Absolute struggle to get in for half 9 then was told I was working at a different venue now serving the fencing enthusiasts. Looked at a sign on the wall that said the best staff get a bonus, how would I get the bonus now I'm getting moved away from the team leads who witnessed all my first few days enthusiasm? Unless they rate you on punctuality, which is not my forte. Feck it anyway.
The new bar was only half the size of my old one and by the time I got there everyone was in position and it was so organised it made me sick. Chaos is my number one requirement in the hospitality industry, without it the day drags and nothing funny happens. Everything ran so smoothly and their stock area was way bigger and properly equipped. I looked at the coffee machine, already manned cause word obviously hadn't gotten round about my coffee pouring abilities and my deft touch with lids, and I reminisced about the good old days. When I got on the machine everything ran so smoothly. I'd overhear a customer ordering and would have their drink in front of them before a runner even asked me for it. When Ebony was on tills he'd be like shit man when you're here there's no stress, everything works like clockwork. Everyone else would turn around smiling in agreement. Apart from the geek who I took over from. Now I was Homer leaving the bowling alley for the nuclear power plant.
When I first got in a nordy guy named Peter Mark (seriously) was on wash up. He got me to dry his trays. Riveting. Made worse cause I had to share the job with a very camp Italian guy, so camp that I swore he was a straight French guy. So far this bar was looking shit. The team lead was savage but that was about it, just me and a load of duds and no work to do.
Then the chef, a definite French guy who looked like James earl Jones but had an incomprehensible squeaky accent got me to tidy the walk in fridge. He asked me to rotate the mountain of milk cartons and to get the other guy to help. He asked what is the other guys name and I said I don't know, frenchie? Instantly I realised chef was French and thought I put my foot in it but luckily he laughed.
We stacked the gallon cartons which were wrapped in packs of four in a sort of criss cross brick formation with 20 on each layer. In hindsight we probably stacked them too high cause when we were done someone went in the fridge and a sea of milk cartons poured out onto her feet. Frenchie must have stacked the foundation wrong while my back was turned. We were ordered back in to sort out the mess, and close the bleepin door to keep it cold. Something was different, it was pitch dark this time. From a corner I hear Frenchie say it is vewy difficult to work like this. Quiet Frenchie and open the door, let a bit of light in. From outside: keep it closed, its too hot out here. But the lights not working. Sorry you're just going to have to deal with it. Are you taking the absolute piss. Then someone copped that the fridge was broken so we had to move milk mountain and all the food to the drinks fridge. Around this time the coke guys arrived with two cages full of drinks that "need to be chilled at 4 degrees." Cue mayhem and a very angwy James earl Jones. This is more like it.
Once that mess was sorted out the first fridge started working again, lovely. But after that I had to constantly ask the fair and lovely team lead for something to do. One time she grabbed me and another guy, gave us some bin bags and said to run up to sa3 and get as much sandwiches as possible cause we were running drastically low on anything but smoked salmon sambos. We were in sa1 so I figured it wasn't too far and we'd be back in a jiffy. She'd be so pleased I'm sure. It goes from s1 to s8 with s standing for south. On the other side is n1 through 8. Sa1 and s1 are the same but after that it gets confusing and sa3 was way down at s7. A couple of minutes on the slippy floor dampened my hopes of getting back soon. Sa3 is fridge city, instead of two behind the bar there's like 30, all stacked randomly without touching, like a maze of fridges. It's fairly dark back there and would make a great place for a shoot out like in the end of face-off or heat.
We met the sandwich delivery guys, two of them, and a big eastern European guy who knew his way around the fridges. Cause they never have to deal with the public they all had tattoos and were a bit stranger than most people I'd met so far. They were like the underground guys in the future in sci fi movies. It took bloody ages to get our sambos cause they were just weird and particular about who took their feckin stupid boxes. Eventually we got away from them but had to go outside onto the road around the Excel to get back to s1. First door we tried was locked and the second had a jobsworth volunteer on watch: "but but this is the door the VIPs use." It's ok we're delivering sandwiches.
On the way back we passed some Chinese guy getting interviewed and I got to thinking if I was at a venue showing sports that I wanted to see I could probably get into places and see some people. Took forever to find the door to s1 cause they all look the same from the outside but we eventually delivered the sambos about an hour later.
I went to lunch, sat down to eat alone and then was joined by an old work mate and an old team lead. We had the craic. Naturally she was wondering where her best guy was. I tried to get her to bring me back over to the good side. She'd try her best. When I was leaving I passed by Ebony. He was on his way home a lot earlier than yesterday. He was talkin about going to see a game. What you can get into the games? Yeah just show them your pass man, I been to table tennis, fencing, was meant to go to boxing today. What? You can't let these opportunities pass you by man.
He was right, lose the apron and the hat and I was a man in all black with an official badge around my neck. That has security guy written all over it.
I got back from lunch and had to hide cause they were sending people home. Didn't take her long to get me and I had to leave at 5. Feck it was hard on your feet all day but I could do with the cash.
Took off my apron and hat and went back to my spiritual home by the table tennis. Walked by security looking all official and into the back of the arena. Walked the whole way along one side cause they had someone at the top and bottom of each stair asking you were you were sitting. Ebony said to just find a seat but knowing me I'd sit in some important persons seat and cause a scene. Got to the last set of stairs and tried to look around the side. Some volunteer says do I want to watch, just go upstairs and stand to the side. Success. Four games of table tennis on simultaneously, must be very distracting. Didn't stay too long and decided to go back and clock out then get my phone and check out the boxing.
Forgot that when you clock out you give back your day badge and without that you just have a badge with your face on it that doesn't get you anywhere. Tomorrow will be different, il take my phone into work, hopefully not get searched, offer to leave early if its going and then check out every event, can't wait.
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