Times, they are a changin...

So talk of a new manager is starting to become more truth than myth. Phil's moving on and heading off in a new direction and so someone has to take his place. The owner has been coming in periodically and checking up on a few things here and there. When he's here it's like a giant kiss ass party.

Yea, I said kiss ass party. When ever he shows up everyone is on their best behaviour and they do exactly what they're supposed to. It really doesn't matter to me, he walks up, I say hello, and he walks in. Then he's out of my hair. Once in a while we'll make small talk and he'll ask me how things are going inside the bar. I usually just tell him that things are good and I wouldn't know if anything was bad.

The good thing about the little talks we have is when something is bothering me. I can tell him straight out and if it's something that needs to be fixed it gets fixed. Certain things have lasted with me from past jobs such as seniority and he feels the same way.

So there's no word just yet as to what's going to happen. It could be a promotion for anyone here or it could be a completely new person all together. I guess I could ask but then I'd know something that everyone else would want to know. I don't really care to have that burden and it's more fun to see people squirm.

Between Ramone and I, we figure there's going to be a few people fired. Most new managers come in and fire a couple people just to make examples out of them.

We got a little pool going to see who's first.

Alumni...

No matter where you work there are always ex-employees. They might not work there anymore for one of a million reasons. Most of them are pretty cool and the others don't really cause any problems or the opposite any time they show up.

Some of them claim to be the reason why the clubs still open due to the many things they've done there. Which isn't too far from the fact considering everyone who works there is a reason why the club is still open. Why do I say that? I've seen what I get paid, and it is a small reason for staying there. So in my opinion we are all helping the club by staying and not making them find new help all the time.

Sometimes the alumni forget how far back they've worked there. For some, it's been at least five years. That was a totally different animal back then. Five years doesn't seem like a long time but when it comes to employee turn over and the status of the club, it is.

One particular alumni, who I'll just call Al, loves to tell the same stories over and over. All about how Al saved this place so much money and he did so many things to set the place right. He wasn't even a manager or a part of the doorstaff but he did so much.

Now, maybe he did and I'm just tired of listening to his same stories over and over. Maybe I'm tired of listening to him put the same people up on pedestals. Maybe I'm tired of him not listening to what I'm saying or interrupting me. What ever it is, he's boring. He's also a little too full of himself.

There is an employee entrance at the club and certain alumni use it to come in. Not all the alumni have this access but certain ones who left on good terms, still work occasionally, or are good friends still use it. This door is also mainly staffed by the new guys. This way they get to know the employees and alumni and all the important people they should be looking out for.

When ever there is a new guy, and he does his job right, alumni will have to walk around to the front door. Then we walk them back to the new guy and introduce them. It might take a couple trips but sooner or later the guy will remember them.

Then you have Al. Al's normally a pretty mellow guy. He talks a lot, is kind of boring, and travels for work. On a normal night he'd introduce himself to the new guy and then walk around to the front and come in. Then walk back and talk to the guy with the same stories he's told everyone a million times. Once in a while you get Drunk Al, the Hyde to his Jekyl.

One night, Al didn't want to walk around to the front door. So when the Pete stopped him Al decided to walk in anyways. Pete tried to stop him by just standing in his way. One thing most people don't think of Al is that, for being a small guy, he can hold his own and some. So Al pulled out one of his moves and tossed Pete to the ground.

I was walking through the club and saw Pete jumping up off the ground and get into a wrestling match with Al. Part of me wanted to stand back and see what would happen but I also knew not to leave anyone with Al in that situation. Even if Al is annoying and never ending.

So I got over there and reached down and grabbed Al and pulled him up off of Pete. I had Al in a full nelson and had his feet about a foot off the ground. "Al, it's ok, it's Mike.. calm down man..."

"Man, tell this douche bag I'm ok!"

"Al, I think tonight might be a good night to just go home."

"What!? If it weren't for me you wouldn't even have a job!"

"Yea, and if it weren't for me you'd be dealing with TD."

"Yea... maybe your right.."

Pete got up and stood there. I could tell he wanted to just fire off a jab into Al's face but he stood his post. I walked Al over to the front door and told him to just go home and come back another day and apologize to Pete. TD was at the door and asked what Al had to apologize for. I told him it was no big deal and Al walked off. After he was a few blocks away I explained to TD what had happened. TD shrugged it off and said he was wondering when Al was going to go off again.

Later that night we had to talk to Pete and got him up to date on Al and explain to him how Al is. Pete didn't take it to well but he did accept Al's apology the next night.

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.

A Year Gone.....

So it's been a little over a year since I've started this blog. A year is actually a lot longer than you think.

I took a little break from blogging because plainly put... I didn't have anything to rant about.

I started writing this more as a way to combat the stress that I was feeling and was looking for an output for it. In the process I gained a little readership from all over and now I feel I've let some of you down since the blog hasn't been updated as frequently as it was before. It slowly became less and less frequent until now. My last post was over a month ago.

Well, even though a year is a long time, in some eyes a month is just as long. So I figure I'm going to go out on that limb and start updating on a more frequent basis. Maybe a weekly update with a few others here and there. I can't promise a full blown daily update just yet.

I figure that I'll start off by getting a little closer with some of the posts. Since I'm far from being a news hound I doubt I'll start giving my opinions on the subjects that are hitting the newsracks. I'm not a big sports fan either so don't expect anything from the sports section either. In fact, I don't even know what to expect from myself.

Maybe the cynical side of me will come out even more about internet advertising or how fake certain sites are on the net. Maybe I'll just go off about a smoking law or something else that has been bothering me. There's tons of things out there that bother me... anything from co-workers to idiots that sit on their horns because they're not paying attention to the road or numerous other things.

Even though this blog isn't as big as others out there I like to think I still have some people who check it for updates. In fact, there's even a subscription service on the right side of the page in case those of you that do check it would rather just get an email when ever I update. Simple and easy, just enter your email and then confirm it when you get the confirmation email.

Who knows, maybe I'll just start rambling off some wild and crazy shit.