypsy lady in the great horror flick the Werewolf with Lon Chaney, Jr.

So I sit and pour myself a glass of iced water, (gee they remembered that as well). I am now sitting near the bar, which is only serving soda, wine, and beer. This place has a wine and beer license which is infinitely cheaper than
a regular liquor license. I say hello to the bartender who nods howdy. This I remembered from my days as a club musician, always make friends with the bartender, he's your friend for life, walk you out to the car, anything. He gives me a nice glass for a tips. *Quick note: Don't let your tip jar go out of your sight, things tend to walk.

My first sitter, is a rather young couple who each have a reading done. A past present and future is what I do for them both; they shuffled and cut the cards and I do my thing. They are happy sort of, and leave.

About a 1/2 hour later a group of women come in and they exclaim "Oh you have a card reader here", 2 opt for a reading, the rest just watch. I do the same thing with these two and they are very happy leave a tip and go have their dinner.

The owner comes out and he is happy, and tells me that something I told him last night came to pass today. It's not everyday, you get feedback from a face to face reading like you do here, but there it was and I take it all in.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, until the end. A bunch of guys come in with their dates. Now they have "half a bag on" when they come in and want more but the bartender flags them. One guy I notice is pretty outspoken and I had a feeling there was going to be trouble,........I was right. He comes over and sits down unceremoniously, passes gas and wants me to read his cards or as he said in a slurred voice "Tell me my fortune!"

I have options here. I can a) tell him to get his fat butt off of my chair and hit the bricks, nahh too easy. b) I can flag the bartender and have him call the police and have this guy nabbed for DWI, well I figured that was already done. My very warped sense of humor now kicks in and also the desire to make this guy look like a chump in public. I look around and said to him "I predict, you are going to have one hell of a hangover when you wake up tomorrow. Don't need the cards for that." Everybody in his party laughs, but he is not amused. He gets up and gets in my face and says "YOU'RE A FAKE!!" The room grows strangely quiet and I just look him back in the eye and said,................."Have a nice night." Now the payoff of this is that the fellow's name is Dick. The girlfriend calls him Dickie and I,..................resist temptation. I just say quietly still looking directly at him, "Dickie?" I sit down and fold my hands in my lap and look down, because I am trying not to laugh.

I could have been very rude and ripped this guy to shreds with my caustic tongue, but I didn't. The thing that one needs to remember when you are in any type of situation like that, is that although you are working as an independent contractor, you are still working in an establishment. The bartender took care of business because I saw the police roll up, lights flashing and I was watching this guy get led away to an awaiting car. The point?? An ex supervisor of mine said this to me and I have never forgotten it; 'Always be professional.'


Baroli

A typical Saturday night eh?

Wow, I'm amazed at how you handled Dick the Pr***

And, that's a great tip about making friends with the Barman. Nice one Baroli.