Mr. Frosty

The pick up lines and tactics of some men NEVER cease to amaze me.  There are times when I think it’s a bit endearing that men can’t figure it out and then there are times when it just boggles my mind.

I was sitting at the bar of a fairly busy restaurant the other day, enjoying a glass of wine, a snack, and reading a 700 page novel.  I was fully in ‘leave me the hell alone’ mode when I was approached by a decent looking man who’s pick up line was this, “You look like you could use a bookmark.”

First of all, I already have a bookmark because I’m halfway through the book.  Second of all, I’m in the middle of reading, does it look like I want to talk to you? And third, that’s the best thing you could think of to say?

Out of curiosity I chose to speak to him, so I turned around and he handed me his business card (I guess this was supposed to be the bookmark that I needed).  The business card described an illegal operation that he was running where he sold off sale liquor after legal hours out of the trunk of his car.   RED FLAG!!  His business card referred to him as Mr. Frosty (I don’t even see how this name matches the business – so his marketing skills are all off too!)

Throughout the course of the conversation, which was kept friendly but not flirtatious, he discovered that I’m currently a bartender at a local pub.  He mentioned he might come in for a beer later and I didn’t see a problem with it.  There was no flirting and there was no reason for me not to solicit new business for the pub.

That night he did come into the pub.  It was about 11pm when he showed up, about 45 minutes before last call.  I had a group of people at the bar rail so I poured him a beer and barely spoke to him as I was busy cleaning up and getting ready to close.  Once I yelled last call, everything changed.

As soon as I yelled last call, I locked the door.  The guests that were in the bar were welcome to stay while I finished up cleaning and closing.  He cornered me, away from everyone else and nudged me with his shoulder and said, “So, are we hanging out tonight, or what?”

EWWWWW!!!!!

Not at any SINGLE point in the entire day had I given him any signal that I might be interested.  And yet, he figured that I would be interested in hanging out with him AFTER midnight even though I barely knew him.

And the story gets better.

When he asked me if we were going to hang out I made it VERY clear that I was in a relationship and that I wasn’t interested.  Anyone who runs an ILLEGAL business and works from 11pm – 7am serving booze to coke addicts isn’t my idea of relationship material, especially if he can’t even notice that a girl needs personal space!

I had the next few nights off from work so I thought the incident was over and done with. Little did I know, he had been coming into the bar every night that I had off looking for me.  Can you say creepy?

The next night shift that I worked, he showed up.  He didn’t recognize me at first and asked for me by name.  I, unfortunately, was in front of the bar rail instead of behind it so I couldn’t get away from him.  He figured out who I was and immediately stepped into my personal space and made me feel EXTREMELY uncomfortable.  My boss just happened to be there and even he asked me what was going on and why this guy was all up in my space.

He said he had something for me and I was concerned that he’d brought me drugs or something ridiculous so I was a bit nervous when he handed me a package.  Well, it turns out it was his new business cards.  His old business partner had split up with him so he was venturing out on his own; running the same illegal operation.  His new business name is NiteLife.  When he handed me the cards he told me that if I was able to hook him up with new customers that I would always receive cost on the alcohol I bought from him.  My thoughts were this; first, I usually don’t drink after midnight and if I do, it’s a planned occasion and I bought the alcohol earlier that day.  I’m not likely to buy alcohol out of a trunk of a car as I tend not to support illegal operations.

I took the cards simply to get the guy to go away (which worked), and gave them to my boss who decided Mr. Frosty was no longer welcome in our pub and that he was likely to call the Liquor Board to report him.  I really hope I’m working when he decides to come into the pub again so that I have the pleasure of kicking him out!

It has been several weeks since I’ve seen him, so I’m going on the theory that I made it clear enough the second time around that I REALLY wasn’t interested.  I only have 36 shifts left before I move on to bigger and better things so hopefully he stays away for that many days.