Day 27 - I'm Ripped?

So I forgot to mention two very important stories from Wednesday night's game...

1) Usually Busch Stadium has a student choir or some group of children sing 'Take Me Out To The Ball Game' during the 7th inning stretch. As fans stood for the middle of the 7th, the announcer came on over the PA and announced that John Rich from Big & Rich would be singing 'Take Me Out To The Ball Game'. I was shocked for one...cause I may or may not have seen him while Nashville Star was on NBC...two I just couldn't believe that on a Wednesday night that's who they'd have come sing...I mean, I'd understand on a weekend, but really?...John Rich did an alright job...he tried going real high on the last part of the song and the mic's gain wasn't set right because it was really really distorted and just made for an awful finish.

2) At the end of the 6th inning, they were showing a lady on the screen who was celebrating her 100th birthday that day. I'll be honest, she didn't look 100...she looked about early 80's...but then again, how many people do I see that are 100? They asked her a few questions. One of questions was, "How many world series have you got to seen the Cubs win?" She quickly replied, "None in my lifetime!" You would have thought the Cards just won the WS the way that stadium roared with cheers! The whole stadium then sang "Happy Birthday" to her and she got a standing ovation after that! It was pretty cool to see.

Now as for tonight...

I was in a funk before I even entered the stadium...something was just bothering me and I could figure out what it was and I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I was going to have a bad night. Perhaps I was able to predict the future...because it was an awful night. Not just for me, but for all of the beer men.

Once again, a crappy night!

I only sold a case and a half of beer. Most guys didn't even finish two cases. I don't understand it. I was worried that it was me having the rough night and wasn't able to see anything but I felt much better knowing that the fans just weren't drinking tonight.

I didn't sell a single beer till the bottom of the 1st. I was so furious. The beer tub was getting really heaving, having carried it around for what felt like an eternity. Usually I don't carry a full tub of beer for very long, because people start to buy...ha!

I made more in tips than I made in commission!...which wasn't much!

Enough of that crap...how about a story from tonight:

It was the bottom of the 7th and I was yelling out for last calls. I had made my way down to the bottom of a section when I heard a girl say, "Hey, Josh". This always catches me off guard...I usually forget that people actually read my name on my name-tag and call me by name. So I look over towards where I heard the voice and I saw a girl sitting there with a beer in her hand. I thought she was going to ask for a beer. She said, "Hey, I bet you are just f'n ripped aren't ya?" I didn't know what to expect when she said my name, but I sure wasn't expecting that. I looked at her and she could tell I was caught off guard...I'm sure if I hadn't had the night going the way it was, I could have been a bit quicker with a witty comeback. She said, "I bet you are just mother f'n ripped from having to carry those tubs of beer around." I responded, "I'm in better shape than what I was when I first started this job." She said, "I've seen these guys carry these f'n tubs around and they've just got to get all f'n jacked from doing this all summer." And that was it. She just turned away and looked back towards the game.

**Note - I don't know if anyone has actually looked at me lately, but I'm not at all anything close to what would resemble "ripped" or "jacked". I never have been some huge built guy...I will say that it's a fact that the only time I truly worked out and lifted weights was while I wrestled in high school. During that time I did in fact have a ripped body...but after college and having a desk job for awhile...that ripped 6-pack became a bit protected, like with a soft-sided cooler. I have noticed that I can carry a full tub of beer without it ripping my shoulders out of socket the way it did during the first home series of the season. My goal is to be able to carry up to 2 cases of beer in my tub by the time the All-Star Game is here. That way I make fewer trips back to the commissary and can sell more beer in between trips.

So I'll take my protein shake made of the richest, darkest, thickest beers known to man, raise it high into the air and solute you, girl who had the thought that underneath these sweaty rags of a uniform was something worth drooling over.

I'm ready for Friday's and Saturday's games...I shouldn't have any problem selling 3 cases each night!

Totals thus far:
33 Bottles of Water
43 Bags of Cracker Jacks
107 Bags of Peanuts
1465 Bottles of Beer