So, this morning I wake up around 8:30 am (which to me is like the crack of dawn), and I look at my phone, and somehow I missed 7 phone calls last night between the hours of 4:15am – 5:30am. Normally, it’s someone looking for some lovin, but last night I wasn’t so lucky.
I check the first voice mail and it went a little something like this (I’m using creative license by the way.. if that’s even the correct term), “Hello. This is JMS Electronics (Bombers’ alarm system company), we have received a notice that your alarm is going off at the back door, in the kitchen, in the bar area, on the 3rd floor and in the stair wells. We have dispatched the police. Please call us as soon as possible.”
I was like, “oh shit.”
Next voice mail: “Hello, this is JMS again, please contact us regarding 447 State Street in Schenectady.”
Next voice mail: “Mr. Baumgartner, this is The Schenectady Police Department. We received a phone call from your Alarm System for 447 State street, please call ###-#### when you get this.”
Next voice mail: “Mr. Baumgartner, this is the Schenectady Police Department, we have 2 detainees in posession concerning the break in at 447 State Street. Please call (phone number).”
I’ll skip to the juicy party.
Turns out, some drunk girl named Erica ended up passing out in our broom closet. We closed up the bar as usual, and at about 4:30 in the morning she wakes up and walks throughout the restaurant and bar, the stairwells and the kitchen, setting off the silent alarm system. And then I guess called her friend to come get her because she said she couldn’t find her way out.
I never thought I’d have to implement the policy, “Bartenders: From now one, please check the broom closets for people before you lock up”. But as of today, that is now on the list.
We didn’t press charges. And I’m trying to get a hold of Erika so that we can hang out. She sounds fun.
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Fucking awesome.
I am laughing so hard rite now,Im crying…..HILARIOUS!
Well Matt, there you go again being the greatest guy, how do you do it, you take someone who went somewhere in your building they were not supposed to be and caused all kinds of turmoil and your last words on the event are “She sounds fun.” You are my hero you are the best. You believe in people and that my friend is a very admirable quality.
my favorite part is that she couldn’t find her way out!! i love love love this!!
That’s great!! You can’t make that kind of shit up!
If I had a nickle…
Thanks for that great story! I was pulling my hair out from kids, dinner, kids, cleaning up, kids, bedtime stuff, etc. But read that and laughed really hard. Thanks!!
Well, that just blew that whole garbage can caper out the window, thanks Erica, thanks a lot.***runs to find Wolff’s broom closet**
thats hysterical!
Hillarious!
this is fantastic, just fantastic.
I’m literally LOLing, that just made my day.
PLEASE tell me you have surveillance tapes…this would probably make for great entertainment!
Matt,
That is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time. I just came back into my office before going to bed to close down my computer and thought I would check the blog . Thanks for a good laugh.
I love you!
Mom
That. Is. Awesome.
And I totally agree with G-Dawg (#3) – you pretty much rock, Matt.
Hysterical! Erika should be the guest of honor at the Lark Street reopening…
Such a riot. Please have her do the ribbon cutting when you reopen. Or get her a plaque on the wall (or broom closet?). She deserves some sort of place of honor. :)
I think that is a fantastic idea. You should dedicate the broom closet to her when you reopen lark st in her honor.
shhhhhhssseeeeeweeee, i thought that post was about me…
I still think Christy D. sounds like more fun.
That is too funny! I want to know who Erika was there with- did her friends even try to call or find her when she went MIA and/or before they left?
Not only did reading this distract from tHe heavy breathing drunk man on the bus, who seems very upset by the incoming chip factory, and still rocks the stretch move to put his arm around a girl (me :|) but it was also amazing! Two points to Friday puppy, none to crazy guy.
@ Colleen: Wolffs has no broom closet, just get drunk and try to hide behind the second door in on the right when coming into the bar.
[...] out in Bombers’ broom closet, sets off alarm January 8, 2010 at 7:35 am by Kristi Gustafson This story from Matt about how his alarm company — and the Schenectady police — tried to alert him [...]
Twenty years ago that could have been me…….what a story!
Sounds like everyone’s out of the closet now!
She doesn’t sound fun, she sounds like an idiot.
It is funny that you should say that Matt, for your bartenders to have one more job at the end of the night. Having worked in the restaurant business for so many years, you’re never surprised with what will take place after a night of drinking. You should make her work for free for a day, maybe by cleaning out the broom closet first? =) One of my incidents was a guy that was a waiter for me. I was in the kitchen cooking, backing up the bar, the dining room was packed. I look over in the dining room and my waiter is gone, I look up at the top of the bar, and so is the girl he was flirting with, so I look around and no waiter, finally, I figure it out, quicky, sure enough, there’s my waiter in the men’s room with said girl at the top of the bar. I turned the lights out from the outside of the bathroom and told him to get back to work, and I mean waiting! I can laugh about it now, but at that time when we were knee deep, I wasn’t impressed when he took it literally!
