I got home and immediately put on The Offsprings "Why don't you get a job".
For the past 3 years I had been a full-time college student, with my "job" being a plasma donor at Bio-life. Other than that I relied on, as my late grandfather would call it, "Parental Welfare" to help pay for books, food etc. My tuition was paid largely by my grandfather, a former economics professor at PSU, Yale, and Michigan among others.
The conditions for his payment were simple, that I maintain at least a B average and that in the summer I work for him at his property in Michigan. The work was mostly manual labor, hard and physically draining in the summer sun.
Sadly, during my senior year, my grandfather suffered a stroke and passed. The usual routine of making a trip to Whitmore Lake for 3 months would end, and I would need to find a new way spend my summer time.
Now, I had always been a night owl. Even when I was in grade school I remember not feeling tired as I would stay up watching Monday Night Football (or listening to it on the radio), often staying up until midnight despite having to wake up around 7 to go to school.
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| My sister came to visit while I worked the door. |
Lately, I had found myself staying up late doing nothing at all productive, often playing online poker or other video games. The time I wasn't staying up late doing nothing, I would be out with my friends visiting our favorite bar at the time, the Lion's Den.
The Den, at the time, was mostly staffed by State High classmates of mine, as the older brother of one of my good high school friends was the owner and General Manager. I thought it would be a great place for me to work a part time job as a doorman.
However, when I asked about an employment opportunity, I did so in poor form, while out drinking myself and I doubt I was taken very seriously (rightfully so).
Undeterred from getting a night time job, I also applied to the now defunct Sports Cafe and the Hotel State College with a preference for Zeno's as my older cousin said he knew the manager there and he was a good guy to work for.
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| Travis, Rodney and I working a game day with smiles |
The HSC (Hotel State College) got back to me first as they had a property that needed doorman and they thought I would fit that bar the best. I had a few contacts at this bar too, as two of the servers were from my graduating class, though at the time we were probably more acquaintances than friends.
That would change quickly.
The first thing I noticed about Bill Pickle's from the beginning was how quick the staff was to make me feel like family. In fact, it was the first thing the General Manager, Michael James, impressed upon me.
Immediately after my hiring, head door man Evan Klesius greeted me with a warm smile and talked to me like we had been long lost friends. It made me feel like I was joining a team, and that we were all part of the same brotherhood.
Now, at the time of my hire, I had been in Pickle's zero times. In fact the one time I did try to go in to Pickle's to meet my friends, they stopped me at the door and said it was too late to come in. I was frustrated and angry as I just wanted to meet my friends, but they were adamant that I was not coming in.
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| Pat, Josh and I hanging out at Josh's place before the company Christmas Party |
Pickle's was also known primarily for Country Night, of which I would not count myself as a fan. Of all the genres of music I enjoy, which covers multiple genres and artists, the one thing I did NOT enjoy was country music.
When I interviewed with the two assistant managers, Michael Olmstead and Caroline Mangam, they asked whether I enjoyed Country and I believe I answered "Maybe that one track that has Nelly on it!"
With pretty much no real expectations, I was quite curious how everything operated from the business side of the bar. My shifts started over spring break where I would stay at the door seemingly for hours on end while it seemed no one came in. The job at the time certainly seemed easy enough and I wondered how many shifts I would have that seemed so boring.
However, due to how slow it was, I was also able to make lasting impressions on the staff that remained in town over break. I distinctly remember one server, Jackie King seemingly always smiling and hanging out with me at the door to keep me engaged and not dying of boredom.
It was also during Spring Break that I had to kick out my first customer, which can be a bit of a nerve wracking experience. On a slow night, one of our relief managers and bartenders, Mark asked me to remove an overly drunk patron who was harassing two women at the bar. My adrenaline spiked and had no idea what to actually expect. Would he react as expected from my training? Or would it be a scene of out of
Road House?
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| Me in my official Jersey with MO, bartending on a gameday. |
Yet the way I had been trained was correct, a simple cordial request for the patron to leave was enough, and the situation was resolved without incident. I simply requested the individual go, and he obliged. The methodology of conversing with patrons deemed either VIP (visibly intoxicated patrons) was far more effective than yelling or using any kind of physical touching of any kind.
And so my life went on, and I was quickly adopted into this group and culture. My weekends no longer included going out to house parties or the bars, but rather working the cover register (Where I got told to "Fuck Off" for asking for a dollar cover to one of the busiest bars in town) and on one occasion having my ass grabbed by an older woman who was as we say..."Feeling It".
But after the shift, after all the work, we would get together as a staff at 3 in the morning and have ourselves a few libations ourselves. This bonding for "late nights" or "after hours" is one of the best things about the bar industry.
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| Way back probably in 2008 or 2009 |
My first "Late Night" was arguably the best in our history. Despite being held (if memory serves me right) in a small crummy Meridian apartment, we packed both assistant managers, a relief manager, servers, barbacks, and door staff in the small living room.
We drank SoCo, cheap beer, some vodka, and some more as we bonded through the night. The level of energy and camaraderie was unlike anything I had experienced until then. If there was ever a time that you could "feel the love in the room" this was it.
There are a ton of crazy late night experiences that I could tell you about. 6 AM runs to waffle shop or McDonalds. The climbing of street lamps or going down dry water slides. The bringing back of one large ice sculpted Native American head after State College's First Night (Some A-Hole already broke the thing. We/I felt we were saving it, by placing it in a bathtub).
