New Manager needs a lesson...

[Bigdog]

The newest manager at one of my bars, came out of his gopher hole near the end of the night. I asked him when he wanted last call for alcohol. He said 20 til..(5 minutes from now.)

At this point I have already picked up the songbooks an hour ago. And I have enough singers to end the night at the end of the last rotation.

New manager tells me to let Bob sing because he's really good. Then he wants to hear the harmonica guy do another song. Then I have a guy go to him with $20 so he can sing again.

Note on the $20 guy (jerk)

He came up at midnight with his first request. He says keep it back a while..I said 12:30? He says thats good. So he sang at 12:30 at his request. Now he's flashing money at me to play longer so he can sing more.

Now all of a sudden he wants to sing all night long. Not with 18 singers left you won't. Do the math.

Now mister "new" manager wants to flex his muscles (show everyone all his make believe power.)

He comes over and says to let them sing. I said "It ain't gonna happen." Now he looks at his watch (like he's getting screwed and I have the time.)

I told him there were already people on the other side of the bar still here that didn't get to sing tonight and I shut them off because I was full and they came up too late. He again looks at his watch. I said you're going to get me beat up. By now it's 1:48 and the last song just finished playing and I go into my goodnight speech. And shut down the computer with him there watching. I can tell he's a little Pi$$ed about it but too bad. I told him I have 6 more people that want to sing again. 6X4=24 more minutes which takes me past the 2:AM time by at least 15 minutes. My scheduled quitting time is 1:30...He has already received almost 20 minutes of my FREE time. Like I do almost every week.

Don't hide out all night and come out at the last minute and try to be everyone's hero...on my dime.

Here the the part he is going to need to learn.

His employment is DIRECTLY tied to mine. He may not think so or even understand how this could be. I'm just a hire goon in his eyes. (replaceable at any given minute)

Here is how it's going to work.

I'll let him plug in the figures for this answer. If karaoke brings in $1000 a week..that is $50,000 a year.

If karaoke brings in $2000 a week that's $100,000 a year. (They have already had many FAILURE KJs in there so I'm confident there will be no replacement bringing in that amount of money.)

I'm very close to telling him this ...Whether YOU fire me (1)...or I quit and BLAME YOU (2)...YOU are going to be the guy that just cost the company $50-100,000 in lost income. In today's economy????

Do you still think you will be here if that happens??? REALLY??

How many of you think he will still have a job?

Do you think he will understand the implications?

This lowly KJ has your job in his hand and don't forget it....Sonny... >>>>Listen...I can still hear Vincent Price laughing his evil laugh....<<<<<

I have more seniority than almost every employee there including you.

Notes:
(1) If he fires me he can make up a ton of untrue excuses...

(2) I could do the same thing....

The company still loses all that money. I think I will get called back before he does...

I'm an asset...he's a liability.

[Bigdog]

New issue with this guy.

Last week they had a guitar player for happy hour which lasted until right before I got there. Must have been til 8PM not later than 8:30 because I never heard a single note. His guitar was put away when I went to check the set up area and move any tables or people that woulkd be in my way.

I know the guy and we said hi and bye as we passed.

The manager told me next week the guy will play until 9 PM.

I told the mangaer I get there at 8:30 to set up because it takes me an hour.

I got the stupid manager ...dah... look from him.

I'll start playing when I get done setting up and I'm not busting a nut to do it. If I start a half hour late...oh well. It's not my fault and I refuse to take any blame or flack over it. And if you think I'm taking a pay cut you can FOff.

Now I can understand the manager is probably thinking he wants all the people from happy hour to stay the rest of the night for business reasons.

#1..People that are there for happy hour are either
(a) cheap [Drink prices are cut]
(b) there especially for the guitar player (his following)
(c) could care less about the guitar player
(d) could care less about staying for karaoke
(e) stopped in to eat so they can go home and get ready to go to another bar for the rest of the night.

Now that said...the last thing I want is for people at my show to be there half drunk or all the way drunk by the time I'm supposed to start. If they stay 4 more hours I can usually count on a problem.

One more issue...Those people will probably be milling around or still sitting/standing at or near their seats and tables....Meaning I'm going to have a bigger problem getting in with my equipment. And taking more time to do it.

Me and Mr Manager are going to butt heads before this is over. If I decide to quit...he gets the blame. He is working against me. That's my excuse. I'm trying to build the business crowd and he is killing it. You have to deal with him...I don't. And if I walk....I won't be back...Do you want him or me? I really don't care at this point because I'm not getting paid for him to work against all I have done to bring customers in. I built this night...not him. But he is going to kill it and cost your comapny thousands of lost income dollars.

He already doesn't like me because of the supposed customer complaints from a while back and I put more icing on his cake when I told him all the people that came up to him that he OKed to sing overtime, weren't going to sing anymore at all. I run the karaoke ...you have your hands full trying to imitate a manager.

