Dan I Cook September Employee of the Month:  Amanda C. Bartender at Bru’s Room in Coral Springs Fl.

I have already discussed my love for Brus’s Room and I won’t type about it again. I didn’t plan on selecting another employee from a Bru’s Room, especially the Coral Springs location, because I already picked ROCK-SOLID Bree. Well, all that changed when I witnessed a very kind act from bartender Amanda C. when I was at the outside bar in the afternoon.

I was sitting next to a regular named Terry shooting the $hit. All of a sudden I hear a voice behind me of this guy, let’s call him Richard (but Dick for short:). Dick isn’t inside the bar area…he is hanging over the wooden railing which separates the bar from the parking lot. He starts talking to my Employee of the Month Amanda, who is tending bar, and to Terry. I never turn around to look at Dick. I’m just listening to him run his mouth about this and that. Right away I can tell this guy is an ass. Amanda is talking about how she stuck up for him and how he was nasty/mean to customers etc…during this conversation, Dick is also talking with Terry. He then proceeds to say he hasn’t seen Terry in a while and he has gotten fat. Terry didn’t get upset and basically told Dick that wasn’t nice to say. Meanwhile, I still haven’t turned around yet but I’m thinking, man this guy is a major a$$hole. So, Terry finally tells Dick he should leave. Oh boy, Dick didn’t like that LOL! Dick replies, ” What you own the place now?”.  I’m thinking this $hit is about to get real. They start talking about how he is not allowed in Brus Room. It’s all making sense now…homeboy is banned from the bar. So, Dick is bantering back and forth with Terry and I’m starting to get pissed. I didn’t come up here to listen to Dick’s mean spirited BS. Finally, Terry and Amanda tell him he should leave before the manager comes out. Dick continues to bitch back and forth until Terry says, hey you call me fat, you are not being nice and you are probably gonna get Amanda in trouble. He then says, I didn’t call you fat. Right there I turned around and told Dick in a firm voice, “You called him fat and I heard it!”.  He mumbled some BS and then rode off on his bike. Dick leaves and I  look at Amanda and Terry and say, “Who the fuck is that?”.  They proceed to tell me the guy is homeless and lives behind a dumpster. He used to hang out at Bru’s Room but he made so many customers upset by being rude that he was asked not to come back.  Amanda said she went to bat for him and got him a second chance. BUT, Dick blew it and was banned again. They both go on to say how they have donated clothes/shoes to Dick among other things to help him out. As Amanda is talking, I can see she really cares and feels bad for this prick. I’m thinking about all the mean customers that bartenders/servers have to deal with and that Amanda has such a kind heart that she is looking past Dick’s non-sense. Amanda was just trying to find the good in him. That sold me right there…she was my Employee of the Month!

I can tell everyone that Amanda is quick to bring me an ice cold Miller Lite Draft, that she is pretty as the day is long, has a fantastic personality AND she has a good kind heart. Man, they don’t teach you that in Bartender School. Bob Brudzinski you have another awesome employee!

So here is Amanda folks:
How long you been working at Brus Room in Coral Springs?

“Somehow I’m going on year six in November. Time flies when you’re having fun they say!”
What’s your favorite part of your job?

“My favorite part of the job is definitely the people that come to see me. They give me something to look forward to everyday. I’m extremely grateful to have a job that I know I could possibly make someone’s day by just being there. Today, I consider many of my regulars to be my friends due to the many years of getting to know them or should I say each other. You can’t place a price tag on that! “

You know I’m a big fan of Brus Room, what’s your favorite menu item and drink?

“In the years it’s changed. I don’t eat meat anymore so today my go to is the Ahi Tuna. Once upon a time, it was either the boneless chicken  triple threat or Philly cheesesteak as wraps. I highly recommend you try it! My drink is just a basic, vodka and soda. Nothing fancy.”

Name your top 5 favorite customers and why? You can’t name me…LOL.

“Oh no! From the bottom of my heart, I don’t think that would be possible. LOL. I’ve watched first dates at my bar that literally down the road randomly called a Justice of Peace to come and marry them in the same seats they met in. I am honored to have been a witness to their marriage. To this day we (all the bartenders) call them the “lovebirds”. I have regulars that I had to jump over the bar to catch them so they don’t pass out from being ill. I had to struggle to hold him up until EMS arrives and kept saying it’s going to be OK. The smile on my face the next time they walk up to the bar is a gift. I have stories for days just like that one and that’s when they become more than regulars. I’ve been to weddings and, unfortunately, funerals of what some may call regulars. I have to give thanks to particular regular for always being an awesome DJ. For all of them, I’m one lucky girl!”

Give us the Reader’s Digest version of WTF is wrong with that guy Dick?

