Vandalism to the premises by members of the public is a never ending battle for publicans.
This criminal activity is usually conducted out of public view. In these times of security cameras, vandalism is mostly inside the toilets, where not only are there no security cameras, but a little bit of personal privacy is granted.
A common activity is to smash a beer glass into a toilet bowl, then defecate copiously upon it, creating a nasty & very septic booby trap for the cleaning staff, as the only way to clean this is painstakingly, by hand.
There is a very special place in the heart of all Wayside Tavern staff for the anonymous ghosts who perform such acts, as we've all had a go at cleaning up these types of mess.
However, sanctimonious refusal to allow security cameras anywhere near the toilets is a two-edged sword!
On a certain evening one of the guards, patrolling the gents toilets, happens to interrupt a male person in an act of vandalism. The guard advises the event via two-way radio.
Mine Host & two more guards attend post-haste. There is a lot of pent-up vengeance being brought to this incident.
The male person is being detained by the guard who caught him.
The offender had ripped open the supposedly man-proof cistern cover, reefed a handful of pipes from the cistern, twisted them, dropped them into the toilet bowl, then defecated upon them.
The vandalised plumbing is still in situ.
The three guards subtley edge closer to the male. Well aware of the precariousness of his situation, the offender is visibly shaking with fear.
There are no cameras in here, no witnesses, and no cops.
The guards advise the male person that he will remove, with his bare hands, the damaged plumbing from the toilet bowl, sanitize it, repair it and fit it from whence it came, then clean out the toilet bowl.
The offender states that he's "Not putting [his] hands in there!"
In a realistic tone of voice, the guards state that unless he does, they'll thrash him to within an inch of his life. The menace in the air is palpable.
The guards don't much mind which way it goes. They've had their turns at cleaning up after animals like this.
The offender realises from the look in the eyes of the guards that whichever of the guards who hits him first will punch him on the point of the nose, but be aiming for the back of his head.
... for those who haven't been around violence, this does not mean that he'll be hit from behind.....
The offender turns white, and shaking with fear, proceeds to do as ordered. The supervision is most intense!
After the repairs are complete, the offender is removed most forcefully from the premises and advised to never return.
So continues life behind the bar.
2 comments:
Am I a bad person for liking this, a whole lot?
Although, when Mr. H had half ownership in a bar, the worst vandalism occurred when a customer hurled a full beer mug at the bartender and succeeded in smashing the glass front of the cooler behind the bar.
I cleaned toilets for a few weeks until I couldn't take anymore (and, as wife of half-owner was excused), but never had to deal with the more solid and ... er ... brown aspects of customer effluence. That was usually reserved for the parking lot between the back door and the cockroach-infested apartments behind.
Not a bad person at all. Anyone who's worked in a pub will get a vicarious thrill from it.
On the scale of damage done, what I described there is rather mild.
I've had a gutful of people smashing things, and the law not only refusing to do anything about it, but not allowing me the tools to do it myself.
Result: The toilets look very industrial. It is now all made of stainless steel. But we still have to constantly put soap in there.
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