I'm back!

The beer man is back!
That's right folks...get thirsty, cause I'm back. Aside from Opening Day & that concert thing in July, I'll be working Friday & Saturday games this season.

Raise your hands high, open your wallets, take out a second mortgage on your home, buy a few $8 bottles of gold & don't forget to tip the man carrying that hefty tub of cold ones.

Oh yeah, I'll be getting paid to be at the U2 concert in July....as if working Cardinals games wasn't awesome enough, i'll get to work at an awesome concert. Now, honestly, I'm not a huge U2 fan. I'm just not. Get over it. But I am excited to see an amazing production that evening.

If you happen to be in the Red Bird Club sections, flag me down & buy a few cold ones from me or just say hi.

PLAY BALL!

Mobile Pole Dancers & Rick Flair

Would you believe me that the title of this blog was exactly what I saw on Friday night?

As I walked to the stadium on Friday night, I noticed something I've never seen before. Now while walking around downtown before a game, there would sometimes be a few flat-bed trucks hauling around billboards. Some of the billboards would be advertising strip clubs or erotic shows.

Guess that wasn't getting the message across to those walking around downtown STL.

Friday evening as I was walking down broadway towards the stadium, I witnessed a flat-bed truck with a large plexiglass box on the back of it. Inside of this box was a stripper pole. What better way to finish this off than to have pole dancers in this clear box... Now i'll confess, i've never been a pole dancer, but i've road in the back of a pick-up truck...and that in itself is a daunting task to not get tossed around like a rag doll....I couldn't imagine how difficult it would have been to have pole danced while a truck was making it's way through the streets of downtown. I'm sure it gave a new meaning to driving over a pot-hole.

**************

I usually check my twitter feed on my phone before going out to sell beer to check if anyone I know has tweeted that they are at the game. I noticed that one of the sports reporters that I follow had tweeted that Rick Flair was throwing out the first pitch. Are you kidding me?!?!?! I grew up watching the real sport of WWF wrestling...ok, so I know it's fake....but I did watch Rick Flair while I was growing up. I made sure that I got my beer tub and was out in the stadium before the first pitch.

I heard the introduction. I even heard the infamous 'wwwooooooooooooooooooooo'. I may or may not have just gotten goosebumps. I sat my beer tub down to watch The Nature Boy throw out the first pitch.

I know I'm a smaller guy, but I'm confident that I could throw a baseball from the mound to home plate. I'm not saying it would ever be a perfect pitch, but I could get the ball to home plate. Yes, I would be able to do what Rick Flair couldn't do. That's right. Rick Flair couldn't throw the ball far enough to make it to home plate.

They even let him throw two more times and he never could throw the ball far enough to get to the plate.

I wonder how embarrassed he was. I mean, he could body-slam a 300lb man but couldn't toss a 5.25oz baseball 60'6".

**************

Aside from seeing mobile pole dancers and Rick Flair making a fool of himself, I don't have many interesting stories.

I continue to hear the same old-same old crap of, "are you even old enough to sell a beer?"

**************

When I made my way to the end of one section, I had two girls, who were obviously underage, lock eyes with my beer tub. The look in their eyes looked as if they were possessed. I heard one of them lean over and say how good the beers looked and how she could really use a Michelob Ultra. They continued sipping their sodas...never looking away from my beer tub.

**************

For the record, no I was not working Saturday's 20-inning classic. Even if I did work (as many of you asked via text messages) I would have been done selling at the end of the 7th....so extra innings never effect me....unless I'm there watching, in which, i'll never leave a game early. Never. It's my one rule I abide by when in attendance. Never leave early, because then when they do go into extra innings, that's free baseball. I only pay for/plan to attend a 8.5 inning game when I go to a game....anything beyond that is free baseball! /rant.

2010 total sales thus far:
5 bottle of soda
11 bags of peanuts
194 bottles of beer

Opening Day 2010

The wait is finally over!

I'm back!

While already working a full-time job, I have decided to work Friday & Saturday games during the 2010 season. A little extra money won't hurt at all considering that I'll be getting married at the end of May.

I know, I know...will this mean fewer blog entries from the beerman since I'll only be working a handful of games this season? Possibly. I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories from Friday & Saturday games...but I'm brainstorming a few ideas on how to keep you entertained in-betweeen the games I work...

So how/why did I work opening day? Why not?!?!? Well, I took a 1/2 day off from work. Opening Day at Busch stadium should be a holiday in the state of Missouri!

Oh...now were to begin....

Opening Day 2010 was a little different from last year. It wasn't snowing, it wasn't cold and I sold nearly 5 cases of beer compared to not even getting through a full case on opening day 2009.

Now I didn't have quite the adventure of parking in a garage as I did in the past....but I did have to park down by the Dome. Guess I underestimated how crazy parking downtown would be on opening day.

While getting checked in, I found out I was back in commissary 240! I was really hoping I would get assigned back to where I spent last season! Glad to know I would get to work the seats in front of the Redbird Club.

Aside from the regular harassment the fans would give me about if I was even old enough to sell beer...nothing too crazy happened to me during the game.

A fellow beerman from commissary 240 did get hit in the head by a foul ball during the 3rd inning. He told me how it happened after the game. He was leaning over in the process of handing a beer to someone down by 1st base when he heard people yelling, 'look out!' He brought his arm up to cover his face, but it wasn't enough. The foul ball hit him right on the top of his head. He said it knocked him out. The next thing he knew, paramedics and police were down there next to him. He said he was fine when I was talking to him...only a slight headache. He did show me his head and there was a nasty bump raised up and it was evident that he shed some blood while serving in the front line of duty. I was reminded how dangerous my job truly is. *Only 1 beer was spilled during this incident*

On my way walking the 7 block hike to my car, several groups of people were continuing their tailgating experience. They began high-fiving each other and everyone passing by. I just glanced over at them as I was about to pass them when I felt someone grab my arm. A woman, who probably weighed 100lbs if she was soaking wet (and I'll make note that she was rather druk), was grabbing my arm while yelling at me to not be a jerk and give her and everyone else a high-five. Well...no one likes a jerk. High-fives all around!

Since I'm writing this a day after Opening Day...I can't help but mention how incredibly sore my body is. I forgot for a split second how physically-intense this job is.

My body hates me but my bank account loves me after an amazing Opening Day 2010!

2010 total sales thus far:
1 bottle of soda
4 bags of peanuts
110 bottles of beer

...When the Fat Lady Sings.

Well I'm at a loss of words after last night's nail-biter of a finish between the Cards and Dodgers. ...not to mention the rough night for any St. Louis sports fan or Mizzou fan....but hey, we still have the Rams to keep our spirits high right???...

Sitting here and realizing that tomorrow night very well could be my last night as a beer man....for this season....and potentially forever.

Do I see myself returning next season?...

Timeout...last time I checked, this series is best out of 5. Although, I feel like the Cardinal-Nation has already tossed in the white towel...Perhaps the same white towel that caused Holiday to take a punch in the crotch from that fly ball instead of allowing for it to land in his glove. (If you missed Waino's interview (go to 1:45 mark to catch his remarks about Holiday)...you need to watch it to know what I mean).

Plenty of people have already closed the door on the chance of the Cards of coming back to win this series. Only 4 teams have ever come back from an 0-2 deficit. A little optimistic view on it all...the Cardinals have never been swept in any divisional playoff series.

Maybe the Cardinals are just trying to keep the 2008 tradition of when the Cubs were NLCD champs...and get swept by the Dodgers in the playoffs?

This beer man has some high hopes still. Being my only source of income at the moment...I'd like for the Cardinals to go all of the way to take the World Series...just hoping. Here is to tomorrow night. Saturday night playoff game. Beer sales should be amazing!

Day 68 - A Beerman's Last Stand

Well I wasn't able to work Friday or Saturday night's games due to being in a wedding...So I worked on Sunday. The last day of the regular season.

