Tales from the SINdustry: Myra Borja

Bryan J

Myra Borja knows that in the SINdustry, you have to have a thick skin.

By Rick Lax

Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 | 6:17 p.m.

I don’t want to reveal her age, but I will say that Myra Borja has worked in the nightlife industry for a decade. She’s been slinging drinks at Drai’s After Hours for the past two years, and within that time, she’s seen it all and then some. Still, one memory sticks out: “One night—a real busy/high-volume night—this short girl with a lot of makeup came up to the bar and ordered a Long Island iced tea. I think she was a raver. Anyway, I made her the drink, and I told her it was $15. She started saying, ‘I’m not gonna pay,’ and ‘I didn’t order that drink.’ So I told her that she did order it and that she did have to pay for it. And then, she just picked the drink up and threw it in my face,” Borja recalls. “I got so upset I started to shake. Security escorted her out, and my manager was like, ‘Suck it up; You’ve got to get back to work.’ And I’m glad that he said that because, in the end, money-wise, it was a really good night. If you want to work in this industry, you’ve got to have thick skin.”