I can't figure out if he is trying to replace me with the guitar player?

Or if he is trying to Pi$$ me off or not?

Or is he trying to make me look bad?

I can guarantee if I can't start my set up at 8:30 the show will surely start late. I may just take my time so it's even a little later.

What's he going to gain?

Yes, The guitar crowd will stay longer.

Yes, The karaoke crowd will be there ready to sing and I won't be ready.

So the karaoke people are going to get mad.

99% of the guitar players crowd probably could care less about karaoke and will leave when he hits his last note.

Do you think he could have maybe asked me what I thought or about the situation and set up problem? It's not going to be seamless like he thinks.

Guitar player stops, karaoke instantly starts.... Yes it does work that way in fairy tales...IDIOT.

This is the real world. If you had a jerk for a KJ that had equipment that I could carry under my arm it just might happen.

REAL WORLD: Slightly more than 1 hour from when he stops playing the karaoke will start, doesn't matter how you slice it.

Why do some smart guys always think they have to fix stuff that isn't broken?

Typical bar manger....look how smart I am. Watch me cost the bar money with this stupid idea. I can't wait for my next one.

[Bigdog]

SITUATION UPDATE:

This is classic IDIOT BAR MANAGER TALK.

The guitar player stopped exactly at 8:30.

He packs up and takes his stuff out. Now its almost 9PM. He stays to eat dinner at the bar. (I'm thinking he is waiting to see my reaction or to be there if I walk out)

Anyway normally they have 4 tables in the back of the room and 4 in front of me. I take up enough room for a 6 foot table and 2- 18 inch subs with some room to walk around the table. About 12 -14 feet.

But right where I need to set up because he set up in the corner and takes up only 6 feet, they brought up a table from the back of the room and have 2 pushed together right where I need to set up. I'm sure this was a set up.

The manager slipped and said they were his group. (SET UP)

the good manager wants to ask them to move they are all eating. The egghead says no don't even bother them.

Here comes the classic IDIOT LINE...

He looks at me and says Bigdog they are PAYING customers and I'm not going to bother them to move. Now he is making it personal like I'm demanding they move them. I never said a word. But he knows that I need that space open. He asks me if I can still bring in my stuff. I said not the way I have the van loaded. (It would mean me moving stuff around twice. 800 pounds of equipment is not going to be moved around twice for you or anyone else. I'll wait.)

In the meantime the bar is full of people no empty seats and people are standing. Many of them are karaoke customers. I guess the karaoke customers aren't really paying customers and their money doesn't matter right now. Full bar of paying customers waiting for 10 people eating.

They didn't move them until they finished eating at 9:30.
I didn't get started until 10:30 as I predicted.

I went to the office to tell egghead to turn off the house music..He asks me if I'm alright with a serious look on his face. Like now I'm a whacko or something. I said I told you it would take me an hour.

Something smells rotten and it's him.

The paying customers always rule. In spite of losing money from 10 times as many other paying customers. Now you tell me how much sense the stupid bastage makes.

I can see lost income doom on their horizon...he will be the mastermind behind it.

What makes managers and owners so stupid?

The saga continues next week but the guitar player has another commitment. But they want him as much as possible because the people just love him.

I guess nobody loves me? 4 years of karaoke night hate I guess.

He must really come cheap...

So we want his crowd to be big and the karaoke crowd can just deal with it and if it gets smaller they don't care or something. I can't figure out what they have in mind.

The karaoke nights aren't broken but they need fixed. The good manger says we never had a happy crowd like this. You never had a nightime crowd until I started either. How soon we forget. So it's OK if we have a big happy hour crowd and kill the nightime crowd?

This is crazy talk. Good business sense 101 in action...

If the guitar player is that loveable give him his own night and see how good he really is..give him your open Wednesday night and turn him loose. Why not have 4 good nights instead of 1 good happy hour and kill the karaoke night. (1 almost good night and 2 good nights or 4 good nights what makes more sense?)

[wiseguy]

How much gear does this guitar player have? Every act of this type that I've seen consists of a guitar, single guitar amp, microphone stand, and a stool.

[Bigdog]

He has a PA system with Bose speakers up on stands. I didn't even see all the stuff.

[Bigdog]

BREAKING NEWS 7:40 PM

TSHTF EGGHEAD manager doesn't like my attitude and I need to tone it down.

My response was Egghead is working against me, hurting my reputation and if he works on my nights I'm quitting both nights.

I haven't heard the outcome yet but I'll bet the conversation is heated.
I'm waiting for a call.

How do you like my FREAKIN' attitude now??? SMART GUY ???

He might need a new job after he costs the company over $50,000 in lost income.