The chill in the air reminded me of my first week of being a beerman at Busch Stadium. I'm just it wasn't snowing like it did on opening day. It feels like yesterday that I was only able to carry half of a case of beer at a time and only sell a case and a half per game. Well...I can carry well over a case of beer at a time, it's just too bad I couldn't sell more than that yesterday.

I don't know what the deal was...

You'd think that with it being the last game of the regular season that there would be a sold-out crowd right?...ha! so they said it was a standing-room-only crowd...I don't think they were looking at any of my sections...several rows of seats were empty.

I understand it's a Sunday game...but it's also the last game of the season where most people can afford tickets...playoff tickets are rather steep in price...

So even with the 'sold-out' crowd you'd think that this game would have the perfect conditions for a big day of sales for a beerman....HA!

People were wrapped up in coats and blankets on this 60 degree sunny day. I was only able to sell a 1 1/2 cases. No one wanted to drink beer...or if so, they were buying it from the Red Bird Club and not from the vendors in the stands.

It was rough for all of beermen in my commissary...guess we'll have to wait till this Saturday for the playoffs to come to Busch Stadium to make some money.

As for stories from Sunday's game...I didn't have anything crazy happen to me. It was so hard to believe...I went through the game without anything happening worth mentioning on here....I'm sure the playoffs will bring in some crazy people and crazy stories!

It was bittersweet leaving the stadium...knowing that I could only have one more game left to work...honestly, I'm hoping we sweep the Dodgers in 3 games so I don't have to work on Sunday...Rams have a home game at noon and the Card's game could be at 5:07 or 8:37....either way, it'll be crazy downtown on Sunday and potentially a really late night!

Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
167 Bottles of Water
283 Bags of Peanuts
4465 Bottles of Beer

Day 67 - Final '09 Cards/Cubs Series #3

I haven't worked on a Sunday at the Stadium since the middle of May.

Since this was the finale of the Cards/Cubs series for the 2009 season, I figured I could bring in a decent amount of sales.

I had a feeling...that tonight's gonna be a good night...tonight's gonna be a good good night...ok, so maybe I have Black Eyed Peas to thank for getting that song stuck in my head when it's now been played before every game of this series during a video montage of the Cardinals clinching.

So I have the rainy morning and plenty of fog for the slow to start with beer sales on Sunday night. But the rain and fog didn't bother to slow down the drama and stories.

Story time! -

-I just finished handing a beer down a row to someone who just purchased a beer and they didn't give me anything as a tip. The lady on the end of the row kept looking back at the guy buying the beer and then back at me...she realized there wasn't any tip coming and asked me if that usually happens. I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "sometimes I do get something, sometimes I don't. I'm thankful for the times I do." She looked back at the guy who just bought the beer and then back to me and rolled her eyes in disgust.

I turned to sell a beer to someone in the next row over and then I felt a tap on my shoulder. That lady had her arm stretched out with $2 in her hand. She said, "take it. You guys work too hard for that jackass to go and not tip you." I told her that it was ok, rejecting the $2 in her hand and that she didn't need to tip for that guy. That only pissed her off more I guess cause she said, "If you knew what was good for you, you would take this money." I took it, thanked her for her generosity and got out of there.


-I made my way down a section and had two older gentlemen motion for beers. I walk up the steps to them and they needed 4 beers total for them and their wives. I give them their beers and tell them it's $31. The one gentleman who was paying handed me $24 (a $20 and 4 $1's) I looked back up to him and said, "sir it's $31. You only handed me $24" (holding the $24 up to show him I hadn't done anything to it). He handed me another $20 and told me to just give him back $10.

Now I've screwed up before. I know, I know...you're thinking, "how could the stlbeerman have a flaw?" Ha! I'm far from perfect.

I've told customers one dollar amount and would give them back the correct change (even if it didn't match up with what I said)...basically the words coming out of my mouth and what I do with my hands when giving change back haven't always matched up...but my hands hadn't been wrong before...only the dollar amounts coming out of my mouth have been wrong...

I look back up at this gentleman and give him the $4 that he originally handed me and $6 out of my 'bank' of change...totaling $10. In my head I thought I took the $10 out of the $40 which would make his payment a $1 short. I asked him to hold on a second. I still needed a $1 from him. (As I type this I am reminded of how stupid I was for thinking I was right and how he was wrong).

He tried explaining to me that I gave him $10 and that was the correct change and he gave me $44 already. I had already closed up my ears though and had it in my mind that I was right. He owed me a $1 still. I would explain numerous times over the next few minutes that I made the mistake of giving him more than I should have. After half of an inning of both of us trying to explain to the other how each of us were right...he threw a $5 at me and said don't worry about it.

I can't believe how stupid I must have sounded. I walked up to the top of the section, sat my tub down and thought the whole thing through again. It was as if someone just turned on a light switch. It hit me. A load of bricks just landed on me. I realized how I was in the wrong the whole time and he just gave me $5 extra on top of the $3 tip for 4 beers. A knot of guilt formed in my stomach that felt like a 300lb. weight. I wasn't going to walk away and keep this $5...knowing that it wasn't even mine to begin with.

I put a death-grip on that $5 bill in my hand, picked up my beer tub and took what felt like the longest row of stairs I've ever walked down. I sat my tub down on the steps, looked over towards him with a look of despair on my face and apologized. "It was my fault sir and I am sorry." I handed the $5 back to him and he had a look of forgiveness across his face. He told me to come back later on in the game. I nodded my head in acceptance of his request and went back up the steps.

I just made myself look like an ass. I know the people around him in that section saw the whole thing unfold. That isn't something that would be great for business...to have a disagreement over a $1...looking back on it, all I can think is, 'what was I thinking?!?!?!' In any situation while working in a restaurant or food/beverage service area I have always been trained that the customer is always right. So, why in the hell did I fight this guy over a single $1?

I eventually made my way back down to his section later in the game. He motioned for me to come up to him and waved up 4 fingers. I took his order and quickly apologized again while handing him the beers. He just shot a quick laugh back at it and said it was okay. What he did next, humbled me more than anything else ever has while working at Busch Stadium. He handed me $40 and motioned with his hand to keep the change.

I just screwed up. Fought with this man over a $1. Now he is giving me a $9 tip?!?!?!

I looked up at him and I told him, 'thank you!' I pray that he could see the expression of thankfulness on my face showed and how genuinely thankful I truly felt towards him.

Humble pie has never tasted so sweet.

*************************************

With 2 weeks until the last home stand of the regular season, it's really starting to sink in. I'm not wanting this job to end. I'm enjoying it way too much. Then playoffs are around the corner. I have so much I still want to share over the next two weeks before that last home stand...so be sure to check back frequently!

Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
167 Bottles of Water
279 Bags of Peanuts
4428 Bottles of Beer

Day 66 - Final '09 Cards/Cubs Series #2

*** So I forgot two stories from Friday night. here it is: ***

I was selling a beer to this guy who looked like he had been drinking all day long, but was handling himself well and just needed about 8 beers to meet his quota for the day...I handed him the beer and told him $7.75. He looked at me and handed me a $20. He said, just give me a $10 back. I said okay and started to get a $10 out of my roll of cash and then he just said, "wait." I looked back up at him. He continued, "you know what, just keep it. It's Friday night. Keep all of it." I couldn't believe it...I just made a $12.25 tip!

*********

TBS had a thing setup outside of Busch to promote the postseason. There was a 10ft bobble-head next to their display...why didn't I take a photo of this thing, I don't know...I wish I would have. It was a giant bobble-head!

*********************************

Now for Saturday's game.

If it weren't for me checking the scores of Friday's games, I would have not realized that Saturday's game was at 3:10 and not at 7:15...I would have missed the game cause I thought it was a night game....very happy I made it on time and showed up to sell some beer!

