And you guys wonder.....23:12 Aug 25 2010
Times Read: 832
Why I vent my work situation on here so much- mostly it's because that by turning it into a journal entry, making it something people can read, sometimes laugh at, sometimes commiserate with, I can purge myself of the upset and poison some of these things leave with me.
I have noticed lately that several people whose journals I now regularly read, are doing the same. And it amazes me how close we all come with some of the things that truly piss us off at work. Lackadaisical fellow employees, people who do ignorant shit and then just walk away, assuming someone else will clean up the mess (yes, I was listening...lol) or customers who have no respect for the people providing them a service that has it's own brand of risks when stupidity steps in and takes a hand (thank you CarnelianMyst). And me, a bartender, working in an expensive country club, where you would expect people to not only have better sense, but better manners. Yeah, not so much. As Bill Cosby once said "I said to a guy, "Tell me, what is it about cocaine that makes it so wonderful," and he said, "Because it intensifies your personality." I said, "Yes, but what if you're an asshole?"
Same theory applies to aldohol for the most part-take any person, and you want instant jackass? Just add alcohol......
Sunday was another wedding. I was working upstairs with one of the other guy bartenders (and younger, I might add *read-less experienced with drunks*). We got all set up, and ready to go, and here they come....
The father of the bride had decided that he wanted two tables set aside for him, his fiance, and assorted friends. For those two tables, which were right in front of my bar, he wanted bottles of Mission Hill Occulus set on the tables for the dinner wine, instead of the Peller Estates purchased for the rest of the tables. Okay, fine, I brought up one of the wooden boxes holding six bottles for this thing. Bear in mind, that we sell these for $150 a bottle. As soon as dad hits the room, he wants a glass. So fine, I opened the first bottle, poured him a glass, and set it back behind me. Shortly after that, one of his table mates comes up, and wants a glass- I cleared it with dad, we're all good, and off we go.
Here's where things get a little iffy. Another couple who were also sitting at one of the two tables (which I didn't know yet) walks up to the bar, and the husband asks for a glass of one of the wines that we regularly serve at functions, in this instance a Rawson's Retreat Penfold's Cabernet Shiraz. So I poured the glass. The wife on the other hand, is eyeing the tables and starts harping that there is Occulus available, he should have that, tells me to give him that, and do it now. I explain that I have already poured the other glass of wine, but if they are sitting at that table I will certainly make sure he gets some of the Occulus next time.
"Daddy" walks up to the bar, looks at the glass of wine I poured, and looks at me with the following:
"What sort of swill is he drinking? Give him a glass of the Occulus now..."
Now I will grant you, we don't keep $150 bottles in the rotation for banquets- it isn't practical. But the line up we do have ain't no screw top stretch of ripples, either. So I naturally took offense at the use of the word swill, and explained that I had already poured the glass, so he would be charged for it, but that I would happily pour the gentleman a glass of Occulus. Daddy picks up the glass, tosses it back, and walks off, as I pour the other wine for this guy. And then wifey smirks and sashays off.
It ain't boding well so far, folks.
I find out that the bride and groom are in their early twenties, which means carding everybody in sight. I start to notice that some of these kids are swaying as they walk into the room, and we have only been open for 30 minutes.
Here somes Jessica, the wedding coordinator.
"I have a problem"
What's the problem, sugar?
"I was out on the first hole, where they were taking pictures. ALL of the groomsmen and the groom have flasks (bringing outside liquor to our establishments is a no-no, and could cost us our license). And they are all drunk. what do I do?"
How drunk?
"The groom is flirting with me."
Deeper and deeper, here, folks.
You need to go tell Eddie and Jen, the function supervisors. They have to explain that they are taking away the flasks, and that will take care of the problem.
*sigh*
To the supervisors:
Did Jessica talk to you guys about the flasks?
"Oh yeah yeah yeah, it's fine."
Where did you put them?
"Oh, we just told them if we saw them with them, we would take them away later."
Suffice it to say, they never saw them, because all the guys, including the groom, were either in the bathroom drinking, or out on the patio in the dark, drinking. Oh, and by the way? Two pints of Fireball, a cinamon flavored rye which is horrific to the smell were found outside as well...
ALL of this, and more, happened within the first HOUR of the room being opened. Along with:
A young man who Diane (the chef) caught puking over the railing at the top of the stairs. She had to keep an eye on him until he straightened up because she was afraid he was going to go over the railing and drop the three stories to the ground...
Another young man, a friend of Eddie's I might add, who first sat in his chair at the table, elbows on his knees, leaning forward until he almost fell out of the chair, because he had passed out. He then jerked himself up, picked up a glass of water, fell asleep again, and dropped the glass with a loud bang in the middle of speeches. When Billy went over to sweep up the glass, the guy could barely get out of his way, then got up an headed to the bathroom, where he spent the next 30 minutes puking.
A young woman, who walked in to the clubhouse, announcing to everyone that would listen that she was SO hammered. Andres, despite my warning NOT to serve her, did so anyway, and when this young lady headed for the bathroom, she didn't even get all the way in the first door before she puked on the floor. Of course, Eddie made one of the servers mop that up...
