June 21st, 2018

So at this point, several Thursday nights in, I’m realizing a few key things about the service bar night in the middle of the week.

It sucks just as much as mid-week service bar has always sucked.
The supervisors currently on -hand aren’t big believers in seniority.
Even if I wanted to, therefore, there’s no way to pull rank and get the better stationing down in the lounge.
Even if there were, it wouldn’t help that much. Both bars being open on a low-traffic nights hurts them both, really.
Ultimately I’ve still got an okay shift in that regards, plus it comes with the ability to leave at midnight, rather than 2am, which could be pretty snazzy once school starts up again.

With those thoughts firmly in mind, I drive in to work again a couple minutes late because with attendance points resetting in a week, my give-a-fuck on this subject is strikingly absent.

That said, it’s not a habit to keep, so I’ll be walking my prep time back 15-30 minutes in future. I’ve had my fun and milked the system a bit. Time to be good-ish again.

As I’m walking to my station, I notice the sign announcing that it’s “Employee Appreciation’ day, which means I -could- about face to the training room and load up on free snacks and candy. I choose to be good and keep walking, however. I really don’t need it. Plus I’m trying to lose a few pounds . Continuing to walk just pays off better in the long run. I get my usual extra bit of cash and then head to the service bar to play the game of ‘What’s not unlocked”.

-cue rattling sound effects-

Well. Everything, as it turns out. My bar isn’t unlocked in the slightest, making it impossible to sell anything.

Bugger.

I call down to the main lounge and have Cherry get a message to Rickie, our supervisor the night, and then go about dealing with things I can do, like filling up the ice bin and … filling up the ice bin. It’s a thrilling life, I tell you.

She shows up after a while and proceeds to get things opened up for me. She looks so very -done- with being pregnant. I know the look at this point, having witnessed my wife having that one on her face a few times. We chit-chat idly a bit, and she goes off to do her other supervisory things whilest I sell a few beers, and then settle in for a lengthy round of cup-stocking and liquor inventory in between the occasional intermittent guest.

Haley and Mary are cocktailing as usual and a little light visitation occurs. At the appointed time I head down to the lounge to give Cherry her first break (and that’s good really because I get a half hour of good lounge tips), before taking my own break afterwards and adjourning to the employee locker room to read as the house wi-fi is being snippy and won’t let me game.

Back to the service bar after that, and repeat the previous things. It is nice that we have guests who appreciate the bar being open on Thursday night, and seeing me behind it, what’s more. I do wish more felt that way, though. Perhaps with time, however. You never can tell. The truth of it is though, that with fewer people, the cocktail coverage ends up being better, and so fewer people want to walk to the bar. Let’s face it, we’re just not as easy on the eyes. Well, Cherry probably is, but I”m sure not.

As per the growing usual, I give Cherry her second break around 10:30pm, skip my last one, and head back to the service bar to start packing up. I take home an averagish amount for a Thursday night, and I’m out the door by midnight.

Closing observations :

The uncertainty continues to hang in the air regarding who’s gonna be fielding the bars once Rickie heads out for child-birthing. The current smart money is on Don, one of the food court supervisors, though he’s spent time working bar, so he’s not freaked out by it. Usually he stays the hell out of the way too, so that’s a plus, most days.
Beyond that, it’s a crap shoot. Not knowing who’s got the scheduling reigns is a stress point, and make no mistake. Charon was awesome about making sure that if you needed time, you had it. She’d just not schedule you in fact if that was your preference. Not knowing who’s got the pen now makes it harder to plan for things, and to ensure that previous plans are honored. We shall see.

Next up : Saturday