Jason Duprey, a bouncer at Recovery Room (which has been the winner of several Best of Charleston awards over the last several years), said it’s difficult to break down his days off hour-by hour.
“I try to keep my schedule full and have as much planned as I possibly can,” he said. But, he added, there’s no telling what that schedule is going to be full of.
“I try to be as active as I can, and being outside is the main thing. I don’t watch TV. I don’t play video games. I’m always just outside doing something.”
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Duprey, 32, moved to the Lowcountry four years ago from his home state Florida. Since then, he’s been a bouncer and doorman at several downtown establishments, including just about every bar and restaurant under Rec Room’s umbrella.
Spending his nights surrounded by the chaos of King Street nightlife can be exhausting, he said. And while some people think standing guard at the door can invite tension, especially as a smaller guy — as he calls himself — he doesn’t get a lot of trouble.
“The guys who are bigger than me get more shit than I do,” he said, laughing. “It’s all about how you talk to people.
“When you get someone that’s really upset about something, I try to put it like, ‘Hey, this is not worth it. Put your energy toward something else.’ ”
On nights ahead of a day off, he gets home to North Charleston at about 4 a.m., when he lets his three dogs out and feeds them before crashing on the couch.
Outside, immediately. I don’t like waking up after 10 o’clock in the morning. I feel like I waste the day, especially if it’s nice out. First thing, I take the dogs outside. We have some woods behind the house, so I go out there and let the dogs run around while I sit on the back porch with a drink or breakfast. I’m real big on cooking myself. I have stomach issues, so I have to eat real plain. For breakfast, I might make an egg sandwich. Maybe, if I’m feeling something more, I’ll cut up some potatoes to go with it.
Heading out. After breakfast, I’m either heading down to the junkyard and pulling parts for my truck, or going to the skatepark. I have an older truck, an ’86 Chevy Blazer. It’s kind of my baby right now. I’m constantly working on it. And I’ve been skating since I was about 12 years old, but I didn’t skate for about 10 years before I moved here. It’s such a great getaway. You’re not really thinking about reality. We go to the DIY skatepark downtown — it’s like you’re away from the city, but still in the city.
Back home, but not to rest. I’ve got so many projects around the house that I’m still finishing up — maybe they’re less projects and more things that just need to get fixed. I’m re-doing the back porch; it’s about 8-by-16-foot. Some days, I’ll put some work into the plumbing or repainting. I like to think I’m a jack of all trades, master of none, when it comes to this stuff. I always say, do as much as you can in life. Don’t get stuck on one thing. It’s cool to be able to do so many different things.
Lunch, quick and fresh. For lunch, there are only so many places I know of downtown — and I know there are so many that I don’t know about. When I first moved down here, we would go to Lewis Barbecue. But nowadays, I’ll just go grab something from Publix, something fresh that I can cook back home or marinate for dinner later. Spending so much time outside, of course I like to grill. But it’s just me, so it’s hard to do, like, a cookout.
Taking time for others. My afternoons are a mixed bag. I live a pretty simple, plain life, really. I don’t do anything too crazy. But I like to help people out. Say a neighbor comes over one weekend and says his lawnmower isn’t working. Well, I fix it, get it running, maybe help him with his yardwork. Just helping out.
Getting lost. If I had my truck running, I would drive out to the Francis Marion National Forest — take the dogs with me, of course — and go for a trail ride and just get lost out there until it was time to go. Being around so much chaos working downtown, getting away is the biggest key for me. You can breathe. It’s kind of like my meditation. I like to go check out as much of these historical places as I can, but more like the back-country stuff — the stuff people don’t know about. I found some old abandoned church and graveyard out in the Francis Marion once. I was like, “I’m not going to step foot on that,” but it was so cool to see.
Tuckin’ in. Getting home late after a full day like that — first thing I have to do is let the dogs out. Feed them, and usually, while they’re eating, I just crash. Staying up any later than 10 at night, I just start feeling bad. Blame it on the sleep schedule, working until 3 a.m. during the week. My roommate and friends offer to help with the dogs sometimes, but really, they have the same schedule I do.
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