I thought it was going to be a regular night at SCI. Little did I know that I would have a *~*~*~celebrity encounter~*~*~* by the end of the night.

It started like any other night. I filled the ice bin, put out the liquor bottles, counted the money, signed on to the system, unlocked the doors, stocked the beer, and put on "Man on Fire" on F/X (which, by the way, rocked -- although I didn't see all of it). A few people trickled in and out, but it was mostly dead. Two guys sat at the end of the bar talking about the Brewers game. Two guys sat at the other end of the bar talking about hunting (of course).

Around nine o'clock two women, one older, one younger, entered the bar. The younger one ordered a martini and the older, a shot of Kahlua, and they asked who was eliminated in the first half of "Dancing With the Stars." When the initial chit-chat faded out, I did what I always do -- clean up the bar. I restocked the beer, I wiped the coolers and the ice bin, I wiped the counters... and then I kind of stood there, glancing at "Dancing With the Stars" on one TV and the hockey game on the other.

"THAT'S why you look familiar!" one of the guys exclaimed to Miss Martini. "The Apprentice!"

As it turns out, Miss Martini was Tana, runner-up on Season 3 of The Apprentice. She defended her position on the show (evidently she was portrayed as "The Bitch," and apparently we would have been too "if [we] had the team that [she] had"), talked about "Donald" and his hair, Melania, the producers, etc. When I told her that I would stay open as long as there were people in the bar, she told me "that kind of attitude would take me far in the business world."

She also ragged on SCI and the employees a little bit, but not without reason. Homeboy upstairs was kind of a doofus, "Slick Rick" is a good name for the general manager, and... well, Other Bartender is a lazy-ass slacker (albeit a very nice boy). And yes, I agree, it wasn't a great business move for my managers to close up the bar at midnight the other night when there were a lot of people in there, but I would like to believe it was done with a valid reason, so calling them "assholes," "asswipes," and "idiots" was a little over-the-top. But I forgive her because she made my night quite entertaining. And her mother-in-law was funny. And, let's be honest, she tipped really well.

Who knew I would be graced with such celebrity in the plaid wonderland that is SCI?

Tana, if you google yourself (and I kind of think you would), the name of the syrup used in the old-fashioned is Jero. And, in all seriousness, I think you are a very nice lady.