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guard’s fault. Had they waited in the car like they were supposed to it would not have happened. The screening went on and so did we. For the rest of the festival we never heard anything about it.
    I went back to Los Angeles and back to work. One day about two weeks after, I got a call from the festival operations -- they would not be inviting me back to volunteer next year. I asked them “Why?” and they only gave me “a customer service issue,” as an answer. They never gave any other reason, it was the, “I was told it was a customer service problem but I don’t know more than that.” I was very frustrated. I spent two weeks of my vacation, every year for six years, to go up to Park City and volunteer to help these people. I’ve had patrons lie to me, threaten me, shout at me, over the dumbest things and now The Sundance Film Festival is just going to fire me and our team leader, without any explanation other than; “a customer service issue.” It was obvious, that it was over the bad Bob screening.
    The last thing they could admit to, were that they were letting us go because Bob had to wait. We never even got a chance to tell our side of the story or defend ourselves. So when you hear the Sundance Film Festival say they’re independent, realize they are not all that different from any other big company; they just like to pretend that they are.
    Bruce Willis, Bartending Jesus

    V ery early in my time in New York City, I lucked out and got a job as a bartender at Café Central, on Amsterdam Avenue. It was just one shift a week, but I saw it as a start to a very lucrative bartending career.
    At the time, Café Central was the place to be and be seen. I had been there a few times as a customer and it was always great place to star gaze. Years later, I was having dinner there with some friends when Sean Penn and Elizabeth McGovern came in and took a booth. It had been all over Page 6 of the New York Post, that they had broken up and Sean was now seeing Madonna -- of course Page 6 was wrong -- no one believed them… until Madonna showed up with some girlfriends.
    In other cities or small towns this would have been a huge scene but on the Upper Westside of NYC it meant nothing -- BULLSHIT!!! As soon as Madonna stepped into the front door, the place went silent (and it was usually very loud) with every head turned to watch her vogue-ness enter. Some guy at the table next to me said out loud, “I’ve never seen an actual murder before,” anticipating the only likely outcome. Everyone knew it -- even Elizabeth McGovern looked like she knew it. Sean tried to pretend he was too busy reading the menu to notice.
    The place was so quiet you could hear the cockroaches rustling around in the salads. Madonna marched in and went straight to Penn and McGovern’s table, while everyone else watched her. When she got to the table, Sean glanced up with a “oh, hi honey” look and Madonna just glared at him. She played it up and took her good sweet time before addressing them… I had never seen a murder till now, either. Madonna raised her hand to make sure she had their attention and said clearly to Sean, “Her or me -- you decide. If you take her I never want to see you again.” She turned quickly and marched out the door, followed by her girlfriends for emphasis.
    Penn and McGovern exhaled, realizing they escaped a bullet and I’ve still not seen an actual murder -- but that was real close. We all know what happened with Sean-donna or Mad-Penn (as it would be known today). Sean should have taken the episode as an omen.
    Now I’ve hit the mother lode, I’m working at the hippest place in town and they were always busy, lines down Amsterdam Avenue. I couldn’t wait. I would go and do my one shift (I was still employed at another bar on the Westside, at the time) dazzle them and then I’ll be making more in one night than what I’ve been making in a week. Of course, on my first shift I was very nervous. The assistant