“Ha! Dick valid name to most. Its gonna be hard to make this a short story. To be honest, the first time he  sat at my bar I couldn’t stand him myself. He was loud,  vulgar, and not very polite when ordering. He always carried a bucket with him that always seem to get in my way. For maybe the first week or so that he started coming in, I tried to keep it cordial with him and I avoided small talk. I was afraid I would say something that would get him all worked up. Then one Monday morning, I stopped at Walgreens to get my “before work” Redbull. Dick happened to be in front of me in the checkout line. He was getting cigarettes and beer probably to get his “shakes” to quit until a bar opened. He didn’t know that I was behind him. He started mumbling”….is  anyone fucking working here”….because the cashier was not behind the counter. He turned around and saw me and his demeanor quickly changed because he was embarrassed that I saw him in this weak moment. The sad look in his eyes was the first time I thought this guy actually knows he’s an asshole, but maybe he doesn’t  want to be. He quickly says, “I’m sorry, honey, I’m having a rough morning”, and then shows me his shaking hands. I just said,  “It’s OK…you’ll get better soon.”.  He leaves and I go to work.  About a hour later, we open (Brus) and Dick was the first person to sit at the bar. He told me, “Thank you for not judging me.”.  From that day on, he has never once cursed at me or raised his voice and would listen to me when I told him to shut up. I treated him almost like a two-year-old.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t behave that way with everyone. I understand it was his defense mechanism of him being afraid of being judged by what society would call just another alcoholic homeless man. Honestly, I think he would rather be known as just an asshole. In the mornings, he would come in relatively sober just trying to get rid of shakes. On some days it would be just him and I at the bar. On those mornings, I would learn who he really was. Homeless yes, alcoholic yes, admittedly. But Dick was smart very up-to-date with current events and even more surprisingly had a huge heart. He works hard cleaning windows hence the bucket that he was always carrying and annoying me with. Walking in the rain or summer heat, you name it, going from business-to-business to make sure that they have clean windows only to make money to drink and if he remembered…..to also eat. He never asked strangers for money. During our morning talks he would tell me stories that most of us could only dream to tell. From his time served in the Navy, to acid trips, and Janis Joplin. I even learned that even though we are generations apart, we both enjoyed the same hangout spot in San Diego called the Sunset Grill. Obviously, we weren’t there at the same time, but we both lived in San Diego. From then on, when he came tnto the bar in the morning he would always play the song “Sunset Grill”. That song quickly became bitter sweet to me. On my birthday, he gave me his favorite book, The Old Man and The Sea, and signed it, ” To my sweet Amanda, may you find joy and comfort in the reading of this book, but most important, may you find love! “.  To this day it’s maybe one of the best birthday gifts I’ve ever received! Knowing the sweat and shakes he probably had to bear to buy me that book…he and I had a bond. But, he didn’t do well with others and didn’t take long for him to get banned from Brus Room.  Several months later hee was allowed back, but within a day he was banned again for good. This whole story now brings me to your first experience with him. Since being banned again he stands on the opposite side of the fence and brings me lunch on Saturdays or Mondays. He says bringing me lunch is his only opportunity to do something for someone. The first few times ,I felt guilty taking it, saying ” Please you eat, it I’ll be fine. “.  But, the look on his face was pure disappointment. I quickly realizes it was not about the food… it was about the act. So now I always get the food and gracefully except it with a big smile. This is also his way of letting me know that he is OK… because I never do know if he really is. When he does his “walk-bys”,  he tells people at the outside bar that I’m his daughter and not to worry about him.  Shamefully,  I’m embarrassed when he says that.  But, at the same time,  I have to laugh when I see peoples’ faces when they say, “Uh, your dad is here calling for you.”. S o that is cliff notes version of Dick…who I’m thankful for and who also has been a wonderful teacher to me.”

Now some personal $hit, do you have a significant other and if so what’s their name?

“Where is the box for it’s complicated. LOL. I’ll politely use that as my answer:)”

Where did you grow up and go to High School?

“I grew up as a toddler in Key West and my father owned a bar… go figure! Then we moved to North Miami, Bal Harbor area and then finally settled out west in Cooper city. That is where I went to high school.”

What’s the craziest thing you ever did in High School?

“The craziest thing I ever did in high school….does telling your mom you’re going to look at schools in Orlando but instead drive to New York with your best friend to visit boys you met on spring break count? LOL.”

Describe what a perfect date would be for you?

“Perfect date would probably not be a date at all. I hate making plans and the word “date” just seems to add pressure to the situation. Can we just go climb a tree or swing on a swing instead?”

As you know I love playing the jukebox, what was the best concert you ever attended and why?

“Hands-down Jane’s Addiction. Making out with Dave Navarro and me getting my own security because everyone thought I was his girlfriend have nothing to do with it. LOL”

What’s you favorite Holiday and why?

“Easy, Fourth of July. Just because it seems everyone is happy and it’s not based on any religion so it’s for everyone to enjoy ‘Mercia! ”

Last question, you have Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump sitting at Brus while you are working. They both are sitting on opposite sides of the bar but they say the same thing to you: “Please make me a drink you think I would enjoy. You can ask me any question you want and I will answer it truthfully”. What would your drink and question be?

“Whoa! I feel like I’m back in statistics class problem-solving after reading that one! Don-he would get Macallan on the rocks just because I wouldn’t want to ‘get fired’. Hillary…she could have a Blonde Headed Slut because she’s a blonde….nothing personal. I just would like to see if I can get a chuckle out of her. I’m sure they are so over answering questions.  So, I would asked them to tell me a joke. I would go with whomever was able to make me laugh.  It would be nice just to be reminded that they are human too.

Verdict

I’ve read thru Amanda’s interview multiple times. Each time I read it, my heart feels so good because I am very impressed with her kindness and positive attitude.  It just shows you that some bartenders are more than just a pretty face…They are counselors,  peacemakers, and friends to their regulars.

I want to thank Amanda for her time and for being just an awesome person! Please visit Amanda at the Coral Springs Bru’s Room and tell her Dan I Cook sent you. Also say hello to the GM Eric who is a real nice guy and a true professional. Stay Hungry!