And so it goes, and so it goes, and so it goes.
There is the good news and the bad news.
I will give you the good news first because quite honestly, the bad news is more comical if you are able to step back and look at the situation as a whole.
The first news is that the we were a stop for a party bus. A party bus, for those of you not familiar, is exactly what it sounds like. There is a school bus and a designated driver, bar guide who takes a large group of people from bar to bar to, well, party. Depending on the stop you are as a bar, people are more intoxicated. First stop is the best. Last stop is not.
But anyway you look at it, there is an infusion of $100-$300 in business in no more of an hour of time with customers that most likely would not have been at your bar.
The bad news is that in the middle of the party bus mayhem… and we were not the first stop… the plumbing I had, a mere 7 hours earlier, fixed blew apart.
While blowing apart seems dramatic, it seems appropriate for describing a hot water valve that can not be shut off—except at the main—spraying gallons of water onto the walls, ceiling, and floor. My doorman became a janitor, using a shop-vac to suck up the water, a mop to control the flooding, and towels to prevent slipping.
I shut off the main.
Oh, and a bar or restaurant cannot run without water.
Unless you get creative. So with 50 people doing shots, taking pictures of hand stands, pretending bananas were phalluses, and asking people about tattoos of their mothers, I was, with the much needed help of my staff, dealing with what felt like a self-contained armageddon within my own bathroom walls.
An emergency plumber came out and fixed the problem for no less than twice what I paid the original plumber.
Thus, when all was said and done I spent a little over $500 to have a $60 faucet replaced.
Oh sure, I will try to get reimbursed, so this story is not finished.
The silver lining fir this story is that this is a problem that comes with owning a bar or restaurant. This will happen at one point or another, to everyone who owns a bar. This is a simple part of running a business and it is a legitimate problem that comes with the territory. And that in itself, as odd as it may sound, feels good… besides the financial part of it… because this is one of the things I know and am familiar with.
My next resume will say, “prolific in fine art of cocktailary and can fix some plumbing, electrical, and carpentry issues.”
God, I hope I never have to write a resume again.
Star Bar’s Ark. Nobody drowned
