3 People I Met In F&B Industry Who The Universe Use To Relay A Message Of Moving On
being a bartender is my life coping mechanism too…i felt so done with life.
Water had always been the closest element to me. Once, a Muslim hypnotizer-therapist asked me if I always loved to play with water.
I didn’t get it. I wouldn’t dwell on questions that were vague. I gave my attention and energy only to what were crystal clear.
Since the day my dad passed away, my life came to a sudden standstill. I didn’t want to waste time. I wanted to plunge into a full-time job.
It would be 100 days of my dad’s passed on and I hadn’t got started on any job as a full-timer.
And the universe sent 3 persons into my life so suddenly to speak to me. It all happened through water or liquids I dealt with in all forms.
The VSOP
I wasn’t from a mixologist course. I wasn’t drunk wild party girl in my 20s or 30s. I learned on the spot — trained by my manager. Wine had been my favorite.
I made cocktails. I created mocktails. I reinvented drinks for events with the help of former bartenders who gave feedback what was lacking.
Out of nowhere, an operations manager from an international hotel line joined one of the wedding events. After a few rounds of earning extra income, he blurted to me…
“Lissa…Get ready your resume. I’m serious. You just make sure you get ready your resume. I want you to come onboard with my team…It is my part to fight for your Assistant Manager position. It is your part to be confident whether you could do it or not.” — OM
He said that when I poured him a glass of Martell VSOP brandy.
I had been stuck with resume writing. I could only complete a fraction in an hour and put it aside. I felt the tolls it took leading to migraine.
A week passed and he appeared again for another event. Happily, he told my buddy, “…Soon, I hope she gets onboard over to my team. When are you giving me your resume?”
He was hopeful.
“I am still reconstructing it…” I said.
“Still doing it?…” he asked in disbelief.
“Yup…It’s a challenge to keep everything on a page. And companies wanted elaboration on each experience. Although it might not be necessary, I couldn’t wait to start a full-time job…” I said.
“Then, get that Resume ready, my dear! I already wanted you in. My bosses above me needs your paper…” OM.
The Cordon Bleu
Seated at the bar listening to the live band music for an hour, that Eurasian guy came in. Our eyes caught each other. I smiled.
He returned with a smile. My sixth sense told me he was a harmless guy. That night he sat a seat away from me. We talked.
He asked the bartender what was good, and he turned to me too. So, I knew he wanted to ask me something. Title? Why was I alone?
“Get him a shot of Cordon Blue, please” I said to the bartender.
And through the conversations I realized he was a General Manager from one of the Michelin Awarded Italian restaurants. He dined a few times at the French restaurant I once worked as a housekeeper.
After every positive reason I gave him why I left, he wasn’t convinced.
“You speak a lot of love language of that place. There would be no reason a lover left if the heart wasn’t broken or lost somewhere…” he said with a smile.
He got the bulls’ eyes. Perfecto!
I lost my heart somewhere I couldn’t find to work there anymore. I felt I was a misfit to the social dynamics. I felt unappreciated a lot. Thus, I left.
“Listen to me…A place might be good for you, but sometimes you needed to leave for somewhere better, Lissa. Only then you would realize you could learn even more. If you had stayed, maybe you would learn more on top of what you had to continue doing…” he said.
I worked for already a year in the current place. It led me to be a new bartender.
“What do you think of your customers who drank?” he asked
“Well, some are one-night-stand meetings. Some are people who flaunt their status and wealth. But majority are people who drank as a coping mechanism…They turned to these stuffs, and met strangers to talk to hoping to find life solutions or perhaps, heal their hearts…” I spoke.
He smiled.
“And you, being a bartender, this is your coping mechanism too, Lissa…You can always come to the bar at my restaurant, shake up a few drinks during your free time. I welcome you. For now, get your resume ready and flank it out there. Give me a copy, too…”. — GM
The Guinness
“Give me one more Guinness. Give me Erdinger too” — buddy
He said he could no longer drink. He could no longer deal with the blow of a hangover. However, when Guinness was, he still consumed it.
“You got to be fast, Lissa. You got to make a fast decision. We only have another 20 years of our lifespan to work,” he said.
With the music band playing, all I said was “uh huh…20 years huh. I wouldn’t know if I would be awake tomorrow, buddy!”
We were with another colleague who already hitched a job. Mohammed was a former GM in MBS area. I had seen his credentials and achievements. I had no idea where I wanted to send out my resumes to.
“…I don’t know buddy. Maybe I should return to the office doing an Associate or Executive job earning peanuts lower than 2k…I thanked God I am not a sexy bitch…otherwise I would consider being a social escort!,” I said.
He knew I was hurting. He knew I was in pain.
“So, you telling me we got only 20 years of lifespan? I think of whether I would be alone, dead one day. My aunt had me. My dad had me. My mom have me. My pets have me. I don’t even have a goldfish to care for me! You get it?…That’s what on my mind…” I said.
It hits him when I told him that was what he needed to think about too.
Single. Unwanted. He said.
“My resume is ready. Not the office job. The operational ones. I am unsure how my physical strength and health gonna be. Hadn’t I told you how I got injured in Claudine restaurant and limped for a month? And then many months I woke up limping around at home? At the rate I wondered if I would be paralyzed one day…I am not in my 20s.”
“Remember what the other OM said. He wanted you in as his AM. You host. Your team serves!” he said.
You see? When life gets stuck because my head had a lot of concerns, and my health seemed unpromising, or rather I succumbed to my feeling-lows, the Universe always sent people to tell me something.
Yes, boss! My international resume ready. My photo sucks. Why wouldn’t you come over work on the ground with me at the restaurant during the events. Do the pre-opening with me. Watch what I had been doing from Pre-opening to closing every other day. Then, you might want to tell me if papers gave you the real picture of a person’s personality and capabilities.
I felt so done with life.
