The thing that sucks about having to come in to a mandatory meeting at work on a day that you’re scheduled to be the closing bartender is exactly that – you’re inevitably there for the “opening” but you can’t leave early as your responsibility is to close and therefore to stay ‘til the bitter end.

This was one of those days. I was on the schedule for 5pm, but there was a mandatory meeting at 2. Whatevs. I brought my little notebook with me figuring that after the meeting I’d just sit in the back and use the time in between to my advantage.

So I come to work, early as per usual… The place is deserted. There’s no sign of anyone having even started the preparation for the supposed wine class we were going to have. “What the hell?” I think to myself… Checking both my email and calendar I realize that I not only showed up 15 minutes early, I showed up a week early. I’m sure this isn’t what’s expected of you when they say “On time is late; early is on time”. What do I do now: sit in the dark and drink all the bourbon I can get my hands on without the management noticing?

No, never…. Off to the restaurant next door I go then; nothing like some writing and a couple glasses of wine to get the work day rolling. I even had some dessert; I couldn’t get a decent picture of it due to the lighting but I wasn’t trying to take the plate out onto the sidewalk and crouch like a hipster, so you’ll just have to imagine a decadent coffee cake with a chocolate drizzle, which was nothing short of satisfying.