Step 47: Continue to Encounter Drama at Work

You know, I really don't know what it is about me that says "Yes. I want to be witness to everything dramatic that happens at my workplace." But apparently something about me DOES say that. Because it keeps happening. To recap:

1. J walks off the job, I'm the only witness.
2. F gets caught in a sting, I'm the only employee witness.

So far, that's been it, but that's also happened within the last two months, and last night I added a third bit of drama for the record book. Let's have story time, shall we?

So, I was on till last night at work. Nothing particularly notable had happened, other that the usual crazies that come out at night, and which I'm used to. It was around 10 pm, an hour before close, when I was changing out the garbage under the "snack center." It is important to note that I was by the snack center, and R (the evening's kitchen person) was in the kitchen, also changing out her garbages.

From the back of the store, I heard a bang like someone slamming their car door shut. A few seconds later a guy walked in the store. I assumed it was him slamming his car door, said "Hi!" and continued with the garbage can. A split second after that, I hear water running from the same area as the door slam. I hear the guy say, as I'm moving swiftly toward the sound, "Sounds like you've got a faucet on..."

When I get to where I can see the source of the rushing water sound, I find that there is SO MUCH WATER pouring from the ceiling by the bathrooms. Obviously a pipe has burst, and I've no idea how to fix or even just STOP this issue.

(I feel I should interject that in crisis situations, about all I can do is call the necessary authorities, or in this case, tell someone else who to call. Beyond that, I'm perfectly useless.)

"Oh my God...R! I need you to call G, RIGHT NOW!"

I check the guy out, he wishes me good luck with the flood, and R gets G (the manager) on the phone. I take the phone, explain that we either need to start gathering animals two by two, or we need immediate help stopping the water. Manager G was asleep when we called, but jumped into Hero Mode, and told us he'd be down as soon as possible.

Just as I hung up the phone, a Regular came in. Normally my interaction with regular is something like this:

Me: One or two today?
Reg.: Just one.
Me: *grabs one pack of Liggett Non-Filters, rings them up* $5.15, please.
Reg.: You got it. *gives exact change, which he's already prepared*
Me: Thanks, have a good night!

TODAY, however, it's more like this:

Me: *hastily grabs a pack of his cigarettes* Um, hi. We're having a flood.
Reg.: *looks back at water pouring from ceiling* Need to get that water shut off, eh?
Me: Yeah, but I don't know where the valve is.
Reg.: *calmly walks into back room, gets up on step ladder, removes ceiling tile, turns valve that was behind tile*
Water Flow: *tapers off, then stops*
Me: Awesome, thank you so much!

After that, G showed up to assess the damage, and as R and I grabbed mops, G got the ladder and climbed up into the ceiling of the men's room to find the burst pipe. Regular Customer grabbed a wide broom and helped us sweep a lot of the water into the conveniently placed floor drain in the men's room. G got the water supply to the broken pipe turned off so he could turn the main water supply back on. R. C. left R and I to finish mopping up the last little puddles of water, and I joked to G that the reason it's always me that witnesses the drama is because I handle it so well.

By the time he left, we were all back in good spirits, and it had become an interesting story to tell, rather than a crisis situation to be handled.

As for money spent, we did just come off a weekend, and I did just get paid on Friday, so I spent a little money this weekend on gifts for a friend's birthday and a Christmas Tree scented candle from Yankee, because I am both in the mood for that smell, and a sucker for Yankee candles.

P.S. Blogger really needs to make it so one can reply to comments. :| Anyway, hello, Elisabeth! Thanks for being here. *waves enthusiastically*

Current Status: Multi-Hundredaire
Money Earned Today: $52.50 - taxes
Money Spent This Weekend: $80 (rounded up, I don't remember exactly how much)
Current Word Count: 18,671