I would walk down the aisle of one section and sell an entire case of beer. Life as a beer man on this Saturday afternoon was going very very well!

I remember being at the end of one section as the game started and noticed a girl who had an ace bandage around her elbow. I thought it looked odd to see an ace bandage wrapped around there...maybe she had surgery recently or a tattoo or something....as she walked down the aisle a bit further, I noticed that her arm looked like she had half of a flesh-colored sleeve covering from her wrist to her elbow. She got a bit closer and then I realized what was going one. She had a prosthetic arm. The prosthetic arm was attached at the elbow, thus the ace bandage...it looked real from about 20 ft away!

We also had the issue of warm beer in our beer fridge. I guess they didn't realize they needed to get extra beer up to our commissary since we sold so much the night before! I wasn't about to sell warm beer to people....Fans won't remember you for a cold beer...but they won't forget you for bringing them a warm beer! So I put a case of beer on ice in the fridge each time i took out a case, so I knew I'd have cold beer each time I came back in... That's me thinking ahead, one step at a time...like a carpenter building stairs.

Total sales for the day nearly tied my all-time best for commission and # of beer sales in a day!

Tomorrow I will feature Sunday's game! (preview: I had a fight that lasted half an inning with a fan over how much change I owed him...check back to see who was right and who got the money)

Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
163 Bottles of Water
278 Bags of Peanuts
4355 Bottles of Beer

Day 65 - Final '09 Cards/Cubs Series #1

I was excited for numerous reasons for tonight's game.
-Friday night game
-Cards/Cubs series
-Sell lots of beer
-Jack Dorsey throwing out first pitch

Now, some of you probably have no idea who Jack Dorsey is...but if you have ever heard of Twitter, you can now make a connection. Jack Dorsey is responsible for Twitter.

Jack, an STL native, was in town to accept the award of "Person of the Year" from Webster University. He was also in town to cheer on the Cards and throw out the first pitch.



But let me back up a bit...something that happened before the first pitch...



Paratroopers....yes, Army Paratroopers dropped into the stadium. It was pretty cool. Not everyday you get to see people skydive into a stadium.

Honestly, nothing too exciting happened during Friday night's game. Just an average night. No crazy stories. No crazy people giving me a hard time...just a plain old night of selling beer....which kind of sucked...was expecting great stories w/ it being a Cards/Cubs series...but I still had Saturday and Sunday to go yet....


Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
159 Bottles of Water
270 Bags of Peanuts
4238 Bottles of Beer

Day 63 & 64 - A Cheerleader & A Paparazzi

Well, this is about it...only 6 more home games for the regular season, then at them absolute most...I could work another 10 games after that...IF the Cardinals have home field advantage through the NLCS and take every series to the 5th or 7th game and make it to the World Series. At the very least, I could have only 2 more games, if they don't have home field advantage and lose in the first round. This season of my job as a beer man is coming to a close. The more they keep on winning, the longer I have a job...so let's pray they get their act together and give me an extension on my job! So many stories yet to share...So many blogs I've waited to talk about till the end of the season...(*sigh*)...but for now, here are the past 2 days of work:

Tuesday's stories:

I have numerous stories of things that I overhear while changing in the locker room...but this one might just top them all.

I was changing into my uniform when this older guy walks in and says, "Hey, aren't you that cheerleader?"

I look up with a confused look on my face and ask, "what?" (even if I did hear him, I needed him to repeat the question) I just thought to myself, 'does it look like i have a skirt on? do i have pom-poms in my hands? HELL NO! what's this guy talking about?'

He looked back at me and realized I wasn't who he was talking to/about.

He said, "Oh I thought you were that cheerleader." He read the look of confusion on my face as I shook my head and replied, "no."

"Oh, are you a beer vendor?" he asked. I said "yeah." He said, "oh. wow you look young and I thought you were him at first. That high school food vendor who is a cheerleader for his high school...he comes here and does cheers while he is selling food to get people pumped up and involved with the game....but you aren't him, so nevermind."

**************************

Wednesday stories:

Another day game = business time. That's right...tons of people in their business attire at the game. Maybe I should switch the title to "retired business time"...I witnessed something I'll hopefully never see again in my life.

I saw 3 different locations that had been turned into temporary parking lots for rascal scooters...not sure what I'm talking about? www.rascalscooters.com I'm not joking...saw about 8 or 9 of them parked next to each other inside the Red Bird Club at one point during the game.

Quite possibly the funniest and scariest sight at the same time!

Retirement homes and high schools were the main crowd at the game...scattered around were the business-folk. So many elderly people throughout the crowd falling asleep by the end of the 5th inning. Tons of high schoolers in the upper upper deck...would have hated to be working up there as a beer man...it's not like any teachers/sponsors would be buying anything....

While being assigned to commissary 441 during the day game, I decided to make my way down to the area I normally work (240-255) since there wouldn't be many beer men there at all...

It was slow to start off with...people were late to get into their seats and hardly anyone wanted to drink beer till around the 3rd inning...

While selling a few beers to these guys in one section, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a lady behind them slowly bring her camera up and snapping a few pictures of me...I was caught off guard. I had a paparazzi?

At first I was thinking, 'who wouldn't want a picture of the beer man?'...then I was like...What the heck!?!? Should I have carded those guys and is this a secret shopper catching me not carding someone? they looked like they were over 30...why is she still taking pictures of me?

I quickly got out of that section not knowing if I was caught screwing up? or what was going on?

When I got up to the commissary, I asked a supervisor if their secret shoppers snap photos of us? He said no, they would just talk to us...they don't have people taking photos...

That was comforting to know. So during last call, I decided to try my luck down that section where the paparazzi was. I sold a few beers and noticed her starting to bring her camera up...the lady next to her spoke up. We are gonna blow your picture up and put it in our scrapbook as our beer-man we had during this game. I was relieved to know she wasn't some secret shopper or some news station trying to catch beer men in the act of breaking rules....not that I had broke any, just comforting to know she was just an avid photographer. She kept taking shots of me...not putting the camera down or pulling her finger off of the button....I could hear the camera clicking non-stop! I wasn't about to just leave, I was making plenty of sales in that section at the time!

The lady that had spoken up finally told the paparazzi, "ok, that's enough. put that thing down."

They just smiled to me and told me thanks for being around in their section for the day. They were definitely a different breed of cougars that I had not encountered before...I appreciated their sincerity, but it was fricken creepy to see someone taking pictures of me like that.


Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
155 Bottles of Water
270 Bags of Peanuts
4132 Bottles of Beer

Day 62 - A Realist & A Scam Artist

Monday night games usually aren't the best nights for a beer man. Fewer people come to the games and those who are there drinking stop after a few beers because they either have to drive themselves home or are working the next day and don't want to go into work with a hangover.

Well, last night was a great night for this beer man.

With Wellemeyer on the mound, I figured it would have been an easy 'W' for the Marlins...guess the Marlins decided to show up and have their pitcher allow the Cards have some batting practice too. I mean I think the first inning took nearly an hour! I wasn't going to complain.

I was able to sell nearly 4 cases on a Monday night...which is pretty good!

*******************************

Before my night even started, I was hanging out at in the commissary talking to some of the guys. One of the food vendors (usually high school kids or anyone under 21 or anyone not selling beer) walks up to me and says, "you're the only realist here in this commissary."

I tried to understand what he was trying to say, "What do you mean?"

He just looked back at me and said, "you're the only guy that's actually real in here...these other guys are just wacked out....so you're a realist...you need to teach some of these other guys how to be chill."

I just thanked him as I was somewhat laughing at his statement, remembering back a few days ago when I had a conversation with this kid about why I wasn't married yet if I have a girlfriend. He didn't quite understand my reasoning of needing/wanting to have a full-time job before thinking about taking on the responsibility of supporting someone else besides myself. He just kept going in circles in his adolescent mind thinking of how that didn't make a bit of sense to him. So young. So naive.

