Wednesday, March 22, 2006

"OH, HEY WHAT'S UP!"

I've been working the door at Third and Long and other places for over thirteen years. In that time, i've met countless number of people, seen countless number of faces and on occasion, i've been known to forget a name or two. The remarkable thing is that once i've met you, chances are pretty good that I will never forget your face. I'm not sure why that is the case, but I have a photographic memory when it comes to faces. I have an uncanny ability to spot people in a crowd, whether it be a celebrity walking down a street, to someone I went to elementary school with countless number of years ago. I am pretty proud of that ability, I must say, as it comes in handy quite often.

While I may have the sharp vision of an owl, when it comes to remembering names, quite frankly, I suck. I don't know if it's because I meet so many people on a given day or if it's because I have so many things going through my head at any given time, but I always seem to go blank when someone from the past pops up. For example, last night, one of our former customers stopped by the bar. She used to come to the bar all the time when she lived in the neighborhood and hadn't been by the bar since our Holiday Party. She's a great girl and I was very happy to see her. So here's the all too-familiar dialogue:

GIRL: Hey SwanFather! How are you?? It's been such a long time!
ME: Oh Hey........... what's up?
GIRL: You don't remember me, do you?
ME: Of course I do! How could I forget you? I haven't seen you since the Holiday Party though; Did you move away or something? (Notice the stall tactic here? I engage her with a statement that indicates to her that I do remember her, without actually saying her name)

This kind of small talk goes on for a minute or so until I subtly guide her to an empty seat so that she can be with her friends. Throughout the night I'll pass by the table with the hopes of overhearing her name or I may send my barback over to do some re-con to find out her name.(In this case, she asks me to call her this week; instead of putting her number in my cell phone, I give her a pen and paper so that she can write her info down, after which I acknowledge her by name as I am saying goodbye).

Why do I go through the trouble of doing all of that instead of simply saying "Hey, I'm sorry but it's been awhile; what's your name again?" Cause i'm a guy. It's a guy thing I guess. Who wants to admit that they can't remember your name? You don't want to offend anyone who obviously remembers you. In any case, it's a pain in the ass but whaddya gonna do? I'm human.

Last night was a pretty stress free night. I got a visit from our friend from across the pond, LITTLE BRITAIN, who's back in town for some work-related stuff. He tricked me into doing a shot of CAMPARI, no doubt remembering the torture I went through during the Blog Anniversary Party when MR. TANQUERAY pulled the same prank. What is the purpose of CAMPARI? It has to be the most god-awful elixir ever made.

There were a lot of people that stopped by the bar looking for the Elephant Parade. Imagine their disappointment when I told them that the parade took place the night before. Not very happy to say the least. A few other people stopped by to talk about their St. Patrick's Day experiences and much of the talk revolved around the two girls who were having their own "party" in the ladies' room stall. Funny stuff.

Check out the new message board I installed for the blog. I know that many of you like to chat it up during the work day about blog related stuff, so I decided to set up a place where we can get together and post messages to each other. Try it out and let me know what you think.

TONIGHT: MOLSON HOCKEY NIGHT at Third and Long! Catch all of the hockey action via our NHL CENTER ICE package; enjoy $3 COORS LIGHT, MOLSON TRIPLE XXX & BLUE MOON PALE ALE all night long! And for you ladies who like your firemen, we have two of FDNY's Bravest behind the stick tonight, so stop by after work and enjoy a couple of cold ones!

Catch you later!

NUFF SAID