The new rumor is he wants dueling pianos on Saturdays. He thinks the karaoke back to back nights isn't working.

IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID....Nothing is working at all the bars around the country. Hello is anybody in there?

Four things can happen....

#1 He gets his night/s moved.

#2 He gets one night moved and he gets dueling pianos on Saturdays.

#3 I tell them the guitar guy is done and gone by 8:30 every night and my set up area is clear.

#4 I quit both nights ....

He goes or I do....

Either way it's alright with me. He made it personal. This isn't about him. It shouldn't matter if he hates my guts..(which he will now if he didn't already) it's about his interferring with what I'm doing to bring money into the bar and my reputation.

I don't know if he doesn't like karaoke. Or he thinks I should be playing dance music like the loser KJs he's used to?

I refuse to let him screw with my reputation anymore by making me start late for his stupid guitar guy idea.

Waiting for their decision...

[kjathena]

BigDog...sorry to hear you are having to deal with such a ignorant manager...hope things work out for you...any chance of replacing this venue with one right down the street and taking your karaoke crowd with you. That has worked out well for us in similar situations.

[Bigdog]

BigDog...sorry to hear you are having to deal with such a ignorant manager...hope things work out for you...any chance of replacing this venue with one right down the street and taking your karaoke crowd with you. That has worked out well for us in similar situations.

Been there and done it many times before. Stupid managers and bar owners is the industry norm.

Most of the places are laid out all wrong to do a good set up or they are small or they don't want karaoke or they are places I don't want to work.

[kjathena]

well I hope things work out good for you ...I hate having to deal with difficult managers like the one you are dealing with...been there done that too over the last 17 years.

[Bigdog]

UPDATE 6AM

No news yet but the story just gets better.

The egghead is the GM.

But he used to be a manager at another store that is corporate owned. Meaning there was room for advancement. Since this store is privately owned there is no advancement opportunities.

Now the old GM and egghead traded stores....

Well the old GM has a brother higher up the corporate ladder.

It looks like eggehead got screwed out of his job at the other store.

Now I know why he has something to prove.
He is going to make the bad economy better and put the entire country back to work to show corporate how good he is.

I'm guessing his job here is now on the line.

I smell major doom.

Anyway you slice it....all the blame is his right now. If I quit he is going to look really bad.

He works my 2 nights because they are the busiest so he can be the big shot on duty. Maybe you have been fixing the other week nights that weren't broken.

He can be the big shot, but it will never make him the BIGDOG.

I'm sure the scramble is on for enough talent to replace me...

Or a manager to replace him.

I would love to be a fly on the wall for all this...

[Bigdog]

New Update.

I got the call.

They are dropping Saturday for dueling pianos and the manager is going to be there Fridays when I play, but they will make sure the guitar player is done and gone in time and all the tables are moved.

I'm thinking it over but I'm not sure I want their BS. If not now it will come a little later.

As a side note I talked to a bar owner about filling one of those nights.

He has a DJ that plays 10 hours on Fridays for $50 and Jack Daniels. Am I willing to play for that?

It ain't over yet.

The dueling pianos came out of nowhere so could their next Friday KJ.

[wiseguy]

I'm making a prediction that the dueling pianos fill flop and you will get the last laugh.

And don't you just love those DJs and KJs with the "will play for drinks" sign around their necks.

[Bigdog]

I'm making a prediction that the dueling pianos fill flop and you will get the last laugh.

And don't you just love those DJs and KJs with the "will play for drinks" sign around their necks.

The DJ has been doing this so long he has become an alcoholic. So for him it's a bargin. How much JACK can you drink in 10 HOURS? Plus you know he has to eat in their too. So he may get a meal free too. Dinner and a fifth...plus pocket money....sign me up...

10 hours...he probaly showers and shaves there too.

The bar owner loves it. He wants to know if I would work for $50 a night...if I do...he'll book karaoke that night.

[Bigdog]

Well...I told them I was done if the egghead is going to be there on my night. They aren't replacing him so....I walked. Stupid comes with a price. We will see if he needs a job after the profits plunge by $50,000 or more on his watch...

He is going to find out his employment was tied to mine.....so he may have replaced his job with dueling pianos.....

The only way that will succeed is if the piano players are Elton John & Billy Joel...

But last night a girl came up with a number from a bar owner that wants a friday night karaoke. I ate dinner there tonight to check out the room and how I would get my stuff in.

I'll talk to the owner tomorrow. He knows my reputation because he wanted me 2 years ago when he heard I had an open night.

Goodbye egghead and hello new gig 10 minutes away instead of 40 minutes away. That will be nice when gas hits $5.

Stay tuned.....

[Bigdog]

I talked to the new bar owner...he's flipping out excited about me coming there. I wanted to play there tonight for free and he said start next week.

So next Friday it is. He knows my reputation and he seen me play.