*******************************

During the very first part of the game, I had just made my way down a section and was selling a couple of guys some beers when something bizarre occurred.

I carded these two guys who looked like they were in their mid-20's and they were.
I handed these guys each a beer.
I remembered as I write this that they wanted a Bud Select and a Bud Light.
I turn around to the other side of the aisle to sell a beer.
As I was finishing that sale, I hear these two guys I just sold beers to yell to get my attention.

One of them said, "is there something wrong with your case of beer? I think something is wrong with your case of beer."

I just looked back at him confused cause I hadn't had any complaints or anything...

He just held up an empty Bud Select bottle and said, "I don't know how to explain it, but I sat this down and after I put my change away, I picked it up and it was empty. There isn't anywhere that I spilled the beer or anything. It's weird man, you gave me an empty beer."

I look back at him, look down into my tub of beer, back up to him holding the empty bottle...knowing that I handed him a full beer and that I would notice handing an empty bottle to someone. I looked down at his feet and there wasn't any place that looked like there was beer spilled on the ground. I didn't see a cup that he could have poured it into or anything....there was no way he could have just chugged that bottle in that short span of time that I just made another sale.

I replied to him, "I'm sorry about that. But I know I gave you a full beer and would notice handing an empty bottle to you sir."

Then the guy in front of him spoke up to say, "ya know what, I'll just buy him a beer. I heard him saying something was weird about his beer just a second ago...I'll buy him one so no one loses here."

The original guy started to say, "no, no, no, it's okay, i'll buy it."

I wasn't about to give this tool a free beer. I could see it on his face, he was trying to score himself a free beer by confusing the little young beer man...

He bought another beer from me and I decided to stay out of that section...they've taught us that if we every have conflict or problem with a fan to simply stay out of that section...I guess they figure it's best that way so that fan doesn't try to start something the next time you come around. Avoiding someone to avoid confrontation and conflict is the best solution right? HA!

I imagine that he probably had a cup that he was hiding under something or handed a cup to someone else around him...the elderly couple sitting next to them did seem to act like something odd was going on...hmmmm...yes, maybe the 80 year old woman next to him took it....ha!

After I got back to the commissary, I explained the situation and they said it definitely sounded like a scam and that I did the right thing and to just alert other beer men so they don't get scammed.

I just laugh thinking of what he said "...there is something wrong with that case of beer..." ....ha! yeah, i should have said, "so guess won't be wanting another one then will you"... damn idiot!

*******************************

...also someone caught the stlbeerman in action.



Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I saw a kid get hit by a bat. I know it was towards the 6th or 7th inning when on of the Marlin's swung at a ball and his bat went flying over the top of the visitors dugout and hit a kid. He was alright from what I could tell. He walked it off. Medical personnel were on the scene immediately.

Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
149 Bottles of Water
264 Bags of Peanuts
3969 Bottles of Beer

Day 61 - One Happy Couple

Yesterday (Saturday) was a decent day as a beer man. Nothing too special about it with sales...but the energy of the crowd was amazing.

It felt like it was a playoff game the way the crowd was getting into it so much.

It's too bad for the outcome of this past series...really Cardinals? swept by the Braves?!?!?!

Anyways...yesterday, I think it was during the 3rd inning, I walked down to the end of a section and sat my tub down as I was about to yell out my beer call when this happened:

The couple sitting on the end of the row looked over at me with surprised looks on their faces. They just looked at me, smiled (and smiled the way you smile when you see a friend you haven't seen in awhile) and the woman asked me, "where have you been? we've been waiting for you."

Now I've had people say that to me in reference to me being 'their' beer man...but this lady just said this to me as if her and her husband were waiting for me specifically...She continued, "we waited for awhile and never saw you so we had to get up and get our beer from up there."

I just looked at them, trying to hide the confused thoughts going through my head...as I tried to think if I had ever met this couple before...and then I quickly replied, 'well, i'm here now.'

After asking me how my day had been going, as if catching up with a friend, they eventually told me to come back in a few innings and they'd buy some beer off of me.

So I did just that. Throughout the game I made 4 stops back by there to the couple...each time I came back they were happy to see me and carried on a conversation for another couple of minutes...you'd think it was the alcohol getting to them? nope...they just asked random questions about working at the stadium and if I have enjoyed it...blah blah blah...

The second to last time I went back to them, I sold them some beers and I told them that I'd be back before 'last call' was over...the woman looked at me and did a whisper towards me and in a kind of school-girlish kind of way and said, 'oh i don't think we'll need anymore, we'll be drunk by then.' Her husband just looked at me and said, 'she might be, but I'll be fine...come back before the end of the 7th.'

I did make it back to them...they were both alright to have another...they tipped pretty well throughout the game...I just found it odd that they were looking specifically for me. Each time I was selling them beer, they kept on talking to me as if they had known me for several years...it was kind of weird. They weren't drunk. I didn't recognize them as season ticket holders...so it's not like I had served them beer before...I dunno, they were happy i showed up though...

******************************

I also witnessed a guy wearing a neon-road-side-worker-green/yellow-colored shirt with a matching hat at the game.

******************************

As I was walking to the parking garage from the stadium...I witnessed this guy standing on the window ledge of the passenger side door of his vehicle.




Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
142 Bottles of Water
257 Bags of Peanuts
3881 Bottles of Beer

Day 59 - God bless you beer man!

Another day game. I didn't really know what to expect today. I knew that commissary 240 would probably be closed since our supervisor is a teacher during the day...so the beer men from there would be spread out through the stadium at other commissaries.

I quickly changed in the locker room and checked the list for today's game. I was in commissary 441. 441! I was always told that if you were ever punished for something, beer men were sent to commissary 441. I started to think through my strategic plan of how/where I would make my way down to sections 240-255....

I made my way up to 441, knowing that getting up to the commissary to get more beer wouldn't be a problem since there are escalators near by, but getting down to the 240 are would involve carrying that full tub of beer down a few sets of stairs.

I check in. I realize that Billy, the guy who works in the cooler for commissary 240 was working in 441 as well. Billy is deaf and partially mute. He is the President of an organization in Illinois for the deaf and mute. He is so funny though with the way he talks with his facial expressions and hand gestures (no, not sign language). He is like an old grandpa that you just want to hang out with cause he'd be full of great stories. I was glad to see him there because he works so hard and is such an awesome guy.

Side note: commissary 441 has a pretty crazy setup with their ice coolers. They are operated by a foot switch. There are these large coolers and they have a trap door at the bottom with a giant 'drill bit' looking thing with an electric motor on it. You have to press this foot pedal to turn on the motor and ice comes out through the trap door. Oh and if the ice gets clogged, you have to open the door that is at the top of this cooler and poke a metal rod in there to loosen up the ice. I've seen ice dispensers on refrigerators before, but this one was on steroids. Usually there is just a giant ice machine we get our ice for the beer tubs.

I think there was about 4 or 5 of us beer men from commissary 240 that I saw around that day that had made our way back to our home-turf. Compared the usual 12-15 beer men covering those sections, it was looking to be a great day of sales!

I often wonder if it is "nursing home day" or "senior citizen day" at the ball park during day games...about 40% of the fans I saw were very elderly people...most in wheel chairs sitting in the wheel-chair accessible areas. Maybe it's because by the time the night games start, they have already had their dinner and are in bed...but if that's how day games are..."senior citizen day"?...I wish every game was like this!

I bring this to attention for this reason: I had an elderly lady (probably in her 70's or 80's motioned her little hand in the air for me to come over to her. She asked for a beer. I was sort of shocked...It's not everyday that you have an elderly lady in her wheel chair motion for you to come over so she can purchase a beer. I mean, couldn't she a ticket for wheeling around in her chair under the influence?!?!

