Keep in mind, this is a piece I wrote last year BEFORE Wynn opened. It's one of a series of stories I wrote about the "glamorous" life of cocktailing on the Las Vegas Strip.
Just thought I'd share it this morning as it's getting WAY too serious in here. Lol. Maybe I'll mail Wynn a copy. Think he'd find it funny? Lol.
Edited on 8/30/06: I did mail it to Human Resources after I was again rejected-this time for a position that I was CLEARLY qualified for. Now for the hell of it I sign on and apply for jobs I am clearly NOT qualified to handle such as "Master Technician for Production Show" or "Department of Surveillance." To hell with Wynn!
"My Official Interview with Wynn Casino"
For two years this is all anyone in this industry has talked about.
"Are you going to interview?" "Do you have any connections there?" "What if they hire you and you hate it there? Then what? You'll have lost all those years at casino "X"!"
The web site opens up. The interviewing begins. The Super Bowl commercial airs. And I'm quite impressed already as I observe the "flow" of this operation.
Upper management is put into place. Then middle. And finally the announcement is made that it's time to interview for the lowly and prime position I covet: the cocktail server.
Now I'm not an idiot and I know that my age of 43 isn't going to help matters any. But I'm fairly attractive, have boobs and legs and more importantly I have no screaming babies at home to force me to call in sick weekly or no juvenile jealous boyfriend who is waiting to shoot my head off one night as I walk out to the parking lot. Believe me, there really ARE some advantages to hiring someone who isn't 21 years old.
The next few weeks all my coworkers could THINK about was whether they'd receive a "formal" interview after applying on-line.
A few of us did and I was lucky enough to be included. I was ALSO smart enough to schedule my interview AFTER someone I knew so I could casually inquire how it "went" so I'd be better prepared.
Her story sounded so stupid that I wrote it off as a lack of intelligence and decided to hell with it. I'll wing it.
I'm telling you this has to be the most incredulous memory I will EVER hold the rest of my life. Now you have to keep in mind that I worked for a "Wynn-like" man for many years in the hotel industry as a problem solver and I was pretty adept at understanding the logic behind certain decisions in running a large operation.
The fact that we were to be "group interviewed" had me puzzled for several days but THEN the night of the actual interview arrives and we're told to show up at an address several miles out in Summerlin.
OK. This makes sense. They want to make sure I have appropriate transportation, right?
But when I drove UP to this place my mouth dropped open. Keep in mind it was a 7 PM interview (prime dinner hour). I kept looking at the address that was written on my acceptance letter thinking I must be missing something because it corresponded to a building called "Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe and Hookah Lounge." All I could imagine is that this place wasn't actually opened for business yet and Wynn was using a buddy's place for a few evenings. For all I knew he BUILT the place just to conduct the interviews.
So I walk into this dimly lit restaurant and am promptly greeted by a woman who asks for my name and SS number. As she was about to talk to me the door opened behind me and a group of giggly younger girls walked in.
"Oh, Good." says the woman. "Now I'll only have to say this once. First of all welcome to each of you. We want you to be relaxed this evening and we would like to say thank you for coming by offering you each a drink at the bar. Just hand this ticket to the bartender over there and then have a seat anywhere you like around the corner."
Pretty clever, I'm thinking. When we had signed in we had been given a numbered ticket and as I was later trying to figure out this whole series of events I remembered that even though the bar was only a few feet away and could only be missed by a blind person, the woman actually walked us OVER to the bar, ensuring we all approached it.
Now I have to ask you. WHAT person in their right mind would order a cocktail during a job interview? Would you like to know? EVERY single applicant in the place except ME. And I'm not just talking about a rum and coke or vodka and tonic. We're talking blended Malibu colada's, Double shots of Belvedere, Patron margaritas... And that's not the most HYSTERICAL part of it!
Here's this very professional bartender, working his ASS off by himself, and his Tip jar is EMPTY!!!!!!!!!! These are the VERY women on the Strip who are OUTRAGED when someone "stiffs" THEM!
I ordered a small bottle of mineral water and handed the poor guy $5 along with my ticket. He told me how much he appreciated it but I couldn't even say, "Well I GUESS!" because my jaw was hanging open.
Around the corner we go where we join a group of about 50 rather loud (and starting to get drunk) women. That wasn't any big deal. What BOTHERED me was that surrounding this little lounge area there are tables where actual CUSTOMERS were EATING!!!!! Have YOU ever been to Paymon's? It's not exactly McDonald's. If I had been dining there that evening with a bunch of noisy women bouncing all over the place I might have a hard time justifying the $75 bill.
