{"id":2890,"date":"2014-01-12T10:49:16","date_gmt":"2014-01-12T18:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=2890"},"modified":"2014-01-12T10:49:16","modified_gmt":"2014-01-12T18:49:16","slug":"prepare-to-greet-our-clientele-fort-lauderdale-florida-01042014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=2890","title":{"rendered":"Prepare to Greet Our Clientele \u2013 Fort Lauderdale, Florida \u2013 [01\/04\/2014]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cc75c41f47c6056a6e49d4951acfd1be-d6erqrw\"<\/a>It won\u2019t be a novelty; we mostly have seen them all before
\nPrepare for the usual\u2026
\nYou should be aware of what\u2019s in store
\nWe\u2019ve served them on the Baltic and the Oceanic, Olympic, Majestic and today\u2019s the same there\u2019s nothing changed
\n– Titanic: The Musical<\/i><\/p>\n

Their tastes are simple; they simply want the best\u2026<\/p>\n

For three seasons I\u2019ve done this cruise, and I\u2019ve always felt grounded in myself and ready for whatever it might bring me. I know my place in the machine, and even though I\u2019m a cog in a much larger system, I\u2019m a strong one. I\u2019ve always been able to depend on myself.<\/p>\n

Now, going into my fourth season at it, I\u2019m definitely missing that steadiness. I don\u2019t feel even remotely ready. The carefully done make-up feels like a theatrical mask and not one that\u2019s the kind of role I\u2019m good at playing (I\u2019ve always been more of a character actress).<\/p>\n

I can still play the part of course. Every curl set, every stroke of mascara in place, if I work hard enough at it, I can even make my eyes sparkle. Not the same kind<\/i> of sparkle as the real thing of course, but enough to fool most except Family.<\/p>\n

But I don\u2019t feel ready.<\/p>\n

I just look<\/i> ready.<\/p>\n

And perhaps if I continue looking ready, looking like I fit in with the world flags draping the lobbies, with the the white gloves and the perfectly polished nails, the perfectly turned curls, the silk stockings and crimson-waxed smiles and everything else that goes with this voyage (and it\u2019s a voyage, not a cruise)\u2026then I\u2019ll eventually feel ready.<\/p>\n

Because ready or not, here they come\u2026<\/p>\n

Giving deference to their preferences is our chief art
\nWe play our part in a perfectly working machine
\nYou should ever be aware this is a privilege great and rare
\nA special burden that we bare in our respective lives\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It won\u2019t be a novelty; we mostly have seen them all before Prepare for the usual\u2026 You should be aware of what\u2019s in store We\u2019ve served them on the Baltic and the Oceanic, Olympic, Majestic and today\u2019s the same there\u2019s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-below-the-waterline","category-grand-world-voyage-2014"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3GtNE-KC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2890"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2892,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2890\/revisions\/2892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}