Ever heard folks say they’ve got a job for life? Well that’s pretty much the way I feel working right here at Club Peace and Plenty. Speaking God’s honest truth, I’d have to say this job is my life. And that’s the way it’s been since I left the Two Turtles hotel and first stood behind this bar back in 1967. For those of you who can’t work that out in your heads – something that comes easy when you spend your days adding up the cost of drinks and making sure folks pay what’s due – that’s for going on 42 years!
And back in January, on the 20th if you want the exact date, on the occasion of celebrating the hotels’ 50th anniversary, I had my own little ceremony too, when on account of my long service as ‘Doctor of Libations’ I was presented with a certificate and this Omega watch I’m wearing right now. That was quite a party. People didn’t just come from all over the hotel here, they came from all over the island. Even the Minister of State for Culture showed up with a fancy plaque announcing our election to the Commonwealth’s antiquity register.
Course over the years, I’ve almost lost count of the famous faces who’ve made their way to this historical place and asked me to pour them a Kalik beer or mix them something exotic with our Nassau Royal. Jessica Tandy, Robert Mitchum, Gene Hackman, Jack Nicklaus, how long have you got? The actor Johnny Depp even came to accept an award himself right along there in what’s known as our Slave Kitchen Bar.
And it’s not just stars and celebrities I’ve got to know. I guess you’d say I’ve got this gift at remembering folk and they seem pleased as can be when I welcome them back year after year and have their favourite drink all ready and waiting for them. Fact is, listening to their adventures since they last left is as entertaining as me getting to tell them mine. Well, almost!
