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Following the fire at the pub, there have been a few issues, the main one being the electrics.
Manager and I are opening the pub. We get in, turn the lights on and go about getting everything ready. It wasn't until the cleaner arrived and attempted to vacuum that we noticed there was a problem: only the lights were working. Nothing else was. This meant that the cooler was off, the registers were off, all the kitchen equipment wasn't working, the TVs, the gaming machines and the fridges. Basically anything that required a wall socket. This meant that it was impossible to open.
Manager called an electrician, while the cook and I placed signs on the doors and EVERY window saying we would not be opening for breakfast.
You guys know exactly where this is going, don't you?
Every weekday when we open, we get the same group of mothers in the pub. They have just dropped their kids off at school a few streets away and they pop in for some "breakfast". And I'm saying breakfast like that is because they order as little as possible, only drink water (and God help you if you don't have lemon ready for them) and take over a large portion of the pub, creating a huge mess with their toddlers that are too young to go to school. So yeah, I pretty much hate them. I once worked out the average they spend on each visit, and it was less than a pound each.
They were the first to arrive. They approached, read the sign and then started tugging on the door anyway! They studied the sign again. Then they tried the door again. Then they started banging on the windows. I went over.
Me: We can't open I'm afraid. Nothing is working.
SC: How come the lights are on then???
Me: We have no power for anything but the lights.
SC: Whhhyyy?
Me: I don't know. We're waiting for someone to come look at it.
SC: Well, we could still come in for a glass of water!
Me: No you can't.
SC: We are here every day! You should show us more respect!
Me: Look I don't know what to tell you, but it is pointless opening a business when all the equipment is offline. Sorry.
I walked away. They stood there, gossiping and pointing through the windows at me for about another five minutes and eventually scurried off.
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The alcholic regulars arrived. It was the same thing. They saw the sign. They read the sign and then they tugged on the door anyway. They then stood there staring at us with very angry looks on their faces.
Manager: Don't go to the door. If you try and open it, they'll get in.
They continued to stand there and didn't move.
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We were still waiting for the electrician. It got to the point where there was nothing left to do, so we sat in the beer garden.
The beer garden has a side entrance that goes into the street. This entrance is blocked by a large iron gate that is locked when the pub is closed. We were sat, chatting away when a co-worker gasped.
CW: Look.
There were three pairs of hands sliding themselves down the gaps in the gate, trying to get it open from the other side. It looked like that opening scence from The Walking Dead where the zombies stick their hands in the gaps between the doors and try to force it open.
Me: We're not open!
The hands disappeared. I looked through the gaps and saw that it was the same group of regulars that were out the front, so despite the doors being locked and about a dozen signs telling them the place was closed, they still attempted to get in through the back.
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A co-worker arrived to start her shift. I went to let her in. As soon as I opened the door, one of the old men grabbed it and tried to keep it open to allow himself in.
Me: We're not open!
SC: Well when are you opening?
Me: I have no idea. We're waiting for the electrician, and he said he might be two hours.
SC: YOU'RE A LIAR!!!
I closed the door and locked it.
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The crowd of alcoholics was getting bigger. There were now around ten of them, and all they did was stare through the windows watching our every move. A few families had also gathered, obviously wanting breakfast. They read the sign and then started to form an orderly line by the front door, waiting patiently. In true British fashion, people saw the line and joined it.
Manager decided to go out the front.
M: Guys, I don't know when we're opening. It really is pointless waiting out here.
SC's: No. We'll wait.
M: Look, it could be over an hour before the guy even gets here, and we don't even know if he'll be able to solve the problem. I can't say for sure if we'll open AT ALL today.
SC's: We'll wait.
And they did.
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Then they started calling the phone.
SC: Any ideas when you'll be opening?
Me: No! Stop calling!
Seconds later...RING RING!
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The electrician had arrived! We knew of his arrival before he got to the door because the people outside cheered. I let him in.
SC: So you should be open any minute now, yeah?
I didn't even reply.
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Electrician was stooped. He had no idea what was causing the problem. By now a few people had left the line outside the pub, but they were then immediately joined by the regular old ladies who come in for a morning coffee. The entire front of the pub was a single line of people staring in the building with their hands on the windows. The cleaner went absolutely nuts and started yelling at people to get their hands off them.
Manager forbade me from taking a picture of them.
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Again, we returned to the beer garden. We looked and saw a pair of eyes staring at us down the gap of the gate.
SC: Are you open yet???
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Finally, the electrician came over.
E: Well, I've got everything working again!
He left about ten minutes later. The customers cheered again. They keenly turned around and stared at us.
M: I don't think there's any point in opening for another half hour. The cooler needs to get up and running again, and the kitchen equipment needs to heat up! If we open we'll just have a lot of angry people yelling at us and we can't serve them.
Me: Sounds fine to me!
We switched everything back on and returned to the beer garden. Manager updated the signs with an opening time. Several customers stamped their feet with rage.
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So we got to spend a lovely half an hour in the beer garden with just over 20 people staring at us. They did not glance away even once.
Manager finally got the doors open. Two or three of the people literally ran in as fast as they could. All of them immediately went to the bar, grumbling and complaining about the inconvenience.
And then this happened:
SC: *sigh* I've been waiting forever to get served!
He wasn't referring to the wait outside. He was complaining that we were not serving fast enough. And we had been open for literally 2 minutes.