So I went to Eddie and Jen, and explained to them that this had to stop before the proverbial fecal matter hit the oscillating mechanism. He cheerfully told me I worried too much (shades of my ex here) and to just use my best judgement. So I stopped serving the people that were obviously intoxicated, threatened the other bartender if he served any of them, and went back to my bar to wait out the rest of the night.
These people had a ticketed bar, to go to cash when the tickets ran out, and Dad had a dozen charge cards, which went on the main account. Thankfully, the charge cards pay us 16% once they are totalled up, which certainly will help since I made bubkus for tips off these people. Why should they pay when the booze is free? And since once the tickets ran out someone somewhere had a flask or bottle anyway, why bother with the bartenders?
My complaint was that since I had control of the Occulus, I should have gotten a cut. This man had said he wanted at least 6 bottles for the night.
He ended up going through eleven in total.
For those of you keeping score, that would be $1,650.00.
The 16% off that should be $264 to yours truly.
Ain't. Gonna. Happen.
After finally running these people out at 1 am, I got everything restocked, cleaned, organized, and what not, along with the other bartender's minimal help. I.E., I did all the heavy lifting and major restocking while he put up a few beers in the coolers upstairs.
I then located Eddie in the gallery, told him that everything had been stocked, the wines put in for the next day's function, I had checked both bars and coolers to make sure everything was done (which he is supposed to do) and that there were a few things he needed to be aware of before I left a note for the manager the next day. I explained the things I had found, that I had told Jen already, and I was going to leave a note. Namely this:
When I went down to get the dinner wine, I found a box of reds in a box, on the floor, with corks, and mixed in was a bottle of white, maybe a 1/4 gone, no nipple, no cork, no label, no NOTHING. So there's $35 poured down the drain. We keep cannisters of sodas behind the bar (here's the one and a back up, folks) so that if we empty one, we can grab a new one and go right on. The empties go downstairs to the basement, so Coke can pick up the empties. However, the night before, the bartender working decided to save himself a trip, and put the empty diet coke in the middle of the row of full cannisters. Suffice it to say, he didn't get another full one either. We also keep worchestershire and tabasco under the bar for Caesars, again, one and a back up. Imagine my surprise Monday when I emptied the bottle of worchestershire I had, reached into the bar to get the next bottle, and pulled out an EMPTY bottle. So I tell all this to Eddie.
He looks at me and says:
"Ya know, I think that in the interests of better communications you should just email all the bartenders and let them know what you found."
Well, Eddie, I asked Jessica about that, and she would prefer that I not do it, because she wants to do it in a gentler, more politically correct way. Which means that nothing is going to change because nothing ever happens to them for the fuck ups they do. That is why I am leaving her a note, because she wants to handle it.
"Well, I think you should just go ahead and do it anyway." *smirk*
Well, ya know, I don't take orders from you. Not about this. If and when Jessica makes me head bartender, THEN I will tend to the other bartenders as I see fit. But until she does, I do things the way she wants, not what YOU want.
Eddie and I had our difficulties last summer, and after the umpteenth time of him being snarky and condescending with me, and after I had threatened to fold him in half and stuff him in one of the trashcans, Eddie and I settled into a workable relationship. He does his job, I do mine, we don't talk to each other unless necessary, I do my job and I go home. NO extra help, no joking, no NOTHING. After he had been gone over the winter I figured he might have matured a little while at school.
I was wrong.
So now it is back to me going to work, if Eddie is supervising I will do my job, finish up at the end, and GO HOME.
Nothing more, nothing less.
And the next time I work a wedding where he lets shit slide that could easily cost us our license, Ima have his ASS fo dinner.
THEN I will fold what is left in half and stuff it into a trash can.
Thankfully, the only thing I had to contend with Monday was that:
A) We used up the last case of vodka we had on Saturday night. When I got there Sunday, there still wasn't any to replace it. So in order for us to work the wedding, I had to go get pitchers of vodka from the resturaunt to put in the upstairs canisters. When I got to work on Monday, after leaving notes both Saturday and Sunday, I discovered we STILL didn't have more vodka. Again, another trip to the resturaunt for another pitcher.
B) the Pan B gun is leaking dark rum. Now the Pan A bar is leaking rye. This means hand pouring those particular liquors, which slows things down. And of the two guns in the resturaunt, one of which goes to them, one goes to the banquets side, only one is working at all.
C) After setting up for the tournament Monday, me being the only bartender, I was in the kitchen to get towels. I walk out to find the MC standing behind my bar, bottle of wine in hand, about to pour a glass for a guest, and we weren't even open yet. Thus ensues the following:
Oh nonono......
"Excuse me?"
You need to put that bottle down and step out from behind the bar.
"I was just about to pour this lady a glass of wine."
No, you are NOT. You are going to put down the bottle, step OUT from behind the bar, and let me finish setting up so I can take care of it.
"But...."
NOW.
After apologizing several times, he went away, and we didn't speak of it again for the rest of the night that he came up and got wine for himself.
Seriously? Just what the HELL do you think would happen if I walked into your place of work, sat down, and started doing shit at YOUR desk, HUHM?
*sigh*
It never ceases to amaze me folks, really......
COMMENTS
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LadyKowe
03:26 Aug 31 2010
Looks fabulous..now I want to read it!