A few minutes later the assistant beverage director arrives and was pleasantly enthusiastic. I'm not saying that sarcastically. This woman was bubbly, cute, articulate and FINALLY, thank GOD, someone I could relate to. She describes the concept of Wynn (Remember when it was going to be Le Reve BEFORE the war began and those bastard French cowards refused to "help"? Don't think THAT whole incident didn't figure into the name change. She didn't tell us that. I just thought of it while writing this). She speaks for several minutes before introducing us to the Cocktail Manager and we are then asked to step into another room. I'm sure those dining around us were relieved. Would you believe during the process of moving one girl actually stepped back up to the bar to retrieve another DRINK????? This will be relevant later on.
I was feeling a little shell-shocked over all of this but felt that NOW was when we were going to be "interviewed". I swear to GOD I'm not exaggerating ANY of this. We were all seated at a big table with the Manager standing right BESIDE me when suddenly the lights got even dimmer and the music turned up several decibels-enough, anyway, to where the Manager was literally having to shout what EVER she was saying. I STILL to this day have no idea so I just followed the others when everyone got up once again and formed a line to the door leading to the parking lot.
It appeared we were going to be shaking hands with both managers so I prepared an "exit" line for when my turn came. At least I had something to say. Most girls in front of me were stumbling, laughing, cussing, etc.
It was my turn. "Michelle, Thank you so much for the opportunity of meeting you tonight. I know it's hard work opening such an establishment and whether I meet you again or not I sincerely wish you and your company the best of success".
OK. Now I'm back in the safe environment of my PT Cruiser wondering what in the HELL just happened back there???
Was Steve Wynn a genius or a mad man? He COULDN'T have gotten this far in life without being extremely calculating so I spent the next several hours, no, DAYS, going through the events over and over and over until my mind about burst.
MY obsession was WHO was actually observing us to make the decision on who would be hired or at LEAST called in for a second interview?
Theory #1. The Bartender.
Ah-HA! Mr. Wynn is INDEED a genius! Those numbered tickets we turned in could be traced back to our sign-in. If the prospective employee ordered expensive drinks, cussed, made a jackass out of herself, etc., the ticket would go in ONE place. The other tickets would be placed in another. What employer in his right mind would want to start out by hiring someone who took advantage of his generosity, right?
Theory #2. The Dining Guests.
ANOTHER brilliant idea. These people (obviously associates of Mr. Wynn) were observing all of us as we were in our "natural" element before the two managers arrived.
Theory #3. Spies amongst us.
When we were initially seated in groups of 8 in the lounge area and asked to give a brief introduction perhaps one in each group actually already worked for Mr. Wynn.
By the way, I forgot to tell you THAT hoot of a story. We went around in circles and the introductions would go something like this:
"My name is Cindy and I'm from Arkansas and I just got married and he's so handsome and we want lots of babies and we have a new car and I just love my cat...."
I'll spare you my introduction but suffice it to say I couldn't even come CLOSE to Cindy's.
So there we have 3 possible theories on who held our destiny in their hands. We can safely eliminate the two managers because they were so busy yelling over the music they had their OWN problems to worry about.
I BEG you to be honest here. These ARE reasonable assumptions, are they not? Have I lost my mind from all these years of analyzing EVERY SINGLE DETAIL of this industry??????
If you are from Vegas you probably already know the answer. Steve Wynn has had the same Beverage Manager since his Golden Nugget days. That means she went with him from there to Mirage to Bellagio......
The hires had already been made and these interviews were simply for community "show". I can't BELIEVE I turned down a free cocktail when it didn't matter at ALL. The decisions had long ago been made.
The funny thing is you'd think these girls would know a drug test would be required. They had 3 months to clean their system! Why didn't the girl who went back to the bar for a 2nd cocktail check into rehab, for God's sake?
Nearly 50% of those girls flunked the drug test and the few times I've been into Wynn there isn't a cocktail server in sight.
So now I have to re-access my opinion of Wynn. As of this writing, things aren't looking too good on the business pages. I won't even get into his "shows". They are the butt of two many jokes already.
It's my opinion there comes a point when you can't out-top yourself. You lose the passion of it all. I imagine at some points even Goliath got a little lonely when there were no more Davies to come out and "play".
