When Launching a New Business, Bring Plenty of Cigarettes for the Zombies Under

[Jasonplans1Participant]

The following piece was to appear in a Miami magazine (which shall remain nameless) that never got beyond its first issue which was to include a story on a Miami chopper builder, a downtown jeweler, and a local bikini designer. The parentheticals are my comments after-the-fact.

Let me tell you a true story about a young woman who got up early one morning looking for a fish market and ended up on the cover of a magazine.

It’s six o’clock on a Sunday morning. The sun still isn’t up and I’m waiting below the Watson Island bridge between Miami and Miami Beach feeling a little foolish holding a bejeweled bra in my hand and a little uncomfortable watching the homeless emerging from the shadows with the stray cats. I’m there to shoot the cover and pin-up pages (okay, so it wasn’t very politically correct– at least we offered both sexes), alone in the dark with the rats, the cats, homeless zombies looking for a smoke, and an over-the-top bra in my hand that would make a jaded Las Vegas showgirl blush with envy.

The bra is made of red acrylic and covered with Swarovski crystals. It’s on loan from a downtown jeweler for the photo shoot which, God willing, will happen in a few minutes. I’m looking for cops patrolling the island but there aren’t any because it’s too damn early!

I know my faith in mankind is being tested. The photographer who had agreed to do the shoot, bailed at the eleventh hour. In desperation I turned to Dennie and DK Cody of Cody Photo who shot our first cover. They agree to help me and suggest we schedule the shoot for 6am under the bridge to catch the early morning light on the downtown skyline. This probably had something to do with Dennie’s pioneer spirit bloodline (he’s a descendent of Buffalo Bill) where no one ever gave a thought about getting up before sunrise.

I know the Cody’s will show, but I’m not so sure about the others. I’ve never met them. I’ve only spoken to them over the phone. Knowing that they are trading their time only for publicity and copies of the magazine makes me wonder if they will really show. The longer I stand there alone in the dark, the less I’m sure they will.

Dennie and DK are the first faces to appear out of the darkness that don’t ask me for a cigarette or money. I hear myself paraphrasing the Cowardly Lion, “I do believe in people, I do believe in people.” Now, if only the rest will show so I can shake loose of my Cowardly Lion tail: the owner of Miami Choppers who agreed to bring one of his custom bikes down to the shoot, and the models.

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