Sacrificial Sanity

So as I said about Mr Monroe...a quality of a good server is that they are aware of things that are "wrong"...and that they let you in on it...

One day Watson let me know just that. He was is bar one night...I was working in the kitchen...he came and got me...normally Charles would be the one to handle the front...but Watson knew how good I was with weirdos...

I walked into the bar and immediately knew who the creeper was...so I walked right over with out hesitation. I asked him how he was doing...he said fine. But when he looked at me, he looked through me.

When we do our training for responsible alcohol sales we are told that when people drink martinis...a lot of times they are trying to get wasted...so I tried to distract him from drinking anymore of his second martini...from the level of intoxication he was showing...we were not his first establishment to drink at that night.

After I gained his trust I asked him if I could take his drink from him and take it off his tab. He obliged. I then began to pry as to why he was so out of it...he started to tell me about his stints in Iraq...he was a medic and saw the worst of the worst. He began to have flashbacks that were plain scary...he had gotten an email earlier that day stating that he may have to go back. And he was in the process of losing it...

He asked me to stay with him until he could leave and not to let any guys talk to him...bc he doesn't deal well with men...DONE...the last thing I needed was a scene in a full restaurant. So I got permission to call him a cab...as our establishment will pay for one if a patron is unable to drive safely...He said that he would only ride with George...that I needed to call George...

assuming that he was having another flashback of some sort I told him that I would call George. When the cab driver got there the guy looked at him saying, "George?" The driver said, yes...and I loaded him into the cab and sent him on his way.

That night he said things along the lines of, "I would do anything to not have to go back to that place..." which made me think he may be a bit suicidal...so the next day at 2pm when his car was still there I told myself that if he didn't come for his car by the time I was off I would call the police to look for him...

He came for his car...and I didn't see him for months...

until the other day...he came in and sat at the bar...I warned the bartender to monitor the amount he drank...they did...I was unsure if I should talk to him...if he would remember me...

I took a deep breathe and did it...I walked behind the bar and said...hey there...he looked down...letting me know that he did remember me. I said, "So I guess you didn't have to go back."

He explain that his brigade didn't get picked to go...but then he thanked me for saving his life...

all in a day's work

this dude was crazy...but he lost his sanity looking out for us...