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.

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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!

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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!

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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

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 12 & 13 - Old Style, Personal Best & People's Worst

My first Cards/Cubs home series as a beer vendor has come to an end.

I want to start off by saying something about Cubs fans...

Cubs fans tip better than Cardinal fans, which I appreciate!
Cubs fans are polite when they are losing or lose a game
Cubs fans are cockier/annoying more than ever when they have the lead or win a game!

You see, the bit about them tipping is a fact...I had more tips from Cubs fans than Cards fans...I also came up with a clever beer call while the Cubs were in town..."Ice Cold Beer! Bud Light, Bud Select, Old Style...Just Jokin!" You see, most of the Cub fans got a laugh out of it...some felt led on, I found it to be clever! (for those that don't know, Old Style is the beer of choice at Wrigley Field)

Saturday's stories:

I nearly got flashed... Fact: I would have been flashed if I hadn't of turned my head away. There was this girl who was already pretty wasted and well, she about as big around as a pencil and probably didn't even weigh in at 100lbs....and she had on a tube-top that was probably the wrapper to a straw...well, i don't know how to put it politely, but she was not gifted with anything to help keep her top up...she was jumping around as a few runs were being scored, I didn't realize it till it was almost too late as i was standing right next to her after after just selling a few beers to the row across from her...I quickly looked the other way and was yelling out my call.....well, what she barely had was about to pop out and as I turned away I heard her say a few words that she shared with everyone how tired she was of popping out of her f'n top and flashing everyone...

I had my best day ever! Personal best so far this season! I sold 5 cases!...during last call, didn't even get out of a section without selling everything left in my tub! Great day indeed!

Sunday's stories:

The atmosphere at Sunday's game was very intense. I saw numerous cards/cubs fans get into dispute about who was sitting in who's seats...I saw more police and security than ever on the move through out the game. I saw several people drunk before the game had even started.

It felt as if everyone was on their worst behavior...everyone was acting rude, very irritated...and the game hadn't even started...

I had beer spilled onto me today...no crazy story other than the dude wasn't paying attention and wasted about $3.50 of beer onto me.

I found an entire section from Quincy, IL...as I was carding most of them, I mentioned how I was from Hannibal...it didn't help with the tip and it didn't help with starting conversation with any of them...oh well...

I was being "watched" by one of our supervisors today while selling and I didn't even know it till I walked back towards the commissary and saw her there. I just said hi to her and she asked what I had left in my tub...I had just sold out of my 4th case during last call. She was happy for me, told me to sign on this paper that showed her observations...it showed that I did a perfect job! I was pleased.


Once again this coming week, another week of away games...thank God!...my arms/hands/legs/shoulders/back/knees need a break! I'll be doing another Q & A blog if there are any Q's posted (so post them as a comment and i'll answer them) on here....also, look for a blog about how all of us guys in Commissary 240 have become like a platoon of solders and how an ex-Marine walked out after one day of work as a beer man (true story)....also this coming week, I'll share a few other thoughts of what it's like to be an STL Beer Man.