Louise Tonner - First Time Barmaid

Introduction
I'm a single mother of two boys. I've had a few part-time jobs and this story is about my first day at one of them. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Dedicated to my late mother, Patricia Tonner, who would often say , "you never know what you can do until you try." Without her encouragement I wouldn't have fulfilled my dream. Thank you, Mam. Also dedicated to my two sons Stephen and John.

Story
It's my first night as a barmaid and it's my local pub. I'm scared stiff, I've never pulled a pint before. Bar people are out-going and chatty. I'm pretty quiet and shy.
"Why did I let you talk me into this job in the first place?" I say to may friend as we're walking to the pub.
"Come on, you'll love it. Just get tonight over with and tomorrow I'll be on with you. We'll have a good laugh," she says, laughing.
"That's if I get through tonight," I mutter.
We get there 15 minutes before I start work.
Jeanette, seeing the scared look on my face says, "Here, get a drink down your neck and calm down."
Then she tells the landlord that I'm a nervous wreck.
"Oh thanks pal, that's made me feel a lot better," I say, blushing ear to ear.
He laughs as he says, "Don't worry, everybody feels like that at first." Then adds, "You won't have time to be nervous".
They both laugh. I just look gormlessly at them both.
"Come on," he says, "I'll show you the ropes. The bottles are down here, the glasses are under here, the wines and spirits up there. The bitter, the mild, the lager, the cider and the Guinness are along here."
He then shows me how to pull a pint of bitter. It's a hand held pump, so it's a quick pull then two short pulls, as is the mild. The rest is a little lever that you press on and off.
Just then Peter, a regular, comes in.
"Here you go," says the landlord, "pull your first pint of bitter."
They all watch as I nervously pull my first pint. Whoosh! goes the beer as it hits the bottom of the glass and splashes all over the place.
"Never mind, try again," I can hear the landlord say in the midst of all the laughter.
So I do. This time I pull my pint and put it on the bar.
"Hey, that's great," they all say.
Peter gives me a 10p tip.
"My first pint and my first tip, not bad, hey?" I say to Jeanette, who's putting on her coat.
"I'm off now, I'll see you later. I'm meeting the others in the Flying Horse. Bye." She waves as she goes out the door.
I'm left on my own now, behind the bar, feeling like a lemon, waiting for people to come in, which eventually they did. I got the hang of pulling and pouring the drinks. Before I knew it I was knee deep in customers and I'd been laughing and chatting to them all. Still, I was glad to see Jeanette and my sisters walk in. They ask if I've been all right.
"Busy," I reply.
Then came last orders. Oh my God! What's happened to these people? All at once they charged to the bar.
"Louise, three pints of bitter please."
"Louise, four pints of lager please."
"Louise, two white wines and soda please."
It was one mad rush to serve them all. The landlord and Jeanette helped out. It was like crazy hour.
Rush, rush, rush, beer, lager, all sorts of drinks were ordered, pulled and poured. Ching, ching went the till for the last time. Great, now I can have a well earned five minute break and a drink, which by now I need.
But it's not over yet, time was shouted, glasses had to be washed and stacked, ashtrays emptied, tables wiped, people got out of the door.
"Come on people, please go home, I'm tired," I shouted.
I cleaned the spillage trays, I mopped up the slops, the bar was clean and empty. I stood for a minute in the now dim light of the bar, the tables sparkled, the room was quiet, oh, what a relief my night is over.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow night.

Afterword
I never dreamt I could write a story let alone get it published into a book. I never had any confidence in myself to write anything before, especially about my life, as I thought it would be boring to anyone else. But it just goes to show you never know what you can do until you try. I was over the moon that Gatehouse chose my story to publish.
Louise Tonner