I just had my three month anniversary at work now and I've gone from brand spanking new bartender, who had to barback to be able to pay his rent, to the new beverage manager. That's right boys and girls, I am in control of all things liquid. Well all things except wine, we have someone else for that. But beer, liquor, soda, coffee, tea, bottled water- those are all my bitches. I'm also in charge of creating the cocktail list and I must say, making myself drinks all day is not a bad way to work the day away. Additionally, I was smart enough to still work off of tips and get a higher hourly wage, so if those fuckers want to work me to the bone, they will be paying me overtime!
It's been a surreal experience so far. I am learning a lot. I'm also learning that once I feel comfortable working in my new position without having to run to my boss for every little question, I'll be looking for this same position at another hotel. Why do you ask? Let me explain. First of all, there are the constant emails I get from our beer distributor and multiple liquor distributors telling me that our invoices are overdue. If I actually paid the invoices, I would be concerned, but we have an accounting staff that for some reason does not understand the concept of 30 days net due. Then there is the clientele. Being in west Chelsea, I was excited that there would be lots of gays visiting, but at our hotel priced cocktails, all we tend to attract are the pretentious gays. They are not nearly as much fun as the middle class gays. We of course get other clients besides the pretentious gays. I like to call them the "overprivileged". I would call them the 1%, but they are most foreigners who rarely tip, so I have decided to create my own buzzword for these people.
In addition to my full-time work at the hotel, I also started doing direct sales for J.Hilburn, a men's custom clothing company. I'll be setting up appointments with guys to come to their office to measure them and then have their clothes sent to them in a few weeks. I'm excited about this opportunity after going to my training and learning about how high quality the fabrics and construction really are. Unfortunately, it has made me realize that the really nice dress shirts that I owned now seem supercheap to me. Sometimes it's nice to just be happy in your own ignorance. My wine bill has gotten astronomically more expensive after I actually learned about wine. And I can see my clothing spending getting much higher as well after learning about J.Hilburn. Thankfully, J. Hilburn isn't any more expensive than Brooks Brothers, so I won't have too spend much to look amazingly fabulous. Well, I need to get to work and if any of my readers are in New York City and looking to expand their wardrobe, don't hesitate to leave a comment! Until next time... TGG.