As time moved forward, I graduated from Penn State with a degree in Communications with a concentration in Journalism and a minor in English. However, once I graduated I really was at a loss for the right direction after school. I did, however, really enjoy working at the bar. Over the past year or so I had become a barback, which in our environment felt like an apprenticeship to bartending.
I would wash glasses, stock and re-stock the cooler beer, change kegs, wash more glasses, move and put away large liquor orders, wash MORE glasses, and eventually learn to take customer orders. Oh and wash glasses.
Then in an attempt to provide me with more hours, and to provide some help for the daytime, I also started to train as a server.
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| My buddy Sam and I. I had shaggy hair for a bit. |
Serving to me was a bit nerve wracking at first, but it became one of the biggest catalysts towards my confidence in social situations. While I wouldn't say I'm a huge introvert, I'm certainly not the most outgoing personality. The experience I gained serving pressed upon me the importance of being able to read and empathize with the customers and people in general.
After about year or so, I realized that a lot of my happiness involved either working or being around those I worked with. That indeed, most of the people of Pickles, had become family. Year after year I worked in multiple roles for the bar, appreciating all of them. Enjoying the company of the other eccentric individuals who worked with me.
So for the next 6 years, I would be either serving, barbacking, or bartending 5 days/nights a week.
Then like something out of a movie I would meet my future wife at the bar.
I, of course didn't know that she would become my wife, She was simply a girl out with her friends for a drink. My night was going horribly.
I had been serving a table that had the parents of a kid I knew in high school. After giving what I thought was great service, I came back to the table to find a note that had been passed and left on the ground. (The customers had left and I'd rather not embarrass that family.)
The note read "Ben was never the sharpest knife in the drawer...dumber than a box of rocks."
I was incensed. The fact that I was working as a server seemed to be a mark of failure and validation to that family's claims in their minds.
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| After proposing we came back to the start |
Yet I had my degree from Penn State. I knew I was making more money in this profession than almost every introductory job I could conceivably get in my field. The fact that I had chosen to ensure I had good grades rather than play football at Penn State still weighed on me as I felt like I always had to battle the 'dumb jock' stereotype.
So when an attractive blonde woman asked me if I wanted to leave and get Taco Bell at 1AM the answer was a resounding yes.
I alerted my coworkers I would be stepping out for a minute to cool off (they all understood and were extremely supportive.)
As we started our walk towards the fast food joint, she told me her friend had a crush on me and wondered if I'd talk to her.
I agreed and after being cut at the end of the night was able to talk her into giving me a date next week.
And the rest as they say is history.
As I entered my eighth year in late 2013/14, I was approaching 30 and I started to become acutely aware that I was significantly older than most of the staff outside of management. I was also aware that many new employees came to me to solve a lot of work related issues. I felt at the time, I was no longer willing to operate at this same capacity.
For the first time in 8 years, I felt I needed more, and that I had earned the opportunity to do more. If not at Pickles, perhaps it was time to explore other options.
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| Halloween only, I'm a Zeno's guy |
As fate would have it, 2 of our long time managers felt they also wanted to explore other opportunities, opening the door for myself.
Finally, after eight years, I had become a full-time relief manager and bartender. The feeling of pride was quickly followed by a sense of responsibility. To help make one of the best bars in State College even better.
All the things I had learned about bar business I had learned through those around me and my own experience working in it. I felt in many ways that I was the culmination of the culture of Pickles. Someone who had fun and enjoyed the relaxed nature of the bar, but still understood it takes hard work and a level of professionalism to ensure that things do not break down.
I wanted to break every sales record we possibly could. My competitive nature in full force. I finally had an opportunity and I wanted to make sure I didn't waste it. I applied all the principles that had been taught to me, and tried as best I could to instill those same principles to others. The result was our best year from a sales perspective ever. I had felt that my promotion was not only validated, but an unmitigated success.
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| The Hotel State College Company Christmas Party. A one of a kind experience |
Over the past Summer, I was approached about an opportunity to go to the Grill to assist with the management there. While multiple people did attempt to talk me out of it because of how happy I was at Pickle's, I looked at it as both an opportunity and a challenge. I did not want to leave Pickle's and as part of my arrangement, I would be able to continue working there during the week, while Fridays and Saturday nights I would become part of a new team.
However shortly into my new role at the Grill, I suffered a rather traumatic injury in the form of a herniated disc in my back. This would prevent me from bending at the waist, as each time I did, sent a sharp shooting pain all the way down my leg.
The disc prevented me from exercising, which has been a key component in my battling depression. As such, the stress from trying to manage two places at once began to build, and I started to feel increasingly inept at both jobs.
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| We're clearly confused here, Spot |
At Pickle's I felt more distant, as though despite having been there for 9 years, I now felt out of place. I was no longer there helping out during the busiest times that require the most attention.
Meanwhile, I felt I could not fully integrate with the staff upstairs. By only being there on the busiest weekend nights, I felt like I was on some level short changing the employees who were there every day. I wasn't there for the grind, and in many ways, the slower days are when you are able to build on your relationships.
I felt badly that after only 4 months, I had to admit to myself, and those who entrusted me to do the job, that I was incapable of doing the split. That I did overextend myself and my abilities, and on some level that I had failed.
Thankfully, everyone was supportive of my return back down to Pickle's full-time, where I am now. I think the experience first taught me some humility, but also served as a growing experience that helped me reaffirm who I am.
I am a Pickle's employee. I have been for 10 years now. And I wouldn't trade any of those years, to be anywhere else.
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| Finally got that EOY trophy. Yeah, mine broke too. |