I sold her a beer and after she had her beer in hand she just looked up at me intently. It was like having a moment with Rose from Titanic at the part in the movie when she was old and telling a story about running around with Jack...anyways...she just looked back up at me with her eyes full of wisdom and said, "God bless you beer man." I wish I made this up, but it's so true. I'm pretty sure her and God had a connection going on at that time, because God did bless the beer man through this game.

I tied with my personal best in beer sales for the day. I honestly couldn't keep up with going back and forth from the commissary to the people with as fast as they were drinking the beer....actually it wasn't that they were drinking that fast, just being one of the few beer men around, made me a bit more wanted than usual as a beer man.

I had several people giving me a hard time because I wasn't around 5 minutes sooner because they had to get up out of their seat to go get a beer. Overall, an amazing day game!

Oh yeah, and that guy from last week's day game that bought an entire case from me through out the game for the group he was with...he was there at the game. He asked me if I was going to be around next Friday because he would have a huge group with him and he would be happy to have me around to buy beer from me. Oh yeah, I'll be there.

It feels awesome to have a job where everyone knows your name (beer man) and everyone's glad you came.

Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
141 Bottles of Water
247 Bags of Peanuts
3706 Bottles of Beer

Day 53 & 54 - Double Vision?

Double Vision...not just a hit song by Foreigner, but it's what I felt like I had between Tuesday's & Wednesday's games.

Sold nearly the same both nights...actually, I sold the same number of bottles of beer both nights...commission was the same (ok, so there was an $0.08 difference between the 2 nights)....and I only have a few stories from each night...so there ya go...

Tuesday night:

-Thanks to a few people in section 254, I didn't put my knee down into a pile of puke on the end of a row. I guess someone had a bit too much fun and puked. I didn't realize it and noticed people were missing from a row...and when the people in the row behind them asked for a few beers, I started to go into the row with puke and about a half step later and I would have had to buy knee pads...

-It felt like all of the weirdos decided to show up to the game on Tuesday night. I've never seen so many odd people at a ball game before. I had a few groups of people that would fit in the 'goth' category, a large number of elderly people who I found to be sleeping during most of the game (not that a lot happened other than in the first inning), I had a group of kids that decided to have their face be used as a pin-cushion and had more facial piercings than anyone I've ever seen in my life, there was a group of college aged people that kept getting ticked for being carded (if you're just turning 21 or 22 what the hell do you expect?!?!?! i card for anyone 39-1/2 and under suckas!!) Just lots of odd groups of people in my sections tonight.

Wednesday night:

-I busted a knuckle open tonight. At the top row of section 250, there is a counter-top with bar stools that people sit in...with about 4 ft between them and the brick wall. Well, when people stand up, their chair goes back, thus the smaller walk-way to get around them...well, as I was walking through there, I had to squeeze around someone and busted my knuckle open as the brick wall acted like a cheese grater on my skin. AWESOME! I was hoping my gloves would have covered the first knuckle up on my ring finger enough, but it was just at the right spot to catch it...oh the price I pay to get people their beer.

-Ironically enough, in that same section I busted my knuckle...before the game even started, I sold a bag of peanuts to a couple and they started to carry on a conversation with me. They asked if I was ever tired of working there or got tired of baseball...I replied with a "no" I don't think I could ever get tired of it...The more I thought about it, I don't ever see that happening....I mean, I'm getting paid to be at the fricken ballgame! The lady asked if I was exhausted from carrying my beer tub around...I responded with just saying that some games it feels heavier than others and the heat doesn't help some nights. She responded with, "well, you are more of a man than I am." I thought to myself, God I hope so...or you and your husband need to talk!

Day game tomorrow (Thursday). Looking forward to plenty of business men in their business suits and business socks (you know when i'm down to just my socks it's business time that's why they call them business socks...(yeah, i have to say it...(if you don't understand, go here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j94V5u53bLA ) but not that kind of business, cause i ain't gay) buy business beer tomorrow. ...lots of business mena and women at the day games...that's mostly the day game crowd since school has started back up.

Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
135 Bottles of Water
224 Bags of Peanuts
3269 Bottles of Beer

The end is near!?!?!....

I've had a few friends ask me recently if I was ready for the season to be over?...If I was prepared for the end of being a beer man.

This took me by surprise.

Am I a beer man for the Cubs or something? If so, I would know my job as a beer man would be over the last day of the regular season...but last time I checked, I work at Busch Stadium! We're in 1st place in the NLCD and that means playoffs. Not to get ahead of myself...but we just pulled ahead of the Cubs by 7 games last night. Playoffs? Me thinks so!

I mean, I guess it is already nearing the end of September and there is just a little over a month left of the regular season...but we are sitting in an amazing spot to be in the PLAYOFFS!!!!

When I first started this season, I knew that the All-Star Game was well worth working at the stadium. Shortly after the All-Star break, I felt like something wasn't the same...I didn't feel as excited to go to work at the stadium...I lost my passion...

Wait...a beer man who has passion for his job?

You better believe it. There's something about going to the stadium and being surrounded by the smells and the sounds of the game. You know what I'm talking about. Seeing a team in a city with deep roots in the American tradition of baseball. I love it! I LOVE MY JOB!

As for being finished after this season...HA! I mean, hopefully I'll have a full-time job by the beginning of the 2010 season and have no need to work as a beer man...BUT...as long as my job schedule would allow for it, I have full intentions of at least working Friday and Saturday games through next season. Why not?!?!? It'd be easy extra money. I use the term "easy" lightly...because of the actual physical labor that is involved with the job. As long as I live in the STL area, I have full intentions of continuing this job...I love it!

The only problem I currently have is not knowing what days we'll be playing in October. Yes, they have the general dates of each playoff round, but not sure when those games will be at Busch...

Day 51 & 52 - Vomit, Locusts & Leather Chaps

On my way out of the stadium on Friday night, I was in a hurry to get around to the other side of the stadium to meet up with a few friends. The sidewalks were crowded and it was tough to maneuver through everyone...then I nearly stepped into a puddle of puke. Vomit was all over the ground...someone must have done a great job of projecting that...cause it had splattered around in a radius of 6-7 feet. Thank God I was looking down...I did see a few people walk right through it...which nearly made me gag. The site/sound/thought of puke makes me gag. It was tough to even write this paragraph...

The heat was harsh on Friday and Saturday night's games. I haven't felt the effects of the heat as bad as I did this weekend. I had to stop every section just about to take a drink and wipe the sweat from my face.

As I was walking out of the parking garage on Saturday, I had a sudden thought in my mind that we were about to be facing plagues of locusts.


I've lived in the country before, but I've never seen a locust as big as this one! It was still there when I got back to the garage Saturday night. I think it waved to me.

After thinking through how having plagues would effect the world today in my head...I was walking through the parking lot next to the stadium where the old stadium used to be...that's when I saw over half of the parking lot full of Harleys. I guess there was some big promotion/sponsor by Harley Davidson for the game. Usually I'll see plenty of fans bring gloves to the games, but I've never seen so much leather in the stands as I did on Saturday night.

I saw so many leather chaps & biker chicks (not the hot ones either...the kind that could beat me up and). There were numerous women supportn' the dike spike...women that had hair much shorter than me. I saw a few dudes with pony tails that were a few feet long. It was insane.

I know I posted a new poll recently...I encourage you to vote...and be sure to check back here on Tuesday for a special blog where I'll be sharing this area with a guest blogger. Together we will tackle the topic of "Flirting: is it okay if it gets you a bigger tip?" This has been a topic that has been on my mind for awhile and with the upcoming away series for the Cards, I want to still give you something to read and ponder.

Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
130 Bottles of Water
213 Bags of Peanuts
3139 Bottles of Beer

Day 45 - The beer man has NOT left the building...

It's taken me a bit to cool down after tonight. I had an amazing night in sales and just an overall great night and then I tried to stay and watch the game.

