Special Places.

This one was special. That’s how I want to start. Simply special. The reason: yes, the photos were great, of course the video was cool, but this story went beyond Slug. It hit Family. It hit Earth. It hit Life. This story is of Sarah, someone who I thank for her open eyes and open heart.

It was Monday, September 22nd, and I had walked into the Roxy Hotel in Lower Manhattan. I was setting up for a Slug Shoot with an old friend, Sarah. I had not seen Sarah in many, many years… probably since high school. But over the course of the year, I noticed she had been showing interest in Slug (we value and appreciate all who support us, and if you want a Slug Story go to “x”). There’s something extra interesting when I went on Sarah‘s profile though, maybe it was that she had a cool sense of style, maybe it was the fact that she was Moroccan and Morocco was one of my favorite places in the world. I don’t know what it was, but I had a hunch to ask her if she would like to be a Slugger. After a brief couple of messages back-and-forth we set up a date to shoot.

Eavesdropping Disguised as Observing.

When I arrived at The Roxy, a place I somewhat frequent for its swanky ambience, good drinks, billiards, live music, I sat down at a booth right next to a pool table. There was a girl and guy playing, and after hearing the conversation, I thought they were on a first date. My eavesdropping-ass was intrigued towards the end of the match, and when they shook hands, the very sweet girl asked the man what he did for a living. The man said he owned a bagel shop on Tompkins. She said which one, to which he said Pop-Up Bagels. Get the fuck out!!! This guy owned Pop-Up bagels?! He was the most unassuming, handsome, yet still unassuming man playing pool at 5 o’clock on Monday. Pretty dope. He even said he would hook her up whenever she went there. Anyways, I went back to preparing, and about three minutes the girl

asked to play. As I was preparing, my mind began to say no, however I had been listening to this audiobook, “The Game of Life and How to Play It”, and one of the big messages in it is to accept gifts. I took this opportunity to say yes and accept her offer. Her name was Neha and she was from Delaware. She was so easy to talk to that I felt the urge to ask her if she had a dream. She said, “Damn that’s deep”, LOL. She said she loved trying new restaurants and loved rating them on this app. That moment, I offered something. “Would you like to write for our brand?” “Brand of what?”, she asked. “Brand of Slugs!” “Slugs?” “Yeah, Slugs”. “What’s that?” Luckily, I had about five Slugs on me in preparation for the shoot. I showed her and she got it right away. The language, the style, the use, the flavor. She said she was in PR and asked if I had a PR person. I said you’re looking at him. Again, she graciously offered to ask her PR friends if they’d be able to help me. I accepted. I offered to her… I told her we were having a shoot in 15 minutes if she wanted to stick around. She accepted. Giving and Receiving at its finest. We finished up our game and waited until Sarah arrived.

Wide-Eyed Realizations.

Sarah walked in elegant as can be in red dress and red heels. We chatted for a bit, introduced her to Neha and got right to it. We went outside The Roxy and began to shoot. Sarah was a real natural. She had mentioned to me she'd model before, and was very interested in acting. Her beautiful eyes and emotive ability totally lend herself to her dreams on the big screen. The shoot was very easy. Neha helped and left. We got our shots and we wrapped up.

This is where it got special. After the shoot, we went to grab a drink in the lounge. We talked about all things: our backgrounds, our culture, the current state of the world. Sarah totally enlightened me on some of the aspects of politics I turned a blind eye to. Maybe they were things that promoted hate, violence, and a judgment of others, but she described that not paying attention was a privilege, and that one that hit me hard. I went on to describe my grandfather who I’ve been not speaking to so regularly for the past month or so, for a disagreement we had. Sarah gave it to me right. She explained that there are big differences in generations, and although maybe I didn’t want to see them, they were evident. Understanding and having empathy for one another’s age, culture, and background, and being open to having conversation is what will bring our families (at the small scale), and the human race (at the large scale) together again.

We ended the night walking through the city until she got on her bus. Inspired by her wisdom, I called my grandpa immediately hoping to make amends. He was out at dinner having a drink. I think he’s doing all right. I’ll try him again. Thank you Sarah for not only supporting Slug, but for supporting and standing up to what is right. Directors, Producers, Activist Organizations, holla at the girl Sarah.

Watch Next Slug Story

Sarah K

Slug Date.