This is an interview of a young man who grew up in my home town. I have known him since he was a kid and have always been impressed with the way that he handles himself. I believe this interviewer struck gold with him because it must be rare to find such an interesting, wise, and well rounded guy in the middle of a concrete jungle like NY. He is loving life and getting the most out of the moment. It impressed me so, that I just had to share it with you… enjoy…
Andrew Runkle
29 years old
Server at Roman’s restaurant
Interviewed March 2 on Carlton and Willoughby
What led you to Roman’s?
I’d been a regular at Marlow and Sons and Diner, and it’s the same owner. And I’d been sort of laid off from another job, and also interested in getting back into the food service industry, so I went by and dropped off a resume.
Where were you working before Roman’s?
I was working as a producer for a company called Motherland. We do motion graphics and some live action.
Are you happy with your current job?
I am. It was definitely a bit of a transition, but I’m enjoying it. I like the social aspect of working at Roman’s and the food is wonderful. We’re treated really well there.
What do you think of the clientele?
They’re really great. Everyone’s down to earth. I think at some restaurants that’s not always the case. Compared to the restaurant I worked at a number of years ago, this is a dream.
Where was that?
Another in-between-production job. I worked at Pastis, which is in the meatpacking district, and the clientele was pretty awful through and through. I didn’t feel like my friends were coming to eat there, or people that I would actually want to sit down with. Roman’s has only been open four months and we already have regulars and it’s really nice to see these people and have a conversation with them… I think we’re just focused on doing the best we can do, and if people want to eat with us, that’s great.
Has anyone ever tried to pick you up while you’re working, or vice versa?
No. And I have a girlfriend so…
What’s her personality like?
She’s really easygoing, and also very motivated and self-sufficient. And sweet.
And how would she describe you?
OCD. Overly organized. Probably thoughtful.
Do you actually have OCD?
No, I wouldn’t necessarily classify myself as OCD but I do think that things have a place and that they should go there. We also live in a 300 square foot apartment, so it gets messy really quickly.
Are there any slang terms you use regularly?
Not really. Well, when my brother’s around, he’s four years younger than I am, we fall back into slang that we used in high school. I guess one word is “lace.” I would lace you, which basically just means I’m giving you something. So you’ve been laced.
Did you make that up?
No, that probably came through some hip hop Ebonics in the 90s. We have some other made up terminology that doesn’t make any sense at all.
What’s the best thing that could happen to you?
Well, I could be forced to work a little bit less and sort of lay out a more effortless lifestyle for myself, and be able to get out of the city a lot. Maybe start my own business.
What kind of business?
I’ve been back and forth about the idea of wanting to open up my own restaurant and I’m still trying to figure out if that’s really what I want to do. Since I’ve been working at Roman’s I’ve been second guessing if I want to commit the next fifteen years of my life all day, every day to something like that.
Do you have health care right now?
I do, but I have it through Wellmark Bluecross Blueshield in Iowa, which is where I grew up. So through some technicality I’m probably not supposed to have it.
Tell me about growing up in Iowa. What was life like?
Well, it forces you to be creative to find things to do. My parents moved there to be part of a spiritual community that was based on transcendental meditation, which is a meditation technique that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi brought to the west in the late 50s early 60s, and was made famous, I guess, when the Beatles went to his Ashram. There’s still a pretty large community there.
Were you actively meditating when you were young?
Yes. You start when you’re five with a walking technique where you’re basically given a mantra. And then when you’re ten I think they feel like you’re old enough where you can actually sit down and close your eyes and be settled. At that point they give you a 10-minute meditation technique. It gets longer and you can get advanced techniques later on.
So did you go to school on the…would you call it a commune?
Not a commune, but there was a private school there that incorporated what they call consciousness-based education, which is probably trademarked or something. But I went there from kindergarten through undergrad. So I’m 100 percent consciousness-based educated.
Are your parents still in Iowa?
They are, they work at the university there.
Do you keep in touch with your friends from childhood?
Yeah, they’re my closest friends. A number of them moved here, that’s primarily why I moved to New York. I have the strongest community of friends here, and I traveled for a couple years and just didn’t find any other place that I liked as much.
Where did you travel?
All over. Because my parents worked at the university I got to go to college for free and so I was able to work a few jobs and come out of college with some savings, as opposed to debt. I bought an around the world ticket and just traveled for about a year and a half. Southeast Asia, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, a little bit of Central America.
Which of those places left the strongest impression?
Japan and India. I think experiencing places with different cultures and ways of life is important for your general worldview. It’s easy to get confined to your existence in small town USA or in New York City or wherever and all of a sudden a lot of the decisions you make every day seem pretty minute.
What was it about Japan and India that stuck with you?
Well, Japan is interesting because in the city the advances in technology are so evident, and then you go into the country and there’s none of that. You’re back to what feels like hundreds or thousands of years prior. And in India, I guess just things like personal space and poverty…most spiritual communities that sort of idealize India, they’re talking about the Bhagavad Gita-era India when it didn’t have the problems that it has now. So initially you get off the plane and it’s chaos. Just utter chaos. And you realize there is some sort of system to the chaos, after you’ve been there for a while, but it definitely takes a while to adapt. I went to a few temples and ashrams in India and didn’t really enjoy them nor find any sort of deeper spiritual fulfillment. I guess I was looking for that, but having grown up around all that you’re also sort of suspect of it all.
The most profound spiritual experience I had there was at the southern tip of India, a place called Kanyakumari, which is where the three oceans meet. The tradition there is to wake up before the sun rises and go down to this little peninsula at the very bottom of India and just welcome the sun when it starts to rise over the ocean. It’s just beautiful. People are celebrating and welcoming the light in their own ways, be it chanting or loud hurrahs, or pumping their fists or just sitting cross-legged meditating. That made more sense to me than being cooped up in a dank temple, which, you know, the architecture is beautiful, fine, but it’s crowded. I didn’t find any sort of serenity or peace in those sorts of places.
Name something physical, something you own, that’s precious to you.
Hmm. I have a cookbook collection. A record collection. My Patagonia wetsuit that I just bought, because I recently decided I was going to start surfing around here.
Where do you surf?
Out on Rockaway or Lido beach. One day the waves were really bad so we went crabbing instead which was equally as fun.
Have you been surfing your whole life?
No, the waves aren’t so good in Iowa. I started surfing when I was traveling. I grew up skateboarding and snowboarding so I thought it would be easy, and it’s really difficult, because you have to first learn the dynamics of a wave. I spent about a month in Maui and a month in Costa Rica and those were the places where I really started to learn. I’m still definitely a novice. But you feel really good physically and mentally after exerting yourself like that.
What are you thankful for these days?
I’m thankful to be adaptable enough to be okay with the fact that I maybe don’t really know–that I still haven’t necessarily found–what it is that I want to do. And I’m thankful that I’ve had some good opportunities and have a good community of friends. I’m thankful to be in New York and to be able to explore the boroughs and the Hudson Valley. I love this part of the country.
