Here We Go Again.

So I am out of a job. I loved this job. It was exactly what I was looking for. On top of the job being awesome, the co-workers were as well. You know how sometimes it takes a while to fit in or you feel sort of awkward for a bit? This place I fell right in and loved everyone.

From the get-go I was told that the owner was incompetent and he just wants to run the place down and get money on foreclosing. I pushed all that aside as I am not one to go by rumors but by knowing a person personally as most rumors are fucked up or false, anyway.

It all came true, though.

Here's a prime example. On Wednesday the owner asked how I was to do the ordering on my own on Thursday for an order coming in on Friday. I said that I was. The next day, Thursday, his wife came in and asked if I done the ordering yet and I said no and she said she had a side order to put in as well.

Thursday I was also awaken by a phone call from his wife saying that Ryan (the scheduled cook) couldn't cook and asked if I could come in. I said of course I could and came in. I found out that the reason I came in is because Ryan, who also ran Keno, was arrested earlier in the day because he was stealing from the Keno. The Keno is run by the city so the city prosecuted him. I was also told that the former owner had been paying the utilities since the takeover and was not going to anymore and, as a result, the gas and water would be shut off the next day.

I laughed at how ridiculous that was and asked the bartender (who had already taken the process to take over once the current owner had run it into the ground) and he seemed fairly calm about it all.

I sat with the other bartender's boyfriend and hung with him for the rest of the evening talking about what happened and joking about other things.

The next morning I woke up early because Ryan was scheduled to be the day cook and since he wasn't working anymore and because of the ineptitude of the owner, I know he wouldn't get it covered and just have no cook during the day. I came in and no one was there and there was a sign on the door saying it was closed.

I called the owner and got his voicemail and spent the rest of the day wondering what the fuck and if I still had a job. Since I wasn't scheduled until four originally, I thought I'd go then and if it's still closed I would leave my number on there in case it opens (no on had my number).

On my way there the owner calls me and tells me that his wife is going to be there to open up the place for the evening. I get there and the neighbor is there waiting for the owner's wife to come in. The previous owner had paid the bill to keep it running and he did it only because he doesn't want to see the place go down.

The thing is, the previous owner had owned the place for like seven or so years and it was thriving. It was always packed and they even had to open the side rooms to accomodate. They had a couple bartenders, a couple of cooks, a dishwasher, and several waitresses. Now, even on a Friday and Saturday night, the place is a ghost town. I don't want to go more in to the details.

So that night, after work, the whole crew sat at the bar drinking and I got the skinny on a lot of things and was told, yes, they knew it was going to be closed on Friday and the reason they had me order anyway and didn't tell anyone was because that's how inept this dude is. If the previous owner hadn't caved in and paid the bill, the place would've been closed and we'd all be out of jobs.

Cut to Monday. I'm scheduled to come in at 1400 to order and then work the night shift. I pull up to an again empty parking lot with a sign saying, "Closed for lunch." I think that maybe it's closed because lunch tended to be slow and maybe we'll open for dinner. So I call the other cook Jason and he said they were open and the owner called around twelve to shut down the place and as far as he knows, we're shut down.

Since it's 1330, I decide to wait and see if the manager comes in to let me in to order. The neighbor comes and tells me this is fucked up and I should start looking for another job and he (the current owner) fucked it all up. He said if the manager comes and doesn't have a key to come get him and he'll let us in. No one shows. I leave a note with my number to call in case we open.

The plus side of this is I got to go on my second bike ride. I hadn't ridden in over a year and a day prior went on my first one and loved it. Aside from a bruised butt I went on another one. I get a call from the owner's wife saying that we're closed for the night and the owner will call to let me know what's going on.

I get two calls that night. One from one of the bartenders telling me that she was there earlier and the wife was there and a couple of trucks loading thing onto it from the place. She said the wife said the place is probably closed and the owner's just too scared to tell us. This is fucked on so many levels. One being that we're all fucking adults with payments and families and shit.

The other call was from one of the waitresses telling me the situation. Her cousin is the the other bartender that's going to take over and reopen now that current owner is probably gone. It might not happen soon but when it does we all have jobs back there. They can all get unemployment but I can't since I've just started so I started looking for a job today, which I hate.

I've been applying at a bunch of places and I did get a call from the owner's wife saying the place is shut down and the owner should be calling us to let us know all the shit especially payroll. From the shadiness of this guy, there's a chance we won't get our last paycheck, which I'm so depending on else our bills go further behind and we then have no money for food and gas. Hopefully all goes through. If not, one of the waitresses is a paralegal and will get on that.

That may help in the long run if it goes through. But as it stands, I need a job and may get temp work just to get paid soooner to pay the bills. I've been applying at places that are biking distance and somehow a lot have been along the Keystone trail.

I just want to get a job and be settled and work at getting into a normal life where our bills are current and we have our own place and all this fucking nonsense will stop. It's been fucking years already.