May 2000...I had finally graduated high school and started a job at a new sports bar and grill. I was really excited about finally getting to wait tables and make some tips, but now for entirely different reasons. Starting college that fall meant I was going to be a whole new kind of broke.
This was an ideal job, especially in a small town and I was fortunate to get it. I had friends, family and good owners all around me. I left after that summer and moved to campus for a semester. When I decided to move back home and make the commute to school, they gave me my job back, no questions asked. It was the best college job I could have hoped for. I spent a lot of years at the place and watched a lot of employees come and go.
One of the girls that we hired was one of my best friends and she had to be the laziest worker I have ever met in my life. She would sit in front of the big screen TV and roll silverware for four solid hours. It was amazing to come in for the dinner shift and have absolutely nothing done and ready but for silverware. If I were not constantly irritated with her, I would have made room to be impressed by how much work it takes to do that little. It almost ruined our friendship.
Turning 21 and getting to bartend was awesome - for about 6 months. I sometimes wish that I had taken better notes during the years I spent behind the bar there. I could fill several books with the various locals making great characters. Bartenders know WAY too much. I must admit I turned pretty bitchy towards the end of my five year stint. Weekdays were rough towards the end, seeing the same drunks every night, hearing the same sob stories month after month...my sympathy was very limited. Plus I am pretty sure the place was haunted. Being there all alone until the wee morning hours got kind of crazy; those stories could fill their own book! I lived for weekends and holidays that brought in a big, fresh crowd.
Graduating college was my saving grace. I left the job, moved away and was sad to hear that less than a year later, the place closed down. It was onto Wisconsin, and what I had hoped would be an opportunity to start a career. Boy was I in for a rude awakening...so until next time!
On a side note: my last year in college, I actually had three jobs. Aside from the newspaper and the bar, I worked at a pizza joint one night a week, for some extra cash. Just to add to my career as a "Jane of all trades," I learned how to make pizza dough there. It was one of the most laid back jobs I have ever had!
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