Like someone above, I think you should have a closet dedication party in her honor. This may embarass her to NOT do that again.
Great story though!!
Too funny, she does sound like fun. I’m thinking into the future when she has kids and grandkids who are older and in conversation says, “Well when I was young………..etc” it will always get a laugh. Erica will never live this one down.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bryan Thomas, Matt Baumgartner. Matt Baumgartner said: One too many. http://www.fridaypuppy.com/?p=2788 [...]
Give her my # :)
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by bt1soul: Of broom closets, burritos and would-be burglars http://bit.ly/5jdtHI...
Welcome to your 15 minutes of fame – Capital Region Style.
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=886530
Can I post this on my FB page – this is hilarious!!
Oh man she sounds fun! Very cool of you not to press charges Matt – she is lucky you are the owner.
@ds….. of course.
Matt you made my day.
That is indeed funny stuff but you have to wonder why the bartenders didn’t see how ripped this girl was before the “pass-out”. Possibly this is an incident that could have been avooided if she wasn’t served just one last drink… then again she could have stumbled into Bombers from any other bar and done the same thing.
That is so funny, made my Friday.. What a killer guy you seem to be, think I would have been a little mad, but laughed in the end.. Humor is the best quality…
hey matt, could you ask this erica if she left any phone messages for the friend to pick her up? my office mates and i have been howling about what _that_ phone message would have been like….
“uh, Becky, it’s really dark, there’s no one here, and I can’t find the door…”
Hilarious! And nice of you not to press charges- other people probably wouldnt’ve been so nice.
The broom closet there must be pretty comfy..
Ummm…just want to set the record straight for my husband who asked if I had gone out without him knowing last night: it wasn’t me!!! ;-)
First of all, whose the Hottie holding the champagne flute?
Secondly, as funny as this is ( and don’t be surprised if you get national attention on this story), this girl might need some help. I’m afraid what she might do next when she’s that drunk. That’s very cool that you did not press charges.
You one funny guy Matt!
Hah! I love it! Thanks for the Friday morning laugh.
wow, I think I have now heard everything…..That just made my day.
The girl pictured above, looks to be very Fun as well
Why not just throw some cots in there. Bomber’s Burrito Bar and Flop House.
Who the hell were her friends that left the bar without trying to get in contact with her or look for her? Hahahahaha
love that you didnt press charges… very kind of you. that just inspired me to trek over to Schenectady this weekend for some food…
this same situation happened to a girlfriend of mine in college… went to Max’s (in Rhinebeck) decided time to get out of there to go home, went looking for her, she was missing…. a bartender found her asleep sitting up on an overturned mop bucket…..
Sounds like she has a drinking problem and she’s lucky this is the worst thing that happened to her. It’s also very lucky for your establishment (and conscience). Erica: get help. Bartenders: keep an eye out for people like this.
It’s nice of you to not press charges. A very similar incident happened to my friend in NYC (fell asleep at a bar, got locked in). She wound up stuck until 11 AM or so when another friend finally woke up and got cell phone messages and alerted the police; while there was no alarm, they had one of those pulldown metal doors and she was trapped. She wound up getting drunk again that morning to pass the time and the owner didn’t take too kindly to it. And yeah, this friend definitely has a drinking problem.
@#22, Melanie, I think that’s a wall…..but there is a basement….hummm; now you got me thinking! Matt’s story on Monday….”so there was this call on my phone it was from the Albany Police Department, they left 14 messages, they said that there was this alarm tripped at Wolff’s on Saturday morning, and all the messages say, yeah we have this girl who was wandering around your bar, eating peanuts and she said she knows you…..ummm, could you call us please….she seems kind of old…..yeah, so just call us”
Colleen, you just made me laugh out loud!
Vote for Pongo! :)
Classic. Just Classic. I think we should all remember to make this one of T.U.’s stories of the year come December ’10. Good thing she didn’t get hurt or taken advantage of… makes for a laughable story.
lol, @alejandro…I think the second message would be…
“Theres a man in here..hic.. with white dreadlocks staring at the wall…hic. I can’t see his…hic…face, but he’s really skinny”.
@Colleen: yeah I just figured watching someone try mightily to open that door would be as amusing as someone passed out in a closet :)
OMG…you made the TU online!
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=886530
Hahahahahaha! That is f-ing amazing! I love her! Matt, can you put some pillows and maybe a blanket in the Albany Bombers? It will be a great addition to the renovations!
Freakin’ Hilarious!
BTW, it’s a funny incident, but it’s the way you tell the story that makes it golden.
