I Answered a Help Wanted Ad on Craigslist. I Won't Be Leaving Tiki Pete's Tiki Bar.

I was broke, and desperate. I had heard of people making good money sitting babies or watching dogs for people, but I was too young to do either anyway. I was going to be a senior in high school in less than two weeks, and I still didn't have enough for my senior trip. I was starting to lose hope. <br><br>This is where the craziest thing to happen to me in my life happened. I was on Craigslist and noticed the "gigs" section. I didn't know that Craigslist had this, but I thought it would be a great place to find a last-minute job to make some extra cash. <br><br>The first thing I noticed was a help wanted ad. It read "Help Wanted/Apply in Person". It was very vague. I decided to show it to my mom, and get her take on it. She thought it was a little weird that they didn't include an address, she said that if someone was hiring, they should at least put where they were hiring for. I was about to close the app when something at the bottom of the page caught my eye. It was the same ad that I had just showed my mom, but this time they included an address. I was shocked, but also excited at this point. <br><br>This was the last hope that I had to make the money needed to go on my senior trip. I showed the ad to my mom, and then my dad. They both agreed that this was my last chance. Early the next morning, I got up from my bed and got ready to go apply for what I assumed was a job. I didn't know what to expect, I just had to do it. I walked to the address listed on the ad. It took me about 45 minutes to get there. I passed by many fast-food joints, retail stores, and gas stations along the way. I started to feel weird about the whole situation again. They had to have seen the "help wanted" ads in the windows of those places that I passed by. I gave up on the whole thing again, but didn't give up on my journey. <br><br>After about 45 minutes of walking, I got to the address listed on the ad. It was a tiki bar. The sign read "Tiki Pete's Tiki Bar". I walked inside, and the bartender greeted me. "Welcome to Tiki Pete's Tiki Bar! What is your poison of choice today?" I was taken back, as I was only 17 and definitely not of age to drink. "Hi, I'm here about the job application." The bartender gave me a weird look. I then saw a man sitting at the bar turn around, and stare at me. I'm not sure how to explain how I remember what he looked like, but his face is forever ingrained in my memory. His name was Tiki Pete, I later found out. <br><br>He was a tall man, probably around 6'7. He had a large amount of tattoos covering his arms, as well as a tattoo of a snake on the right side of his head. The snake was also covering part of his face. He said "Yes, you must be here for the job." I said "Yes, I am." He told me to come with him, and that was it. He showed me to a back room in the bar and said "This is where you'll be sleeping." I was confused. I asked when I would start my shift, and how much I would be getting paid since they were providing me with a place to sleep. <br><br>The man who I later found out was named Tiki Pete said "Don't worry about any of that. You'll figure it out once you get the hang of it." He then left the room and shut the door. I sat down on the bed. It was surprisingly comfortable, so I decided to take a nap. When I woke up, I got off the bed and looked around the room. There was a small desk in the corner with a mirror hanging on the wall above it. I walked over to it and noticed something that I didn't see the first time I entered the room. There was a piece of paper on the desk.<br><br>I picked up the paper, and it was instructions. It read "You were hired for a reason. We believe that everyone that we hire has a specific gift that will make them excel in their job. You will be working as a bartender. When a customer orders a drink, all that you need to do is ask which flavor they would like. Grapes, strawberries, cherries, and blueberries are our most popular flavors. The customers will take care of themselves." I read through the instructions three times, but I still didn't understand what they meant. What did they mean by "the customers will take care of themselves"? Do they want me to sit back and watch the customers make their own drinks? I was confused.<br><br>I decided to just go out there and wing it. I opened the door, and Tiki Pete was standing right in front of me. "Hey kid, you ready to bartend?" I said "I guess so." He replied "Good. I think Cheeks is about to start his shift." I was about to ask who Cheeks was, but then he walked out of the door that led outside. Cheeks was a regular at Tiki Pete's Tiki Bar. He always ordered a blueberry flavored martini. <br><br>I thought back to the instructions. "The customers will take care of themselves." I decided to just go with it and let Cheeks make his own drink. I watched as he grabbed a bottle of blueberry flavored martini mix and mixed it with some liquor. He then took his martini and sat down at one of the tables. I was amazed. The instructions were right. Cheeks did take care of himself. <br><br>Over the course of a few hours, more and more customers started walking in the door. They all ordered different flavors of martinis. Some ordered blueberry, while others ordered strawberry. There was even one person who ordered a combination of blueberry and strawberry. I didn't know how they were all making their drinks, but I knew that I wasn't going to question it. <br><br>Tiki Pete kept raising the price of the martinis throughout the day. He first started at $5, but after a few hours, he was charging $50. Still, the customers kept coming in and ordering drinks. I had never seen anything like this. I opened my shift strong, and closed my shift out even stronger. <br><br>The next morning I woke up and was ready to get to work. I walked out of the back room and started wiping down the counter. Tiki Pete came out of the back room shortly after I did and complimented me on my work the previous day. I thanked him and told him that I was ready to do even better today. He replied "Good kid. You're going to do great things." <br><br>My second day went the exact same as the first, and so did my third. During my fourth shift, I noticed something that I hadn't noticed before. The shift started out the same as the others did, but as time went on, I didn't notice any of the regulars. I asked Tiki Pete about it, but he said "Don't worry about it. They'll be back." The night went on, and I got more and more anxious as time went on. The regulars weren't showing up. <br><br>At the end of the night, I asked Tiki Pete if I could see the till. He said "Kid, this is your business too. If you want to see the till, you can." The money that we made that night was the most that we have ever made. I couldn't understand why. I asked Tiki Pete "Why did we make so much tonight when none of the regulars showed up?" He replied "Sometimes it's good to get rid of your regular customers. Sometimes it's good to attract new ones." <br><br>Tiki Pete's Tiki Bar was closed the next day. I woke up thinking that it was weird. I walked out into the bar, and Tiki Pete was cleaning up the mess that was left behind. I asked him why he was cleaning up. He said "Someone has to do it." He then handed me a broom. I said "I'm an employee. I thought that you were my boss." He replied "I'm not your boss. I'm the owner of the bar. I hire managers and bartenders. You are the manager. The customers are the employees."<br><br>I continued to work at Tiki Pete's Tiki bar the rest of the year. I saved up all the money that I made to pay for my senior trip. I'm now 24 and live in another state, but I still think about Tiki Pete's Tiki Bar. I never found out what was actually in the martinis, and I never will.<br><br>I never went back.