My Life As A Barman part. 3

When you work at a bar you also find yourself hanging out there occasionally on your nights off. There’s good reason for it, too. The staff are your buddies and you’re treated like royalty. Yep, that also means drinks are probably free. And when regular customers see you they are often excited to see you. It’s almost like being somewhere between a rock star and low-budget royalty.

Anyway, after dinner last night Kristen, Brent, Naomi and I ended up back at the Encore. Saturday night’s are crowded and the usual assortment of karaoke enthusiasts, drunken fratboys, drunken fratboy-hasbeens, marina girls and college kids were out in full force.

Our buddy Morgan was doing security a the front door and shortly after we arrived a bus load of young college age kids were coming in like a flood. Brent also works 2 nights at the bar as security, so he and I took turns helping Morgan man the door. We checked IDs, and in general made sure people weren’t acting stupid.

Suddenly little dramas were erupting everywhere around these kids I just mentioned. One guy is acting anxious… twitching with energy. Who knows he may have been on something. 2 girls breakdown in tears half an hour later. Small arguments occur and these girls are crying… we’re pretty sure they were dumped by their boyfriends.

So back to Twitch-Boy… he tries to CLIMB over a railing to get down to where we are standing… even though the stairs near him were unblocked. Idiot. Morgan taps his arm and says “Pal, use the stairs like an adult.” Twitch-Boy mumbles something in response but complies. Moments later he walks past us and then out of the club. Suddenly one of his drunken friends starts crying and searching the pool table area in a panic. Apparently she can’t find her camera. Twitch -Boy walks back in…and shortly after is again pacing around bumping into people in his party. Our other security guy Jason deceides this guy is too much of a spazz… he and Morgan ask the “gentleman” to leave. He complies. Turned out her camera was in her purse.

15 or 20 minutes go by… business as usual. Suddenly half of these young kids are running out the door and we hear yells coming up from the street and some of the girls yelling back that somebody is fighting so-and-so. Morgan and Jason quickly head out the door. I follow behind a couple of seconds later as Brent runs to the bar to inform Tim, our friend and manager.

So, I run down the stairs and some of the girls who recognized me said two friends are fighting..that they always do this when they are drunk. Makes me wonder if they really are friends afterall.
Now I’m down on the sidewalk in front of our club and find about 15 guys circling around. In this mess are: Jason standing nose-to-nose with Twitch-Boy, Morgan on his left pushing one of Twitchy’s buddies back, 3 guys pulling one of the combatants away and me on Jason’s right incase he needed help. Twitch-Boy was directing his anger at Jason now, because Jason ejected him less than 30 minutes earlier. There were some tense moments there… I wasn’t sure if Jason and this guy were gonna go at it…and if they did the 3 of us were flanked on either side. I had my left hand up to push some of Twitchy’s friends back as they were trying to pull Twitch away from Jason, and my right hand was now a fist hanging down at my side.

I looked past Twitchy and saw both Tim and Brent in the doorway.
I felt better about the odds now. Someone mentioned the cops and the group suddenly dispersed. Most of these idiots got back on their chartered bus while Twitchy kept yelling he wasn’t going to let the cops get him. Made me wonder if this little idiot already had a record. It took his friends another 5 minutes to get him back on his bus. Meanwhile the poor bus-driver just looked tired. I’m sure he had a “wonderful” evening carting these little shits around.

I’ll say this now. Suburban kids and college students need to learn some bar ettiquette. Just because you are in a bar, doesn’t mean you should act like a jackass.

End of story.

by Mr. Sid

Happy Birthday Kristen

That’s right it’s my wife’s birthday today.
check out this card I got her:

by Mr. Sid

My Life As A Barman part. 1

Some of my friends know that I’ve been working at a bar 2 nights a week. I’ve been doing this for about 3 months or so. It is an interesting part-time job to say the least.

First let me tell you bar itself. I work at the Encore Karaoke Lounge as KJ (karaoke jockey) and occasionally as a bartender. The place is a fancy dive. It’s dark and lit by soft warm lights. There’s 2 reasons to go to the Encore: drinking and singing. See, the nightly entertainment is the customers themselves. The bar is built around the stage area so when you’re singing everyone sees and hears you.

As KJ it’s my job to keep the party rolling. I am master of ceremonies and DJ all rolled into one. Patrons submit song requests in the form of small paper request slips and are encouraged to do drop in a little tip of a buck or two. I look up the songs, get on the microphone and announce the next singer, banter with the audience, and even occasionally sing a song or two during my shift.

I’ve also pulled a few shifts as bartender. That was fun as well. As my friends know, I’m a pretty outgoing person, so striking up conversation with strangers isn’t that hard for me. But my favorite part of that job is actually making the cocktails. It is an art and science you know.

Currently with my freelance schedule, I work for my clients doing illustration and web design during the weekdays. Then I hit the bar on Friday and Sunday nights. It has to some degree severely altered my already strange sleep schedule.

I’ve also made a few observations about the job as a whole. These things actually surprise me as in typical Bengali fashion I was born and bred for white collar work. But here’s what I find appealing:

• being away from the computer

• entertainment related evening. People are here to sing and to listen to other singers. At the Encore the croud is usually supportive and friendly.

• all problems are solved in 5 minutes. (rowdy drunkards, customer service issues, technical problems, etc.)

• at the end of the night; after we’ve cleaned up the place – that’s it. It’s over. When I go to bed I don’t lie there worrying about my project deadline or my client’s happiness.

• I also enjoy the drive home during the early morning hours. Not too many cars on the road and I get to see another side of San Francisco.

Stay tuned for more…

by Mr. Sid