@Shawn- that’s too funny…
I knew a Pylon like her at one time in my life. Sounds like her MO. You had to get pic of her on your phone. I’m wondering if its her. Did she smell of LOX and Fritos? If so? That was the “Road Cone”.
Latz
Jimmy Royal
Was it Vertiny?
This happened to a girl that lived next to me in college, woke up in the bathroom of one of the college dives we would go to, and the place was locked. She had to go out a fire door on the side, but it led to a autoshop that was fenced in and had to climb the fence to get out. I was shocked she even told people about it!
This is just too funny, video would be amazing but a great story is just as good. Front Page TU online!
have a contest to name a drink after erika !!!!
Just in from the wire:
(WRGB) Schenectady Police are now treating the incident at Bombers Burrito Bar overnight as a hate crime as someone left the tag “The Moops” on the drunken woman’s head in indelible ink. The FBI alongside Schenectady PD are now scouring Internet databases for other similar gang-related attacks. Other details about the scene are starting to unfold, including the fact that hundreds of muffin stubs were littered about the premises. One person of interest, whom police would only identify as a “Mr. Lippman” has been brought in for questioning. A call to the Schenectady Chamber of Commerce revealed that a “Mr. Lippman” owns the “Top if the Muffin Café” at 1229 State Street, four blocks away from the crime scene. At 3:37 yesterday morning, a man fitting the description of Mr. Lippman wearing a J. Peterman beltless raincoat, went into the China Panda across from Bombers and ordered a Supreme Flounder to go. Oddly enough he left a $50 deposit for a serving tray and was last seen heading across the street carrying the tray along with the flounder, as if he was going to serve it to someone. “Sure was weird,” said China Panda owner Babu Bhatt. “Now that I hear what happened, he very, very bad man, very bad man” said Bhatt while wagging his finger in the air.
It was a very busy night for Schenectady PD as Schnitzer’s deli was robbed at 5:30 AM just as they opened for the day. The robbers, who did not display a weapon, did not demand any money. “They stole all of our marble rye for some reason,” Said shop owner Nelly Karpinski. “It makes no sense.”
Stay tuned to Channel 6 for updates throughout the evening.
@Melanie – I’ll try it later and see if anyone notices….I’m not above doing that, or is it below…either way it’ll be amusing indeed.
@Tammy P – I hope you didn’t get in trouble at work; and you weren’t drinking at the time, you know those computer screens aren’t waterproof!!
@Shawn, OMG, I have the giggles….I’m gonna get fired….
Wait so she did she bust into the kitchen for some snacks?
Oh how I would love to be drunk and locked in Bombers what a meal that would be : )
Heard about this at work today.. too much!
WTEN just aired the story! Hilarious! Great interview…although your glasses have to go. Those black frames detract from your VGLs!!
Matt, just saw you on Channel 10 news. You’re everywhere!
can we get the video footage from the security camera posted on here?
I say name a drink after her!.
Erica Sleepover
4-Alarm Erica
Erica After Hours
Or at least put a sign on the closet that says
“Erica’s Broom Closet — No Vacancy”
“Reserved for Erica”
Or maybe make a t-shirt for her that says
“Yes, I’m the Erica who Came Out of the Closet.”
“For the last time, I was powdering my goddamned nose.”
Or make up t-shirts for the bar that say
“Bombers Burrito Bar — Home of Erica’s Closet”
“Bombers Burrito Bar — Where Erica Hangs Out”
“Bombers Burrito Bar — Screw Victoria’s Secret – We’ve Got Erica’s Closet”
You’d be missing a bet if you failed to capitalize on this free — and FUN — publicity. Jump on it, guys.
And if you use any of these, send me money! :D
Matt, you are an idiot. You over-serve a 22 year old female to the point where she passes out in your establishment and then when she wakes up you say you “Will not press charges!” Are you kidding me? You better call your lawyer and be worried about 1) being sued 2) Losing your liquor license once SLA investigates.
What kind of a moron makes fun of a 22 year old who get drunk in his own bar? Ever heard of females being raped because of bartenders over-serving? You need some serious help and better have deep pockets because I think you are gonna need them.
Schenectady Resident MUST be a Republican because I sense no hint of personal responsibility.
Shawn, wake up. Those who operate with a liquor license are responsible for those they serve. It is the law and it is the term in which they agreed to when they accepted the license.
@25…you have been doing a lil too much of the ole crack. Do us all a favor and lay off it for Christ’s sake.
You might want to ask your staff why they were serving drinks to someone so drunk that she passed out in a broom closet. The incident made for a funny story, but the outcome could have been very tragic.
