No phone... No clue

Well. Today was interesting. Not sure where to start - but lets begin at the top.

Jess has recently started a very coveted job as a bartender at Vue De Monde. My complete ignorance to the prestige associated with fine dining became apparent when i didn't gush along with everyone else when she got the position. In my 6 days in Melbourne though, I have quickly learnt that Vue De Monde is actually a "thing". So - Jess got home at around 5.30am, and since I am sleeping in her bed, and possess her keys, got to wake up to let her in. While she had been at work, I had had a trial at a pub down in the Docklands ("no one goes to the Docklands... at all" - some delightful IT Pommie had told me only a day earlier.... thanks mate, but its my only job thus far.... dont knock it until Ive been there!!!) and it had gone seemingly well. It was quite quiet (love the English language) as it was a Thursday, and the only thing that really drew people down that way was the Footy Show which is recorded just around the corner. I was in and out in 3 hours. No big deal for me - I wasn't planning anything exciting anyways! And I got a free pint of 150 Lashes and a MASSIVE chicken parmi!

So Jess came home late and we discussed the job. It was mine if I wanted it, and there was potential for FT work. Lord knows they needed me.... none of the other staff could make coffee (mind you, even being from Brisbane, I tried their beans and couldnt even finish the sip it was so bad!!!), they all standed around and gossiped instead of finding things to clean etc, and I was great with the customers. Also, I needed the job. Although I had only been in Melbourne 5 days and really had no reason to feel anxious, I was also acutely aware of how much I was relying on my family to have my back financially. I wanted to have my own back. The pay was, well, more than I earnt at Big W when I was 14, but did not include super or annual leave etc. However, it was more than I would be earning sitting at home. So although Jess was mortified and told me that he "was taking the piss out of me" I agreed to go in for a shift today at 5pm. Which would apparently be far busier as the fireworks are on each Friday during winter.

After driving through Brunswick East and dropping off my resume at 2 specially picked cafes (despite having emailed the bosses the day before, I seemed to have arrived JUST as they were in meetings or had just stepped out!) I raced home, woke up Jess, had lunch and then headed to work. Patrick, the delightful Irish "manager" as such said I get a free feed, so could come in 45mins early and pick something up before I started. I craved a "salad" but was then given a caesar salad. I should have got a parmi! I started a bit early because, well, first impressions, and was hounded right from the get go. The fireworks were cancelled due to the fact that a group of people on the Malaysia Airlines flight were on their way to a conference nearby Docklands in regards to AIDS research, or something of the like. So it was in respect to them.... or something... that they were cancelled. Despite that, the place was packed. And I was happy as there is nothing worse than going to work and being sent home after only 2 hours because it is too quiet.

There was a group of guys in for their mates birthday - an IT business owner. He was a lovely guy with a boyish face. He was very sweet to me, but instead of paying his order with cash, another guy said to put it on his tab. Now I am just getting used to their operating system, and know by now that once I have put an order under a table, you can't just change the table. Well, you can, but I had no idea how. The boss walked past and I thought "great, you can quickly fix this". Nope. Wrong. So so wrong.

I knew where I had made a mistake - however it was not a mistake, as the circumstances of the sale changed halfway through. If I had known the charge was going onto the tab right from the get go, I could have worked it out. But instead of listening to me, my boss decided to berate me. Horrifically. In front of the group of customers I had so happily been serving. It was a simple measure to alter the docket, but I simply did not have the managerial logins to do what needed to be done. The poor customers watched in horror as my new boss attempted to talk down to me, and make fun of me in front of the customers. If that wasnt bad enough, as I tried to pour the drinks, he started abusing me for "not watching what he was doing instead" - which I had just told him I would have done HAD THE CIRCUMSTANCES BEEN DIFFERENT!

I am ever a professional, so bit my tongue. But the look of shock on the customers face proved to me that the way he spoke to me in front of them did more damage to his business than a simple misunderstanding with the new bartender did. To prove this, the birthday boy kept apologising for putting me in this situation (soooo not his fault!) and the older gentleman who had the tab came past and gave me a $10 tip - and offered to buy me a pink cocktail later! I am happy to be 'told' if I have made a mistake - however do not accept being humiliated when 1. I have done nothing actively wrong, 2. I am NEW and 3. Instead of talking in private, it is done in a way to boost his own ego, as if "he needs to do it all himself".

So I walked away, cleaned some glasses, and came back to the bar smiling. He will not have power over my emotions. No Sir. The other girls completely backed me up - they were all English and Irish, and said he was the same to all of them so not to take it personally. Even Patrick apologised for him - but I said that wasn't necessary. He will suffer the consequences when he has no staff to fill in the shifts for him. I finished my shift and grabbed my pint of cider (MUCH deserved!). I started talking to the guy with the tab who gave me the tip, and after much discussing of overseas travel, found out his BROTHER lived in my home town. Well, worked in Murwillumbah but lived in Uki. Unbelieveable.

I decided shortly after to go for the tram. I am moving tomorrow and really needed sleep. As I walked out, the birthday boy followed me. I hadnt spoken to him much after I finished, so thought he just wanted to say goodbye or something. Instead he walked with me towards the tram. I suppose I should take it as a compliment that the first thing he said to me was "I have a girlfriend, so don't worry, I am not trying to hit on you". Instead, what he offered was much better than a number. He was so appalled by the way this boss had spoken to me, that he wanted to find me a new job. Being a very successful IT guy meant he had a lot of accounts at a lot of bars and restaurants, that he frequently visited with clients. A lot of his IT friends also had bars too. We chatted, and he asked for my email/number so that he could pass it onto his contacts in the industry, and hopefully get me something else, as he hated the idea of me agreeing to go back again after the way he spoke to me. We had a lovely chat, and then his girlfriend came so he had to go! Bye random friend ;)

I jumped on the next tram and texted some friends while reading my Kobo, until my phone died. At which point, I focused on my book. I kept an eye on the number stop I was supposed to get off at, and where we were. Stop 18. Huh. I think this is mine. I got up and as the tram pulled to a stop, realised my mistake. I had looked at the stops for 75 not the 70 line that I was on. I should have just stayed on but it felt like the whole tram was watching me, so I got off, thanked the driver, and then stood in the middle of nowhere with no Google Earth to help me get my bearings, and thought, well shit. So, I thought I was about 4 stops early from where I wanted to go, so headed up the street. I noticed the next stop was 29, and I had just got off at 18, and then I remembered. I got on at stop 11.

By this stage, the half litre of cider was working its way out of my stomach and into my bladder, and my bladder is not that big. So I was already struggling. But now I realised that I was a very very very long way from anything that I knew. Luckily, an opposing tram came and was the same number. I quickly realised I had to go back a few stops, so jumped on (also, my card had apparently run out of money, so I THANK GOD had an old invalid concession card myki which still had $7 on it!!!) and headed back. I thankfully found my way at the RIGHT station, but being the weirdo that I am, decided to stop past the 7-11 (in my 2 shirts, jumper jacket and thermals) and buy myself a Golden Gaytime. Because I needed a bit of Gayness now that it had taken me well over an hour to get home!

Which leads me to know. Cold(er since I had the icecream), sitting in the living room for my last night as a Richmond nomad, full of hope (and battery!) for the future, and possessing a happy empty bladder. Life is good right?