I'll get to that later...first...the stories from the night...

-I witnessed a man in his 70's have his collar popped on his polo. He was also carrying 2 beers and a huge thing of nachos.

-Manny still got booed...it was plenty worse tonight...guess if your name gets added to the bad list for the '03 season you just get more boo's. I didn't feel bad at all when Manny was booed...he deserved every bit of it tonight. I even noticed some Dodger fans booing him!

-I ran into an old boss. Not just any old boss...but the president of the college where I was laid off from...which has inevitably allowed me to get such jobs as being a beer man at Busch Stadium. He had a sheepish grin on his face as he said hi to me...He was accompanied by 2 professors from said college. I was semi-hoping they would buy a beer from me...but they seemed to have stuck with their soda and peanuts. I'm hoping he saw me in action and felt some regret for the layoff they had to make...I won't lie though...I'm beyond blessed that I'm not still there though! I can't imagine working there with the pay cuts and such that have had to take place over the past few months...not to mention, several other reasons why I'm much happier selling beer and doing contract jobs around STL as a web/graphic designer.

-I have been told before that I have a "booming" voice. I have also had a few nights when I felt like my voice just wouldn't project very far. Well tonight I think I projected very well. I may have accidentally caused an older gentlemen to nearly have a heart attach. I was at the end of the steps in a section knelt down about to yell out my beer call. I projected, "ICE COLD BEER! ICE COLD BUD, BUD LIGHT, BUD SELECT! ICE COLD BEER HERE!" As I said the first part of my beer call, I noticed the older gentlemen next to me jump as if he was scared to death...He immediately reached his hand up to his ear and started to mess with his hearing aid. I felt awful. I could see the expression on his face that he just experienced some pain. I apologized and he said he was okay, he just needed to be sure to keep it turned down a bit when I came by...I apologized again and just made sure I either didn't go down that section the rest of the night or not be right next to him when I'd yell out my beer call.

-I decided that after last night's lengthy game in extra innings, that I wanted to witness something like that again if it'd happen tonight...So I check out and clock out and decide to stand behind the bleachers, next to a merchandise booth behind left-center field. I wasn't blocking anyone's view and I was having to watch the game through the bars of some bleachers...Not the best view, but hey, I could still see the action around the diamond. I watch about 3 or 4 plays when I get a tap on the shoulder. It was one of the supervisors for Sports Services. He motioned for me to come with him. I honestly didn't know what I was gonna hear from him. He just looked at me and said, "You aren't supposed to be in the building." I was kind of shocked but at the same time I wasn't about to fight with him on something and get in some sort of trouble or risk losing my only job. ...not that I could really have gotten fired, possibly written up...but I found out earlier in the night that they have started to let people go recently...starting with the high schoolers who are food vendors and not making much commission...and if they need to cut beer men, they said they will... So he stood there and watched me walk out of the gate...I didn't turn around to see if he guarded the gate, I just decided I'd walk over to Mike Shannon's and watch it there...by the time I got over to Shannon's I decided that I just wanted to get home. I was exhausted and hungry...and when Josh gets hungry, Josh gets cranky. I'm glad I didn't stay...glad I didn't get to stay...since they did cough up the game in the 10th. Oh well...we still won the series!

Overall as for sales, a great night! I've been very impressed and blessed with my sales this week...Looks like I've been nudging my way into the top half of most sales for the beer man of my commissary.

Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
90 Bottles of Water
177 Bags of Peanuts
2606 Bottles of Beer

Day 44 - "ID please"...."you're a hard ass!"

I really don't know what I could say that could even compare to the game that took place last night.

I am still mad at myself for leaving the stadium last night. By the time I got through checking out and clocked out, it was the middle of the 9th inning. I decided that I would get to my car in time to beat the traffic since I knew I had a busy day ahead of me. As I was walking across the parking lot next to the stadium, I hear the roar of the crowd as the Cardinals got a runner on second and had the game winning run at the plate.

I walked past Mike Shannon's and stopped to look up at one of the screens that the game was projected onto. The "bouncer" standing there told me to come on in and I could watch if I wanted to from inside...I was rather shocked I wasn't carded...but maybe I'm just used to being the "hard ass" (yes, I was called that last night) that I am carding people in the stadium.

I watched the Cards tie up the game and I decide to head on home...I couldn't go back into the stadium anyways or I would have gone back in...and I personally didn't care to just stand around at Shannon's in my sweat-soaked uniform.

It was weird. I was sitting at home watching the game I was just working at. Then I got pissed. I realized my phone just died, so I went to grab the charger from my room and when I came back and looked at the tv, the game was over. Albert's walk-off hit was amazing...seen through replays...oh well...I have a hunch I'll see him hit many homeruns at a home game this season...

Anyways...last night was pretty amazing...not just the game, but in sales. I did pretty well! I decided that I would stop selling Cracker Jacks and sell bottled water in its place since I'd make more commission off of bottled water. Not to mention, cracker jack sales haven't been the best for me lately...

Stories and such from last night's game -

-I was called a "hard ass". I had a group of 4 ask for 4 beers. The guy on the end asked for them. I only got a quick glance at him and the guy next to him and the girl in the 4th seat down, but not the 3rd person. Since they looked like they were in their late 20's, I still carded them. (Reminder: we are to ID anyone who appears to be under 31 1/2) So the guy asked if I needed all 4 of them and I said yes. Well that 3rd person I didn't get a look at, looked like it was this dude's mom. He showed me his ID and he said he was 33 and his wife was older than him. So he showed me his wife's ID and she was older than him...she was in her late 40's...nearly a 15 year age difference....Anyways the girl at the end who I did see before wasn't too happy either...she asked me if I really needed to see her ID because she was going to have trouble getting it out of her wallet with a sprained wrist...she then lifted her wrist up to show the brace she had on. I asked if one of the guys could please help her and they finally got it. She was upset to the point where she wasn't even wanting the beer and called me a hard ass for carding them when they were clearly old enough...I gave them their 4 beers and collected their money...

My job as a beer man...(my only job and only source of income)...is too important to me to keep than to get fired for not carding someone and possibly getting caught selling to a minor! It seems to be that about every night, I have just one or two groups who get all pissed off about me carding them. Most people already have their ID ready for me to check. What's the big deal? If someone has gray hair and is obviously in their 80's, no, I won't card them...9 times out of 10, people (ladies) appreciate being carded.

-I sold an entire case of beer by only walking down one row of steps into one section...awesomeness! I nearly sold another full case during the bottom of the 7th inning in a different section!

-During the play where Manny caught that ball that cause a stir in the crowd, personally, it looked like it was a homerun where Manny put a little hollywood into it to get it called fan interference...I don't know why all of the fans thought that the beer man would know everything about that play that just happened, but I was bombarded with questions from people asking me what happened and why they called back that homerun...I just replied back that it'd be on Sports Center or Baseball Tonight later tonight...and it was.

Overall, I think I did pretty well in sales compared to other beer men...I sold right at 3 1/2 cases and I was shocked to hear how some of the guys didn't even get past their 2nd case...

I've come to learn that as a beer man, it's not just about making 'regular' customers through a game, but also being in the right spot at the right time....basically having ice cold beer when everyone around you is thirsty. ...mmmmm...that just made me thirsty...

Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
86 Bottles of Water
176 Bags of Peanuts
2511 Bottles of Beer

Day 43 - Rain, Rain, Go Away

I wanted to make sure tonight was well worth showing up for work. I had decided to play the responsible card and not go with friends to 6-Flags today and actually go to work...since the stadium job is currently my only source of income. So I told myself that I wanted to be sure tonight was well worth showing up for.

Then the rain came...and never left...well, not until around 8 did it clear up, only to start to sprinkle an hour later for most of the remainder of the game.

