Friday, March 18, 2005

"AARGH" Go Bragh.....

It's Friday afternoon and St. Patrick's Day has come and gone and it was probably the longest day in the recent history of the SwanFather. I had been anticipating this day for weeks and trying to get mentally prepared for it; If you have ever had an opportunity to work in the bar business and worked on St. Patrick's Day or New Year's Eve, then you'd understand where I'm coming from. For those of you who haven't had this experience, let me try to describe it for you. Say you are out with your friends on a Saturday night and you are the designated driver. All of your friends are having a good time and getting shit-faced and you are there to be the voice of reason and to make sure everyone is having a good time and being safe. That can be a handful and a bit annoying, but you look past it because they are your friends. Now subtract the friends for beligerent strangers and multiply the annoyance level by 100. You have St. Patrick's Day in NYC. And as much as you try to prepare for it mentally, you still find yourself drained by the end of the night and baffled by some of the things you've observed during the course of the day. That being said, here are some random observations from St. Patrick's Day:

*Got a nice early day visit from SexyTreat, Angel and The Seductress. They are very nice girls and know how to have a good time. While at the bar they chatted it up w/the Lunchtime Crew, did a couple of pre-game shots and set out for a day of partying, Florida State-style. I was hoping to see them at the end of the day to see how things turned out; my guess is that they are sleeping it off. They'll probably wake up by Sunday. Also enjoyed watching Dale Earnhardt, III hanging out and holding court with a couple of teachers; They seemed to be hanging on his every word and he was enjoying every minute of it. He's a hoot to hang with and a great guy as well. On the other hand, no sign of Madame X; Maybe she was scared off by the crowds.

*Things on Third Avenue got off to a predictably slow start as the majority of the crowds were uptown along the parade route. We still had a pretty good, steady crowd for the NCAA games. The groups of people would come in waves, one group comes in, another group leaves, etc. It's interesting to me how I am able to spot (most of the time) a tourist from a local. One of the telltale signs: tourists tend to readily present their id and are generally polite in doing so; while the "locals" tend to act "put-out" when you ask them for their ID. At around 5pm, as if it was on cue, the bar suddenly got slammed w/people coming from the parade and getting out of the work. There were plenty of firemen from all over the country, firemen groupies following them, amateur drinkers, you name it, we had it.

*File under the heading "STUPID ASS": For the underaged white kid who tried to use a Dominican guy's ID. The kid looked like Emminem on crack while the licence looked like Pedro Martinez. You can 't make this stuff up.

*Not sure if you remember some of the antics of the Holiday Party, but there was a young lady (a Redhead) who was there. She was rather flirty and called herself looking for "an alpha-male" to quench her "sexual appetite" (not a misquote). While she probably wouldn't make the SwanFather's Hall of Fame, who am I to knock her confidence? Anyhoo, If memory serves me correct, there was a photo circulating with said individual with one of our Sunday Peanut Gallery members, trying to get his mack on (We'll call him Afrika Bambatta). He of course denies that it's him, which is undestandable, but pics don't lie.
Back to the Redhead. Last night she appeared again and it was the first time I saw her since the party; She remembered me and said hello; then proceeded to stand next to me and surveying the land, much like a lion would survey the land before deciding what zebra to pounce on for dinner. As luck would have it, within ten minutes she struck up a conversation with a young-looking fireman (he couldn't have been older than 22 and that's pushing it; she's hittin' 35 in the ass). Within 15 minutes they were sucking face and within 30 minutes, she was dragging his little butt out of the door.... I somehow can't help but to picture Mr. Fireman sitting in a stairwell, rolled up in a fetal position, sucking his thumb, compliments of the Redhead.. LOL.

*St. Paddy's Day seems to be a good day for random hookups as people were doing it left and right. Even some of our regulars were getting into the act. One of our female regulars who works in the health services field looked to have hit the jackpot with one of NYC's Bravest, seen one minute in "deep conversation" with him, then seen leading him out of the door and down the block the next...... hmmmmm. Even yours truly had his share of rather friendly amourous ladies professing their lust for the "myth", although I'm pretty sure it was the Car Bombs talking.

*Had an amusing incident at the end of the night; there was a young man who came in towards the end of the night with a girlfriend and another buddy of his. He was annoying in the fact that he kept going in and out of the bar. He hadn't been at the bar very long when he realized that he lost his jacket. The guy basically walked around the bar a hundred times, looking at all of other jackets that were there, looking on the floor, etc. He would leave, then come back in and do it again. To our credit, we were very cooperative in trying to help the kid find his jacket. He was understandibly upset b/c his apartment keys and wallet was in the jacket. However, by the end of the night, he was beginning to beat a dead horse and grating on my last nerve. It was obvious that the jacket wasn't there-yet he kept walking in and out the bar and slamming the double-doors each time. Finally I told him to chill out and call the bar tomorrow. After I locked the door, the little man began to bang on the door and windows! I then rushed outside and yelled at the top of my lungs for him to quit banging on the door and to fuck off! He ran halfway down the block and then began to curse at me. Each time I walked toward him, he'd run away....like a little girl. At that point I knew I was tired b/c I usually don't allow a little punk to grate on my nerves like that. But as I said, it was a long day and I'd finally hit the wall.

I'm sure there were other funny moments that took place during the course of the day; As they come back to me, I promise to share them with you. I got a nice compliment on my blog from the brothers, JFK and Clark W. Griswold. They live in the neighborhood and frequent the bar in the early part of the week. A couple of really cool guys and great to talk to. Clark W. is going in for back surgery next week and I'm sure I speak for the staff in wishing him a speedy recovery! We'll keep your chair warm for you!

That's it for now, gotta check my brackets! $3.00 Sam Adams all weekend long!

NUFF SAID