Saturday, December 16, 2006

CURSES, THE DREADED GYPSIES!

Last night was another night where being short-staffed kept me on my toes and my patience level at a minimum. Unlike the night before where we were short-staffed, at least I had the ITALIAN STALLION to pitch in with some of the dirty work when needed. Last night was a lot more difficult; being the only male staff member not only did I have to deal with the usual security issues (checking ID's, screening for drunken patrons, etc.), I also had to continually sweep the bar for empty glasses and bottles, as well as run downstairs to change kegs, bring up ice, etc. .

MURPHY's LAW also kicked in again when I was blessed with two female bartenders whom (dare I say), aren't ones who like to get their hands dirty; To make matters worse, one of the bartenders won't even go into the basement because she's afraid of what lurks there. So that pretty much left me to run around all night long (special thanks to H.B.E. for pitching in when he stopped by late-nite). Needless to say, I was exhausted and a tad bit cranky by the end of the night.

An interesting encounter did take place though. As many of you know, I have a strong dislike for a group of gypsies who live down the street. They run a Tarot Card Reading storefront down the block. A shady bunch, they are always trying to run scams around the neighborhood. From passing phony money to sneaking their trash onto other merchants' piles (most bars/restaurants have to pay to have their garbage collected by private hauling services), or leaving their kids outside all hours of the night, they simply drive me nuts. And they don't like me either, basically because I always call them out on their shenanigans.

So i'm working the door and one of the dreaded gypsy alpha males walk in and immediately walks to the back of the bar and asks one of the bartenders for the manager. Now I've seen this guy all over the neighborhood; he doesn't own the spot down the street, but another spot a few blocks away (they are all connected in some way, i'm convinced; like a syndicate). The bartender points me out to him and he comes over and introduce himself as a man who lives in the neighborhood and that everyone knows him. ("okay, yeah and ???") He then asks me for a loan for $20.00! Here's a guy who OWNS a business (if you can call it that) and he's panhandling me for $20.00!

I turn down his "request" and he pleads with me to loan him the money- that he has to feed his kids, blah blah blah. I again turn down his request and he leaves the bar. Very strange. I watch him go across the street to the bodega and as it turns out, he repeated his same request for $20.00, and a pack of cigarettes this time. He got turned down there too. As I watch him go from store to store, I can't help but to wonder, what is this guy up to? If it was anyone else, would I have offered up the money? Maybe he did need to feed his kids. Have I become too jaded? Because of their track record of scams, I simply didn't trust the guy. Whaddya gonna do? Much later in the night, after closing the bar, I stopped by the bodega to pick up my morning paper, and guess who I see? The "starving" kids, playing on the computer, eating chips and drinking soda.

Bizarre.


SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL: $4.00 Coors Light and Molson Canadian Drafts during the ATLANTA/DALLAS football game (8pm-11pm)


NUFF SAID