|
 My
friend Aston gives me an ICQ today and told me
some sad news. Last Friday a friend of ours
named Garvin Deptuck had passed away. I've been
sitting here for the past 30 minutes typing out
a thousand things to say about Garvin... and
erasing it.
It's taken me about 30 minutes to get even this
far. There is
NOTHING
that I can type here that will impress upon you
what kind of guy that Garvin was. I could sit
here and go on about him for hours... I find
there are no actual worlds or sentences that do
him justice so let me ramble a little.
Firstly I'd like to say that Garv and I were not
best friends. We were simply good friends. We
didn't call each other on the phone to hit a
movie and hang out. For the most part it was via
work or through friends. I just didn't want to
give people the idea that we were best friends.
We just got along and had one thing in common...
the love of a tasty beverage. We worked in the
same nightclub and had some of the same group of
pals. Garvins girlfriend and the girl I was
dating at the time were roommates. The 4 of us
would rent movies, make some dinner and hang out
from time to time. Over the years we became
fairly good friends. He treated everyone with
the same amount of respect, taking the time to
make eye contact and greet you with a handshake
and a smile. He would go out of his way to help
you if you needed it. What I'm trying to say
here folks.... is that Garv was honestly one of
the good guys, and I truly mean that. I met Garv
about 8 years ago in a club on Electric Avenue
called III Cheers. I was a DJ and Garvin worked
as a bouncer. All the regulars that came to the
club knew him. If Garv was working on the other
side of the club, people would take the time to
squeeze through a sea of people just to make it
across the room and say hello. A quick story
about Garv. As many of you may or may not know,
working in a nightclub isn't a way to retire
rich early in life, so money isn't something you
have buckets of. One night a very drunk girl was
left behind by her friends leaning up against a
pay phone at the front of the club. That wobbly
stance with one eye open. I'm sure you know it,
or have lived it at one time. As near as we
could figure it, they left her for another club.
She wasn't able to walk very well, and as we
like to say in the biz this poor girl
didn't have her
liquor legs
yet. Her ability to know her limit, was lost in
the coat check. Garvin and I carried her outside
and placed her on a bench along the sidewalk.
Electric Avenue if you're not familiar with it,
had about 9 clubs up and down each side for 2
blocks. There were always people about, police
officers to help and of course the mystical
Electric Avenue Hot Dog stands. As a general
rule the clubs would dump their drunk patrons
off outside on a bench somewhere on the sidewalk
where they would usually sober up and cab it
home, or if they were daring enough, walk. Now
in every nightclub in every city in the world,
the bouncer would leave the girl on the curb and
return to work. Here is what Garvin did. This
girl was pretty, and pretty drunk. Basically a
magnet for assclowns. Every 18 year old drunk
Romeo with a backwards baseball cap would be on
this poor girl like a fat kid on a chocolate
bar. Working in a nightclub you learn to speak
drunkanese,
the language of the impaired. Garv learned this
girls address, called over a cab over and gave
him 20 dollars out of his own pocket and
requested that he take this girl home. If that
wasn't enough, he had a female friend of his
ride along who was going in that same general
direction to make sure that she made it safely
home without incident. Out of his own
pocket he paid for the cab. I know this isn't a
story about how someone moved a mountain and
turned lead into gold but I think you get my
point. There are hundreds of stories I can tell,
but I won't. I just wanted to put something up
on my website because right now in the world it
seems everyone is having a difficult time of
things. We have a war breaking out in Iraq
making everyone tense and a little on edge. I
know talking about someone who's passed on is
not going to actually cheer anyone up, but I
wanted to pass along that little smile that you
get inside when you think of a good friend
you've had in life. If you have a friend in life
like Garv then you're lucky. If you a chance to
meet or know Garvin then you're luckier still.
Garv, wherever you are, you left behind a lot of
people who will miss you. Take care buddy, look
in on us from time to time.
The world and everyone who met you, was better
off for having known you, and a lonelier place
for having lost you.
|