@ #25 Schenectady Resident, ever heard of being responsible for yourself? God forbid you have a daughter or sister who is raped. Are you really going to blame the bartender of the bar she willingly went to, or the person who actually committed the rape? Call me old-fashioned, but I would put the blame on the actual rapist. You would not, and that is what amuses me about you calling other people idiots. PS – this story had nothing to do with the girl being raped, but being an irresponsible ADULT who hung out with other irresponsible adult friends. You’re GONNA have to rethink what you said.
@25,there are other ways of getting your point across without name-calling.That just makes you sound ignorant and puts much less credibilty in your argument.shame on YOU!
Wow- would the uber-rude judgementalists please take a breath?
Declaring Matt “an idiot” or his staff “irresponsible” or suggesting that this girl MUST have a drinking problem and should be on her way to The Betty is completely premature and uncalled for.
Not one of you knows from Matt’s post whether this girl drank at Bomber’s all night or for how long, whether she bought her own drinks, whether she bought all of her drinks from the same bartender all night, what she ate for dinner that night or whether this is a first-time deal or a habit, so I suggest climbing off of your soapboxes and reserving your judgements until such a time as you have ALL of the information.
PS: Matt- I read this and I cackled. Great way to start a Friday.
Not sure what everyone else is thinking BUT I would love to see the surveillance footage on this one, LOL! Sounds like some people really need to calm down. Matt did nothing wrong and neither did his employees…let’s here it for BOMBERS, hip, hip hooray!!!
i think you guys that are saying hes gonna get sued are ridiculous i mean seriously shes a grown adult noone told her to get that drunk in public if she cant handle her liquor then maybe she should just drink at home so she can pass out in her own closet jeez cut the poor owner a break
I think you should name a drink after her and call it “The Closet Drunk.”
She should sue her friends that lost track of her and left without her that night.
Ericka’s New Year’s Resolutions :
1) no more passing out in broom closets, or closets of any kind, or bars or restaurants for that matter
2) stop drinking when the nearest doorway looks like a suitable substitute for your bedroom door
3) FIND.NEW.FRIENDS.
4) move out of the (518)
5) avoid Bombers for a while, and try to avoid run-ins with the Schenectady P.D.
Matt-
I love, love, love this story! I was cracking up. You definitely need to name a drink after her.
[...] [...]
Another T-shirt:
Jan. 7, 2009 — The Day Erica Came Out of the Closet
Actually, now that I think of it, on the 7th day of every month (or just once a year in January if you think that’s best) you could have a Coming Out of the Closet Party.
And again, I hope you guys are brainstorming something to DO with this, and not just letting it pass by.
Because if you don’t do something fun and profitable with it, it may be that you really are the idiots some of the commenters here are calling you.
On the other hand, all you people talking about suing and stuff? Jeezus, shut up. The world is full of a-holes like you, and that’s definitely not a good thing. This was a harmless, funny incident, and your shrieking, harpy voices are a complete buzz-kill.
At Schenectady Resident,
It’s not always something the bartenders can control. Not everyone goes up to the bar to order drinks. Sometimes the boyfriend goes to the bar and orders the drinks for his girlfriend. Sometimes theres a birthday party and people have too much of the birthday margarita. Sometimes people just can’t control their liquor. I doubt if the bartenders saw a girl that drunk coming to the bar to order drinks that they would serve her. I’ve seen bartenders at Bombers deny people drinks and I’ve seen bouncers at Bombers remove both male and female patrons for too much alcohol consumption. People need to be responsible for themselves. You should be embarrassed if you get that drunk in public. And what kind of friends leave a friend at a bar…honestly.
Here’s an idea – how bout you tell educate your bartenders (or, if its ‘not their fault’ – BS – then educate your bouncers as well) on how to do their friggin jobs, its called CUTTING PEOPLE OFF. How drunk do your employees get while they’re working, that they don’t know someone is passed out on the premesis?? If you insist on hiring braindead employees it is 100% your responsibility Matt.
If that was my girlfriend, wife, sister, daughter – I would have broken every window, burned the place down, and then sued your ass.
I love the ‘we didn’t press charges’ part. What a d-bag.
So Genius, next time you’re at the bar you want the bartender constantly asking if you’re too drunk yet? Have you had enough? Then when he finally cuts you off, you go into a rage and demand to speak to a manager.
Good logic.
Shimmy – if you’re too timid to handle saying ‘no’ to a customer, the bartender biz is absolutely the wrong place for you. It against your best interests obviously, but turning away drunk and/or belligerent people comes with the territory. I’ll assume your not a bartender, because if you are you would never have posted that.
…or maybe you work at bombers!
ba-ZING
Seriously, who will think of the children??
Matthew:
You’re so incredible. We need more like you in the world to spread the love.
sounds like a nice girl. that’s cool she found a closet rather than just the floor.