With an hour and 35 minute rain delay, we had to stop selling beer at 10. This didn't make many people happy...which I'll get to in a bit.

I had only sold 4 beers before the game started....4! oh, well that's not bad right? well, when I was working for a solid hour and 35 minutes before the game started...yeah...that's bad. You'd think people would just drink away during a rain delay...not tonight...everyone was off to a slow start. I was wondering if being responsible was a mistake for the day and 6-Flags would have been the best option....Finally people started drinking as soon as the first pitch was thrown. It was like a switch that was turned on in them. Baseball game started = time to drink brewskies.

The rain delay caused for plenty of people to crowd the Redbird Club. They were craving for this game to start...and as soon as the teams took the field, the Redbird club looked like a ghost town.

Stories...oh the stories:

-Manny was once again booed. When his name was announced, as he came to the plate, even as he fielded a ball hit into right field...no love for Manny. This actually kind of saddened me. Not that I'm a Manny fan, but for the little kids that showed up that were Manny fans. I saw numerous kids who were decked out in their Manny attire and were there to see their hero play ball. To bad their hero cheated...and most of them (the small children in Manny attire) don't understand that yet...and all they knew was that their hero wasn't welcome in Busch Stadium.

-After the game had started, I started walking the steps through the sections. I was walking down the steps of one section and before I even took the first step, I heard someone next to me ask for a Bud Light. I turn to my right and there is sitting a young guy on the end of the row and with him were two young girls next to him and a guy who might have been 21 next to the girls. I turn around and ask for his ID. He looked like he was already having a rough life and me asking for his ID is what sent him over the edge. He started to cuss and complain about me carding him. He never said it to my face, but as he was digging through his wallet, he would say how it was bullsh*t that I was carding him and how it was going to be f*cking ridiculous to be carded every time he wanted a beer. I read the expressions on the girls' face sitting next to him and they seemed to already be irritated by their friend's attitude. He hands me his ID, and the guy just turned 21 a few months ago. I guess when you turn 21, everyone simply knows you're 21 and you shouldn't have to be carded ever again....FALSE! I handed him his ID back and started to get his beer for him and told him it would be $7.75. He then fumbled through his wallet and started cussing some more about being carded.

At this point, I was already pissed at this kid and now he was sending me over the edge. I had already planned out in my head how I was going to be sure I spread the word to other beer men to keep their eye out for this kid and card him every damn time...or simply cut him off, since we do reserve the right to refuse a sale to anyone.

Anyways...back to this dumb ass sitting here fumbling with his dollar bills. He had to ask the girl next to him for a dollar in quarters cause he only had $6.75 on him. She fished out quarters for him...clearly he wasn't a big tipper...and I didn't expect it from the moment I saw him. He took the beer and handed it down to his friend sitting a few seats down from him. I said, "wait, I didn't know it was for him, I need to see an ID first." The kid buying the beer started to cuss some more about beer men ID'ing him and his friends. The guy who he bought the beer for said, "dude, chill, he is just doing his job." That's when this kid looked up at me as I was getting the other guy's ID and said, "wait, honestly, who do you think looks older?" I looked at his friend who had a much older look about himself and a half-beard growing...and then I looked back at the punk who had the baby-face going for him...and I said, "your friend does." That just pissed him off more...His friend was older. He was 22. So I gave him the beer and his buddy was still pissed and cussing and moaning about me ID'ing him. I just looked at him and told him, "I'm just doing my job. We ID everyone who appears to be 31 1/2 and under. You won't be able to go anywhere else in this stadium and not get ID'd." I then told him thank you for the sale and walked away.

As I made my way back up to the top of the steps of that section a few minutes later, he just glared at me the whole time I walked past him. He looked like he was having fun...like as if he thought he was amazing and had a much older look/appearance about himself...I would love to have that moment relived tonight, because I would have been a much more of a smart ass back to this guy. As the night progressed, I passed by him 2 more times going into that section and every time I would walk up the steps, I'd glance over that way to see if anyone wanted a beer and he'd be there glaring right back at me as if I just ruined his life forever.

-At 9:45, I started to announce 'last call'. Several people didn't like this. Since the game was still in the middle of the 5th, most people were expecting beer sales to continue through to the bottom of the 7th. I had one guy look very confused and almost sad as if he was going to cry and asked why we were ending so early. I explained how we are only allowed to sell till 10 because of the liquor license at Busch Stadium. I won't lie, the guy looked like he was ready to cry. Another group of guys we wanting to know what happened if there was another rain delay and the game lasted till 1 or 2 a.m. I told them that no matter what, we were done at 10. These guys weren't happy. They wanted to know who made those rules and why would we stop selling to beer-thirsty people? I explained it to them, but I think they had already drank a few too many to comprehend anything that was going on.


Totals thus far:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks
80 Bottles of Water
171 Bags of Peanuts
2427 Bottles of Beer

Day 41 - 42 - Hit the Ground Running

It's been awhile since my last post. It has felt good to take a short break after the All-Star festivities. I did work the Friday night game following the All-Star Game against Arizona...It was decent. Honestly, not that many stories from it.

Several people would ask if I was there during the All-Star Game and wanted to know what that was like. I'll be honest, it still hasn't fully hit me that I was there.

I then took that Saturday game off and I went to the game on Sunday with my smokn' hot girlfriend. 3rd row up from center field in the bleachers...not a single hit out to us the whole game. We won though.

And now after having over a full week away from the stadium, I hit the ground running last night. A sold-out crowd in attendance to welcome in the new Cardinal's we had gained over this past weeks road trip.


Highlights/stories from working last night:

-Manny got booed and it was delicious!

-Holliday received a standing ovation from the his new hometown fans. Personally, I think Lugo should have gotten a standing-o as well, I mean, both guys are on fire!

-I had a really cool group of older guys who were Dodgers fans who kept buying from me all night and told me to come back tomorrow night cause they'd be there and would buy from me again.

-I witnessed an older guy (Cards fan)...I mean he had to be in his late 70's...maybe even 80's and he was standing up yelling and cussing at Manny and the Dodgers for keeping Manny. It was a sight to see...it was simply hilarious to hear an old man cuss.

-I had a fan who kept asking me for Grey Goose. I told him I only had Bud, Bud Light and Select Beer, he would simply respond in a goose-ish yell "Grey Goose". He had a good laugh and every time I walked by him, he'd yell, 'Grey Goose'.

-I think someone crapped their pants in section 251. I didn't even bother going down the steps into that section one time because the smell was so awful and so strong. People were complaining to the ushers and I think someone set off a stink-bomb...

Overall, a great night! Thanks to the bottom of the 7th, and the Dodgers' pitching changes, I was able to sell nearly a whole extra case of beer. I did just as good in sales as I did during the All-Star Game...If I keep this up all week...I could get away with only working at the stadium for the next month...

Games every night for the rest of the week...hopefully lots of stories to share!

Totals thus far:
72 Bags of Cracker Jacks
80 Bottles of Water
165 Bags of Peanuts
2381 Bottles of Beer

Day 40 - The All-Star Game

**Editor's Note** (This is part 3 of a 3 part blog covering the 3 events this beer man will be working at during the All-Star break)

***I have pictures of the events that took place during the All-Star Game that I have yet to upload. I plan to have them uploaded on here in the next few days.

To start off the day, I had to park in a different garage. The garage I usually park in was full...was I surprised? No. It was the fricken day of the All-Star Game. So I parked in the Macy's garage since we could use our parking passes there for the All-Star events....so I only spent $6.50 instead of $15 on parking that the Macy's garage was charging.

