Meet BENJAMIN ARBER. He is EIGHTEEN and people mistake him for MICHAEL CLIFFORD. He is currently DISHWASHER AT TIFFANY’S but aspires to PLAY GUITAR IN A BAND.
“So save me from who I’m supposed to be. Don’t wanna be a victim of authority, I’ll always be a part of the minority.” ♪
BENJAMIN prefers to be called BENNY or BEN.
+ Goofy, Gentle, Trusting
- Aloof, Childish, Gullible
Ben is sort of accustom to coming in “last place”. He’s the youngest and only boy to follow a line of four girls, played soccer and basketball the same, and was told to strive for A’s in school – just as his sisters did before him. However, there was a seven year age gap between him and the youngest of his sisters. Which he couldn’t help to think once or twice: is this really the life I’m suppose to follow? Like any “baby” of the family, Benny was a prankster since he could run. He always knew just how to cheer his family up and get his sister to forget about petty drama or a relationship partner that didn’t deserve her. He tried to be the best son that he could. Yet, something always put him into a different category than his siblings.
For one, he was an artist. Ben loved to doodle and still has books of alien comics – in which his town in the middle-of-no-where Tennessee are all replaced by cat aliens with human disguise suits. He was clever and a happy child. Sometimes loud and sometimes getting the butt of the joke. One thing was certain from an early age, he didn’t want to fit in. Ever. He had seen enough from how popularity corrupted his sisters to know that he didn’t want anyone changing him. It was that attitude that flared an interest in the electric guitar. However, like anything worth while, to be the king of the electric, he needed to master the acoustic first. Ben believes his life started to fall more in place after sixth grade, when he picked up the guitar. Ultimately, his parents gave in, allowing him to drop basketball as long as he promised to do Travel Team for soccer. They even were the ones to give him all three guitars in his current possession.
Being an outsider and band geek in high school didn’t earn Benny much popularity, even being an Arber couldn’t help him. In his mind, that was a good thing! He had a small group of friends and it was enough to form a band. When the time came, they went their separate ways, all promising though to keep in touch. With the break up of the band, Ben made the spontaneous decision to travel across the country, to gather inspiration and write as the creativity hit him. That is how he found his way to Harmony, California. Here, he hopes to find like minded people and form a new band! Hey, dreams come true sometimes, right?
Ben hasn’t given the future much thought aside from getting himself a new band family. The future is a dream to him. As long as he continues to make enough at Tiffany’s to pay rent and the necessities, he isn’t stressing the details. The stars will align when they are meant to. Until then, he will continue to hum and strum under a shady tree at the park.
Jennifer Corkery - Coworker