I believe we won't hear much from Steve Wynn until Donald Trump raises his ugly head around here and then watch out for the fireworks. And in Vegas, with everything BUT fireworks, you can take that literally.
Just thought I'd share it this morning as it's getting WAY too serious in here. Lol. Maybe I'll mail Wynn a copy. Think he'd find it funny? Lol.
Edited on 8/30/06: I did mail it to Human Resources after I was again rejected-this time for a position that I was CLEARLY qualified for. Now for the hell of it I sign on and apply for jobs I am clearly NOT qualified to handle such as "Master Technician for Production Show" or "Department of Surveillance." To hell with Wynn!
"My Official Interview with Wynn Casino"
For two years this is all anyone in this industry has talked about.
"Are you going to interview?" "Do you have any connections there?" "What if they hire you and you hate it there? Then what? You'll have lost all those years at casino "X"!"
The web site opens up. The interviewing begins. The Super Bowl commercial airs. And I'm quite impressed already as I observe the "flow" of this operation.
Upper management is put into place. Then middle. And finally the announcement is made that it's time to interview for the lowly and prime position I covet: the cocktail server.
Now I'm not an idiot and I know that my age of 43 isn't going to help matters any. But I'm fairly attractive, have boobs and legs and more importantly I have no screaming babies at home to force me to call in sick weekly or no juvenile jealous boyfriend who is waiting to shoot my head off one night as I walk out to the parking lot. Believe me, there really ARE some advantages to hiring someone who isn't 21 years old.
The next few weeks all my coworkers could THINK about was whether they'd receive a "formal" interview after applying on-line.
A few of us did and I was lucky enough to be included. I was ALSO smart enough to schedule my interview AFTER someone I knew so I could casually inquire how it "went" so I'd be better prepared.
Her story sounded so stupid that I wrote it off as a lack of intelligence and decided to hell with it. I'll wing it.
I'm telling you this has to be the most incredulous memory I will EVER hold the rest of my life. Now you have to keep in mind that I worked for a "Wynn-like" man for many years in the hotel industry as a problem solver and I was pretty adept at understanding the logic behind certain decisions in running a large operation.
The fact that we were to be "group interviewed" had me puzzled for several days but THEN the night of the actual interview arrives and we're told to show up at an address several miles out in Summerlin.
OK. This makes sense. They want to make sure I have appropriate transportation, right?
But when I drove UP to this place my mouth dropped open. Keep in mind it was a 7 PM interview (prime dinner hour). I kept looking at the address that was written on my acceptance letter thinking I must be missing something because it corresponded to a building called "Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe and Hookah Lounge." All I could imagine is that this place wasn't actually opened for business yet and Wynn was using a buddy's place for a few evenings. For all I knew he BUILT the place just to conduct the interviews.
So I walk into this dimly lit restaurant and am promptly greeted by a woman who asks for my name and SS number. As she was about to talk to me the door opened behind me and a group of giggly younger girls walked in.
"Oh, Good." says the woman. "Now I'll only have to say this once. First of all welcome to each of you. We want you to be relaxed this evening and we would like to say thank you for coming by offering you each a drink at the bar. Just hand this ticket to the bartender over there and then have a seat anywhere you like around the corner."
Pretty clever, I'm thinking. When we had signed in we had been given a numbered ticket and as I was later trying to figure out this whole series of events I remembered that even though the bar was only a few feet away and could only be missed by a blind person, the woman actually walked us OVER to the bar, ensuring we all approached it.
Now I have to ask you. WHAT person in their right mind would order a cocktail during a job interview? Would you like to know? EVERY single applicant in the place except ME. And I'm not just talking about a rum and coke or vodka and tonic. We're talking blended Malibu colada's, Double shots of Belvedere, Patron margaritas... And that's not the most HYSTERICAL part of it!
Here's this very professional bartender, working his ASS off by himself, and his Tip jar is EMPTY!!!!!!!!!! These are the VERY women on the Strip who are OUTRAGED when someone "stiffs" THEM!
I ordered a small bottle of mineral water and handed the poor guy $5 along with my ticket. He told me how much he appreciated it but I couldn't even say, "Well I GUESS!" because my jaw was hanging open.
Around the corner we go where we join a group of about 50 rather loud (and starting to get drunk) women. That wasn't any big deal. What BOTHERED me was that surrounding this little lounge area there are tables where actual CUSTOMERS were EATING!!!!! Have YOU ever been to Paymon's? It's not exactly McDonald's. If I had been dining there that evening with a bunch of noisy women bouncing all over the place I might have a hard time justifying the $75 bill.