Manager and I are opening the pub. We get in, turn the lights on and go about getting everything ready. It wasn't until the cleaner arrived and attempted to vacuum that we noticed there was a problem: only the lights were working. Nothing else was. This meant that the cooler was off, the registers were off, all the kitchen equipment wasn't working, the TVs, the gaming machines and the fridges. Basically anything that required a wall socket. This meant that it was impossible to open.
Manager called an electrician, while the cook and I placed signs on the doors and EVERY window saying we would not be opening for breakfast.
You guys know exactly where this is going, don't you?
Every weekday when we open, we get the same group of mothers in the pub. They have just dropped their kids off at school a few streets away and they pop in for some "breakfast". And I'm saying breakfast like that is because they order as little as possible, only drink water (and God help you if you don't have lemon ready for them) and take over a large portion of the pub, creating a huge mess with their toddlers that are too young to go to school. So yeah, I pretty much hate them. I once worked out the average they spend on each visit, and it was less than a pound each.
They were the first to arrive. They approached, read the sign and then started tugging on the door anyway! They studied the sign again. Then they tried the door again. Then they started banging on the windows. I went over.
Me: We can't open I'm afraid. Nothing is working.
SC: How come the lights are on then???
Me: We have no power for anything but the lights.
SC: Whhhyyy?
Me: I don't know. We're waiting for someone to come look at it.
SC: Well, we could still come in for a glass of water!
Me: No you can't.
SC: We are here every day! You should show us more respect!
Me: Look I don't know what to tell you, but it is pointless opening a business when all the equipment is offline. Sorry.
I walked away. They stood there, gossiping and pointing through the windows at me for about another five minutes and eventually scurried off.
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The alcholic regulars arrived. It was the same thing. They saw the sign. They read the sign and then they tugged on the door anyway. They then stood there staring at us with very angry looks on their faces.
Manager: Don't go to the door. If you try and open it, they'll get in.
They continued to stand there and didn't move.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We were still waiting for the electrician. It got to the point where there was nothing left to do, so we sat in the beer garden.
The beer garden has a side entrance that goes into the street. This entrance is blocked by a large iron gate that is locked when the pub is closed. We were sat, chatting away when a co-worker gasped.
CW: Look.
There were three pairs of hands sliding themselves down the gaps in the gate, trying to get it open from the other side. It looked like that opening scence from The Walking Dead where the zombies stick their hands in the gaps between the doors and try to force it open.
Me: We're not open!
The hands disappeared. I looked through the gaps and saw that it was the same group of regulars that were out the front, so despite the doors being locked and about a dozen signs telling them the place was closed, they still attempted to get in through the back.
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A co-worker arrived to start her shift. I went to let her in. As soon as I opened the door, one of the old men grabbed it and tried to keep it open to allow himself in.
Me: We're not open!
SC: Well when are you opening?
Me: I have no idea. We're waiting for the electrician, and he said he might be two hours.
SC: YOU'RE A LIAR!!!
I closed the door and locked it.
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The crowd of alcoholics was getting bigger. There were now around ten of them, and all they did was stare through the windows watching our every move. A few families had also gathered, obviously wanting breakfast. They read the sign and then started to form an orderly line by the front door, waiting patiently. In true British fashion, people saw the line and joined it.
Manager decided to go out the front.
M: Guys, I don't know when we're opening. It really is pointless waiting out here.
SC's: No. We'll wait.
M: Look, it could be over an hour before the guy even gets here, and we don't even know if he'll be able to solve the problem. I can't say for sure if we'll open AT ALL today.
SC's: We'll wait.
And they did.
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Then they started calling the phone.
SC: Any ideas when you'll be opening?
Me: No! Stop calling!
Seconds later...RING RING!
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The electrician had arrived! We knew of his arrival before he got to the door because the people outside cheered. I let him in.
SC: So you should be open any minute now, yeah?
I didn't even reply.
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Electrician was stooped. He had no idea what was causing the problem. By now a few people had left the line outside the pub, but they were then immediately joined by the regular old ladies who come in for a morning coffee. The entire front of the pub was a single line of people staring in the building with their hands on the windows. The cleaner went absolutely nuts and started yelling at people to get their hands off them.
Manager forbade me from taking a picture of them.
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Again, we returned to the beer garden. We looked and saw a pair of eyes staring at us down the gap of the gate.
SC: Are you open yet???
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Finally, the electrician came over.
E: Well, I've got everything working again!
He left about ten minutes later. The customers cheered again. They keenly turned around and stared at us.
M: I don't think there's any point in opening for another half hour. The cooler needs to get up and running again, and the kitchen equipment needs to heat up! If we open we'll just have a lot of angry people yelling at us and we can't serve them.
Me: Sounds fine to me!
We switched everything back on and returned to the beer garden. Manager updated the signs with an opening time. Several customers stamped their feet with rage.
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So we got to spend a lovely half an hour in the beer garden with just over 20 people staring at us. They did not glance away even once.
Manager finally got the doors open. Two or three of the people literally ran in as fast as they could. All of them immediately went to the bar, grumbling and complaining about the inconvenience.
And then this happened:
SC: *sigh* I've been waiting forever to get served!
He wasn't referring to the wait outside. He was complaining that we were not serving fast enough. And we had been open for literally 2 minutes.
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