Continuing the previous part of my experience of working on the part time job in England. Please click here, to read the first part.
Our bar was situated on the 2nd floor. It was a medium sized hall. We were told to stand in the bar counter which was constructed on one of the sides of the hall. Our front side had a great view as it had multiple huge windows and glass wall. It was too much away from us.The drinkery was erected on the side of the racecourse. . . you know along the straight stretched path of the oval shaped course . . & it was almost in the middle of that stretch. The counter was long enough as we almost 8 people stood there, side by side comfortably, facing the hall. I propitiously grabbed a position where I had a view of main entrance which was exactly at my back through a window. Out of curiosity, I expected a glimpse of racy vehicles as well as hot people entering through the gate for the event throughout the day.
The hall seemed ready for the gig. It was neat, tables were shipshape and everything was in place. I saw one lady coming up the stairs, just then accompanied by two hulks - one white and one black walking just behind her on each sides. It was obvious that she was the incharge there. There was a understandable sense of authority in her behaviour. She greeted us. Gave a glance to everything, and called my manager Anne. She also told everyone of us to wear that stupid cap. I hesitantly tried to fit it in my overgrown hair. Anne later asked if anyone is not experienced using a cash till. There were 2 - 3 of us who raised our hands. She trained about the cash till operation to us in a very Brit accent as she knew the audiences were African and Asian. So making sure that we all will understand she started the explanation ‘‘This is cash till we’ll use for the transaction. All the drinks we offer have been divided into 4 categories 1.wines 2. Beers 3. Cocktails 4. Waters. After completing an order you gotta enter the code for respective order into the till to open the cash box inside that till. When you finish the transaction you will close the till.’’ as we did not have any questions she moved to rest of the team and annunciated by explaining all the stuff around, ‘here are the plastic glasses, we are only going to serve here beer in pints - there is one connection of two taps on each side of the counter, we have it either bitter or lager, there are bottles of scotchs, whiskeys, Vodkas and other hard drinks which are hanged inverted on the back side of the counter. Pressing the bottle opening once will automatically release fixed quantity drink, soda and all other mixer drinks are kept under the counter. In case the stock is finishing and you need it, someone will have to tell me in advance so that I can arrange for the additional stock.’’ - with that I was assigned to transmit the information and got an additional responsibility to keep an eye on the stock. Anne continued the army officers tone - ‘tonic water, mineral water and fruit juices are served here in a fridge on the each sides of the counter, if you have any problem please let me know it as soon as possible.’’ Changing the assertive tone now relaxing a little bit she said, “Importantly we are going to place a glass jar in between two cash tills - you will put the tipping in this glass jar. We will count it at the end of the day and we will share the amount equally.’’ I was trying to absorb as much as possible. Everything was new to me. I got little bit excited because I though I will learn this art of good drink prepeartion and will proudly show off to my friends back in India once I reach there.
The hall seemed ready for the gig. It was neat, tables were shipshape and everything was in place. I saw one lady coming up the stairs, just then accompanied by two hulks - one white and one black walking just behind her on each sides. It was obvious that she was the incharge there. There was a understandable sense of authority in her behaviour. She greeted us. Gave a glance to everything, and called my manager Anne. She also told everyone of us to wear that stupid cap. I hesitantly tried to fit it in my overgrown hair. Anne later asked if anyone is not experienced using a cash till. There were 2 - 3 of us who raised our hands. She trained about the cash till operation to us in a very Brit accent as she knew the audiences were African and Asian. So making sure that we all will understand she started the explanation ‘‘This is cash till we’ll use for the transaction. All the drinks we offer have been divided into 4 categories 1.wines 2. Beers 3. Cocktails 4. Waters. After completing an order you gotta enter the code for respective order into the till to open the cash box inside that till. When you finish the transaction you will close the till.’’ as we did not have any questions she moved to rest of the team and annunciated by explaining all the stuff around, ‘here are the plastic glasses, we are only going to serve here beer in pints - there is one connection of two taps on each side of the counter, we have it either bitter or lager, there are bottles of scotchs, whiskeys, Vodkas and other hard drinks which are hanged inverted on the back side of the counter. Pressing the bottle opening once will automatically release fixed quantity drink, soda and all other mixer drinks are kept under the counter. In case the stock is finishing and you need it, someone will have to tell me in advance so that I can arrange for the additional stock.’’ - with that I was assigned to transmit the information and got an additional responsibility to keep an eye on the stock. Anne continued the army officers tone - ‘tonic water, mineral water and fruit juices are served here in a fridge on the each sides of the counter, if you have any problem please let me know it as soon as possible.’’ Changing the assertive tone now relaxing a little bit she said, “Importantly we are going to place a glass jar in between two cash tills - you will put the tipping in this glass jar. We will count it at the end of the day and we will share the amount equally.’’ I was trying to absorb as much as possible. Everything was new to me. I got little bit excited because I though I will learn this art of good drink prepeartion and will proudly show off to my friends back in India once I reach there.
So we were finally ready, equipped, and were waiting for our guests to arrive. I initially stood near two Kenyan teenagers. We discussed about nationalities and the common things about what we have to cope in this country and we are getting by staying in such countries . . blah blah! Later I thought, I am working. . and I was getting paid for this discussion, I felt I should work more often now. British young couple was standing on right side of me. He was taller than me and we both had similarity of ‘large headedness’. :-) We had literally expand the cap as much as possible to fit on our heads. The couple were mostly into each other. They were a very nice couple. I complimented him by saying ‘You look like Jeremy Clarkson . . . ditto!’ On which the lady laughed. I dont know why but the good thing was that he took it casually and said ‘ No! I don’t look like Jeremy Clearkson, I don't like him!'. Now I came to know why she laughed. I tried to make up to my unintended mistake but somehow I conveyed that 'I am a big fan of top gear series and Jeremy Clarkson.’ Once in a while I was peeping outside of the window at the main entrance. Most of the times I would see pure classical beauties decked up in traditional British dresses getting out of the super luxury sedans. It was evident that the atmosphere around them was modestly oversexed. "Life must be a blessing at that point - Steve a boy from a couple peeking at a pretty girl through window exclaimed - he was almost drooling."
After nearly one and half hours went by some people started to come in. We used to greet the customer when they came to place their order. We offered profound interest in the customer orders and tried to exhibit as much as sophistication in our amateur serving. Things were going very well. Initlally there were more of us than the guest around the counter but graduallyI noticed we reached the stage where we all were busy in order, but occasionally we used to get free. I used to always look in the free time at the sensuous, voluptuous and some time classically provocative guests making themselves present for the event. All in all the urgency level was level 1 of tetris game if you know what I mean.
Things turned a little bit difficult after a couple of hours when crowd increased when the race timings was closer. The most sought after drink was lager beer amongst all the guest. Ladies on the other hand preferred Genatonic i.e. Vodka mixed with tonic water. Occasionally people used to enquire about how much does wine costs and after listening to our answers, used to go for beer. I think it was costly for them. I saw . . . people carrying millions of pounds cash in their hand . . I overheard their conversation of probability and certain bid raised by the people around. Everything seemed flashy and disempowering but why they are refusing to spend just 5 pounds. I still haven't got the answer. Seeing at glitterati and so called elite club I felt slightly dizzy. I took only a little time to acclimatize myself thanks to the ever increasing crowd at the counter. The urgency level and quickness expected was definately increased. I was now just concentrating on one order at a time.
Some minutes went by and disaster happened......
(To be continued)
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