I was worried about making it into the stadium on time since the Red Carpet Parade was going on when I got downtown. I didn't know how I was going to get across Market Street to get to the stadium in time...and then to stand in line to get through the security/secret service. My luck would have it that the parade ended just as I was getting up to the corner of Broadway and Market. So I made it across the red carpet and headed to Gate 6. Gate 6 was the only gate Sports Services employees could go through. I saw the long line and decided that I would try my luck of jumping the line and going through. I walked straight up to the security and they let me in after going through the metal detector. I guess they hadn't officially opened the gates to fans. The guard went through every single zipper on my backpack. I was asked to turn my phone and camera on to show them that were actually what they looked like...an iPhone and a camera...As I entered through the gate, there were numerous secret service men standing there as well as a few drug dogs there to help sniff people out.

While waiting for the game to start, the beer men in commissary 240 were looking down at the field and all of the commotion going on throughout the stadium from the top of section 240. That's when one of the beer men noticed the snipers on the roofs. With Obama coming to throw the first pitch, there was so much security. There were 2 snipers at each of the three locations on the top of the roof above sections 370, 430, and 450. It was awesome and crazy to see at the same time.

I started to go out and sell about 2 hours before the game was supposed to start. I made a few sales...but nothing too amazing...I had a case sold before the line up was announced. But a story I want to share is about someone I met. I didn't get the guys name...but he had on a very very very large ring on his finger. Let's just say it was a Super Bowl ring. It was large! I could see the Super Bowl trophy on the top of the ring with shinny gems around it and I could tell that it said 197-. I couldn't tell what the last digit was, but it was from the 1970's. The guy was probably in his late 50's....so it's not like I could card him to find out who he was...but I was in a state of shock and awe of this dude and his ring that I just froze. He told me to be sure to visit frequently with cold beer. I went back to that section several times and he never needed a beer whenever I came back. He was with a few other guys who just shunned me away when I came back with more beer....

Before the game even started...there was the opening ceremonies...almost like the Olympics Opening Ceremonies...ok, but on a slightly smaller scale. After I sold through my first case of beer, I loaded back up and stood between section 249 and 250. There were so many people standing in between the sections...the supervisory for my commissary was standing there next to me and she saw me trying to take pictures. She came over to me and told me to take my beer tub down the steps and then sit on it at the front row of the section and take pictures. So I did just that.

I was able to take numerous pictures of the announcing of the line up and seeing Sheryl Crow sing the National Anthem. It was amazing to see the standing ovation that Albert got when he was announced. When the video of the 5 Presidents was played...Obama did get booed...while the other 4 presidents got very loud cheers. George W. Bush with the loudest cheers...which was rather odd in my opinion. There was even a mixture of cheering and booing when Obama came out for the first pitch. When this was brought up in the commissary between the beer men when we were checking out...a flood of debates flared up between Democrats and Republicans and who screwed up the most in the past as President...blah blah blah...all I know is the truth is that Obama got booed...and Bush got loud cheers...it was just crazy....I didn't cheer for any of them honestly.

After the National Anthem was sang, an amazing event occurred...a stealth bomber flew over the stadium...it looked so huge compared to the pics I got. It looked so close to the stadium when it flew over. It was amazing!

It was then that the usher at the end of the steps i was standing next to told me to make my way back up the steps... I couldn't believe this crap...I was out of everyone's way and doing no harm to anyone. So I went up to the top of the steps and just stood on the top of the case of beer in my beer tub to get a better view of the field over the people standing in front of me. I got a few pictures of Obama taking the mound for the first pitch. I saw the replay on Sports Center and I think that for Obama being as ripped as he has been portrayed in photos, that was a weak pitch to Albert.

I didn't see a single beer man moving through any aisle while the opening ceremonies were taking place. It was quite the site to see...so many people packed into the stadium and no one moved or did anything besides stand and cheer during the half hour before the game started.

Once the opening ceremonies concluded, it was on like donkey kong...I sold my second case of beer in a matter of minutes...and then it was like pulling teeth to sell anything for the next hour. But after making one sale in this one section to this grandpa (I say that cause he was talking to me about his grandsons sitting next to him) he bought a Bud Light from me. I walked to the end of the steps and while I was looking back up, I saw the grandpa about 3/4 of the way up the section and he looked down to one of his grandsons...probably the youngest of the 3 grandsons...I'd say about 5 years old, and gave him a drink of beer from the bottle. I was shocked. I started to make my way up to report him when he already made his way out of the section. I told an usher and left it for him to deal with. I hear numerous people near him yell at him and he just chuckled and asked his grandson if he liked it and he said yes...

This next story is rather amazing!!! I was on my way up the steps of one section when this guy motioned for 2 beers. I recognized the two gentlemen sitting there from standing around behind section 250 for the first inning or two...so I imagined they had standing room only tickets. Anyways....as I made my way over, I noticed that one guy had a Royals jersey on and was sleeping! I'm not joking, the guy had his eyes closed! So maybe he was praying...I'm not sure, but he had his eyes closed! When his buddy asked him what kind of beer he wanted he quickly woke up and looked around...

That's when I had the most amazing conversation with this gentlemen in the Royals jersey. He asked me if I was a NASCAR driver too. I looked at him and was confused as every. I told him no. He replied, "well you wear the same gloves as them NASCAR drivers"
I told him that I had them to help me get a better grip on my beer tub.
"So is this a summer job?"
"No...this is kind of actually my job right now" I said.
"Oh? well what do you do?"
I told him how I am a graphic designer and was laid off from my job and was finishing up a contract job that ended this Friday.
He went on to tell me that I had an amazing job to get my by in the mean-time and then told me how his wife works for a promotional company and they are always looking for graphic designers...and then asked me if I had a card on me.
"No, but I can email" I said as I pulled out my iPhone.
"Do that. Send me your contact info. Be sure to remind me that you were the beer man at the All-Star Game...and I'll see what myself or my wife can do for you."
So I got his email address and am sending him an email as soon as this blog is completed.

That'd be pretty sweet to possibly get a job from simply talking to someone while being a beer man...but then again, he did have a Royals jersey on and was sort of sleeping...THROUGH THE ALL-STAR GAME!!!!


This next story is just down right hilarious...well, I was simply quick witted and shut a fan up pretty quick. I was making a sale to lady who looked rather young for her age, so I carded her and she was actually 25 and was buying 2 beers from me. I carded her. As I was about to open the first beer a man behind me yelled, "hey, beer man!" So I turned around, thinking I was going to make another sale before the end of the inning and the guy yelled to me, "Is she even old enough to be buying those beers from you?" I said, "Yeah, she is. I carded her." I went back to finishing the sale with the young lady and heard the same guy yell again, "Hey beer man!" I turned back towards him and he yelled, "are you sure? because she doesn't even look old enough!" I quickly yelled back to him, "Well neither do I!" He just looked back at me slightly puzzled and turned back around.

Overall, it was an awesome night! I didn't sell as much as I had hoped for, but 4 cases wasn't too bad either. I was honestly hoping to sell at least 5...but for some reason, people weren't drinking that quick after the game was half-way through...and it didn't help that the game went by quickly.

On my way back to my car, I was kicking myself in the butt for not trying to get one of the seat cushions that was placed on every single seat in the stadium. It was a promotion by State Farm, but looked really sweet and had the All-Star logo on it. I was wanting one really bad...So I asked a guy that was walking in front of me that had 3 seat cushions if he was needing all 3 of them or was willing to get rid of one of them. He looked back at me and said, "Yeah, I need them" and him and his buddy turned and went a different direction from where I was walking. The tone in his voice was as if I was someone trying to scam him or was about to mug him...I couldn't believe it...I asked politely...oh well...better luck next time i guess...

I still can't believe that I was blessed and fortunate enough to be a part of something so amazing as the All-Star Game. I am so blessed to have been laid off from that job I had nearly a year ago. I just can't wait to see what other doors open up!

Be sure to check back here in the next few days for photos I took of the All-Star Game.

Totals thus far:
65 Bags of Cracker Jacks
80 Bottles of Water
158 Bags of Peanuts
2221 Bottles of Beer