Looks Like We Picked A "Renner" !!

Another post about co-workers...(my kids are obviously in a slump).We have a bartender that is HANDS DOWN the best bartender that I have ever worked with or known... And in 30 years of being a sever, I have met quite a few! He handles himself with precision and grace behind the bar, and is the favorite of every regular we have or sometimes the favorite of our first time guests. He reminds me of Bon Jovi ... and to me that is a GOOD thing. Not the Bon Jovi from the eighties, but the current one. Remember when he was a regular on Ally McBeal? Our barkeep is a sexy mix of an outdoors man, with David Letterman humor (without the gray balding look, spaced out teeth and 30 year age difference) and an all round great guy that holds no bias or bigotry against anyone... the first person to tell you when you do something wrong, and the last person to admit his mistakes...granted they are far and few between. You never wait for a drink when he is behind the bar ; and if you are smart you help him out when he needs it(which is rarely). The servers that are slack make themselves an open target for his sharp tongue and even sharper observations of who is working hard and who is not. If you dare to challenge him on a point... you should really stop and reconsider the repercussions of crossing into an area that you may never make it back from alive. I have to give it to him... He is 99.9% right in almost every battle he is "Shoved" in to. Some of the younger servers that we have...#ONE don't all care about their job like he and I do. #TWO they don't realize that like me , he has been in this business a LONG time...and #THREE don't realize that they are fighting a battle that they can never win. Management will back him up EVERY TIME. I will be the first to say that is one of the things our managers do best...recognize who is making our store the best and supporting them 100%. He is married to an obviously Saint of a woman that not only puts up with him, but has bore him two beautiful little girls....That will be his penance in life...living with three women!! No wonder he always has to be right at work, he is under the wrath of three women at home... He probably likes to come to work just so he can BE right. He has begun a new career of "Land surveying" that has been put on hold due to our wonderful economy at this point in time. I for one; am grateful that due to it he is still with us. When he leaves us it will leave a huge and massive void in not only our staff family, but in our customer family as well...It will be hard to decide who will miss him most. Actually it won't be...It will be me!! I have enjoyed working with him every shift that I have, and on the rare occasion that he has made me angry... I just tuck my tail under me and skulk away far enough for him not to hear me and gripe quietly. One night when cleaning up the bar after close, he found a wallet on the floor. It was right around Christmas when people were coming in constantly to buy gift cards as presents. The wallet was filled with several hundred dollars in cash and several credit cards. Do you know how many places that this woman could have left her wallet and never seen it again? Or woken up to hundreds of dollars worth of charges on her cards? But she left it at "Renner's" bar and it was returned to her completely as she had left it. She wrote a very nice letter to the local newspaper about her "Christmas Angel" . I don't know if I would call him an angel...but I consider it a mighty privilege to call him not only one of my favorite co workers but a dear friend. Thankfully for me the way the economy is going, I will be able to enjoy his friendship, humor and banter for a while yet! But when he goes it will be a huge part of our heart , soul and family that will be sorely and surely missed. I am glad that I have known him for the past ten years...and will remember him fondly for the rest of my life. Truly one of the most interesting, and honest men that I have ever met....even though he can be a "Baby"... He's OUR baby...and BABY DO WE LOVE HIM!!

P.S. (My first blog with a post script)!! I went into work tonight..after posting this last night, to a flurry of complaints from my co workers. Let's see what some of the comments were.."You are a suck up" " Renner is a big fat baby" "You were WAY too nice about him" The list went on and on...much to Renner's delight! He could care less what people think about him, and it only makes him laugh when he hears their complaints. I guess that is why we get along so well...I am the same way. I am sure that there are many, many co workers that don't like me for a variety of reasons.I can understand my co workers gripes... He CAN be a baby; and is QUITE often. But I am one of the smart ones that knows when to leave him alone, or when to move FAR away from him and complain in a quiet voice ( Which is ALMOST humanly impossible for me and my big trap). But I know which side my bread is buttered on with him, and I tend to slather it with the butter of my kindness and therefore frequently avoid the sharp acerbic darts that he verbally throws at us. Actually, he is a lot like me... you know what they say..."Birds of a feather flock together." Call me a "suck up" call me a "baby enabler".... Just keep reading my blog and remember that is what the "COMMENTS" tool is for! Let's hear back from all you disgruntled readers....or are you just ALL scared of "The Big Fat Baby"??