A few minutes later the assistant beverage director arrives and was pleasantly enthusiastic. I'm not saying that sarcastically. This woman was bubbly, cute, articulate and FINALLY, thank GOD, someone I could relate to. She describes the concept of Wynn (Remember when it was going to be Le Reve BEFORE the war began and those bastard French cowards refused to "help"? Don't think THAT whole incident didn't figure into the name change. She didn't tell us that. I just thought of it while writing this). She speaks for several minutes before introducing us to the Cocktail Manager and we are then asked to step into another room. I'm sure those dining around us were relieved. Would you believe during the process of moving one girl actually stepped back up to the bar to retrieve another DRINK????? This will be relevant later on.
I was feeling a little shell-shocked over all of this but felt that NOW was when we were going to be "interviewed". I swear to GOD I'm not exaggerating ANY of this. We were all seated at a big table with the Manager standing right BESIDE me when suddenly the lights got even dimmer and the music turned up several decibels-enough, anyway, to where the Manager was literally having to shout what EVER she was saying. I STILL to this day have no idea so I just followed the others when everyone got up once again and formed a line to the door leading to the parking lot.
It appeared we were going to be shaking hands with both managers so I prepared an "exit" line for when my turn came. At least I had something to say. Most girls in front of me were stumbling, laughing, cussing, etc.
It was my turn. "Michelle, Thank you so much for the opportunity of meeting you tonight. I know it's hard work opening such an establishment and whether I meet you again or not I sincerely wish you and your company the best of success".
OK. Now I'm back in the safe environment of my PT Cruiser wondering what in the HELL just happened back there???
Was Steve Wynn a genius or a mad man? He COULDN'T have gotten this far in life without being extremely calculating so I spent the next several hours, no, DAYS, going through the events over and over and over until my mind about burst.
MY obsession was WHO was actually observing us to make the decision on who would be hired or at LEAST called in for a second interview?
Theory #1. The Bartender.
Ah-HA! Mr. Wynn is INDEED a genius! Those numbered tickets we turned in could be traced back to our sign-in. If the prospective employee ordered expensive drinks, cussed, made a jackass out of herself, etc., the ticket would go in ONE place. The other tickets would be placed in another. What employer in his right mind would want to start out by hiring someone who took advantage of his generosity, right?
Theory #2. The Dining Guests.
ANOTHER brilliant idea. These people (obviously associates of Mr. Wynn) were observing all of us as we were in our "natural" element before the two managers arrived.
Theory #3. Spies amongst us.
When we were initially seated in groups of 8 in the lounge area and asked to give a brief introduction perhaps one in each group actually already worked for Mr. Wynn.
By the way, I forgot to tell you THAT hoot of a story. We went around in circles and the introductions would go something like this:
"My name is Cindy and I'm from Arkansas and I just got married and he's so handsome and we want lots of babies and we have a new car and I just love my cat...."
I'll spare you my introduction but suffice it to say I couldn't even come CLOSE to Cindy's.
So there we have 3 possible theories on who held our destiny in their hands. We can safely eliminate the two managers because they were so busy yelling over the music they had their OWN problems to worry about.
I BEG you to be honest here. These ARE reasonable assumptions, are they not? Have I lost my mind from all these years of analyzing EVERY SINGLE DETAIL of this industry??????
If you are from Vegas you probably already know the answer. Steve Wynn has had the same Beverage Manager since his Golden Nugget days. That means she went with him from there to Mirage to Bellagio......
The hires had already been made and these interviews were simply for community "show". I can't BELIEVE I turned down a free cocktail when it didn't matter at ALL. The decisions had long ago been made.
The funny thing is you'd think these girls would know a drug test would be required. They had 3 months to clean their system! Why didn't the girl who went back to the bar for a 2nd cocktail check into rehab, for God's sake?
Nearly 50% of those girls flunked the drug test and the few times I've been into Wynn there isn't a cocktail server in sight.
So now I have to re-access my opinion of Wynn. As of this writing, things aren't looking too good on the business pages. I won't even get into his "shows". They are the butt of two many jokes already.
It's my opinion there comes a point when you can't out-top yourself. You lose the passion of it all. I imagine at some points even Goliath got a little lonely when there were no more Davies to come out and "play".
I believe we won't hear much from Steve Wynn until Donald Trump raises his ugly head around here and then watch out for the fireworks. And in Vegas, with everything BUT fireworks, you can take that literally.
