Parade of Lights

There are some things that I do not misss about my old job at Renzios. One of them is the Parade of Lights. For those of you who do not live in Denver, 9News helps sponsor an annual Christmas parade in downtown Denver every year.

When I was working for the downtown Renzios (which closed the year before I started going back to school), we stayed open late that night. For the first few years that I worked there, it was definitely worth staying open for the event. The overtime was nice, and the restaurant would turn a profit, a rather nice one, for the event.

This all changed when the Denver Pavilions shopping complex opened up just a couple blocks down the street. After that, staying open for the Parade of Lights was not worth it, but we were still required to by the conditions of the lease.

As I said, I don't miss the Parade of Lights. It is not that the Parade was boring (I always ended up seeing the tail end of it), or anything like that; it is that I just do not miss that late night, or the exhaustion that came with it (in the good times) or the boredom and robbing of my writing time (in the bad times). In the end, I am happier studying for my fall semester finals and attempting to be a sucessfully freelance writer.

Enjoy the Parade of Lights, either from home (it is broadcast on TV) or in person, but don't expect me to see it this year; I have an Economics final to study for.