From inside the door...

When you step inside the bar there's not much there. There isn't a pool table, there isn't a dart board and there isn't one of those annoying Golden Tee golf games.

It's just a bar.

But beyond it being just a bar and nothing much more, there's a family of people that work here. As with any family there's all kinds of bitching and moaning. Since I'm usually not in the mix of bartenders and barbacks I tend to hear a lot of the venting and complaints.

There's a small wave of change happening at the bar inside the network of tenders and backs. The bar is going through a little change and the clientele is changing as well. Specials are being brought out and the neighborhood is changing.

One of the biggest complaints that comes up is Stewart. He's a decent guy but just has bad habits and isn't one of the quickest barbacks we have. He cuts corners a lot, gives away a lot of drinks, has too many 'friends', and his habits are slowly starting to consume him.

Now whatever a persons habits are don't concern me. They do start to concern me when they start to effect me.

Each night I have a certain amount of plugs to give out. By plug I basically mean wooden nickels, these are basically free drink tickets. I give them out to certain people at the door to help them feel a little more welcomed at the bar. Or maybe they tipped me to get in and I feel like I should get them a drink. However they get them really isn't a big deal because they're there to give out.

So this only effects me because Stewart sends people up to me to get a couple plugs. Now, if its a really slow night I'll give them a couple. If it's a busy night I tell them to go to hell. Of course, these certain friends of his are only friends due to need. He needs them for his habits and they use him for free drinks. The nights when it is too busy to give them any I get the dirty looks and later Stewart apologizes for them after I tell him about it. To which I tell him that the next time they do it I'll toss them no matter if they're his friends or not.

So beyond that I get to hear the waitresses and others complain how he doesn't get their drinks or he's hanging over the bar making out with a chic, or he disappears for a half hour or more at a time. As if I can do something to change it. I usually ask them if they've said anything to Phil about it and their normal reply is, "Well, I don't want to seem like I'm being a bitch."

My only reply, "Sometimes being a bitch is how you get things done."

With the changing of the bar there's rumors of a new bar manager coming to town. Maybe once he gets here things will change. Whenever there's a change like that everyone tends to straighten up and fly right. Maybe Stewart will get his head out of his ass or maybe he'll get let go. Only time will tell.

Myself, I'm not worried. I know that a new manager isn't one of my problems. If, by chance, he does want to get rid of me then I'll just move on to another place and start a new timeline, no hair off my back. I know that I can jump into another job within days.

Let the changes begin.