I attended a boxing day dinner put on by a longtime friend.
It was the best home-cooked meal I've ever had.
Most of the table service was performed by a boy dressed in only a set of leather wrist restraints.
In the middle of this meal I realized that exactly twelve years earlier I had been wearing the exact same restraints performing table service at this same meal.
There were two lessons that I remember from a dozen years ago.
The first was about how profound the difference clothing made. Being naked in a room full of formally dressed men was profound to me. Back then was between my first two major pushes at the gym in 1997 and 2001. I was physically smaller. The small pieces of leather at my wrists and ankles made me feel even more exposed and vulnerable. Dealing with the nudity became about focusing on service.
The second lesson was about etiquette that informed later interactions. I made the mistake of clearing the plates of guests that had finished a course before everybody at the table was finished. The lead Dom corrected me and pointed out how that imposed hurry on everyone at the table. My impact on the table guests was my first indication that dominance is a conversation more than a lecture.
