On Beer Fountains

Sorry to disappoint my ardent supporters who've visited here, but only to see the same entry for the past one month. And yes, the time has come for me yet again to update, my near-rotting place on the web.

I was on bartending duty today at Sheraton Towers, covering up for the main bartender when he went off to collect stock from the basement. And as it was the bar that was at the "back of the house" , which was a term to describe something that was not for guest's use, it was quite a simple job.
Supposedly.

I had the good fortune to have the beer canister run out just as the bartender went out again. And as there were many waiters with orders for beer, I made the (bad) choice to try to change it myself. Gingerly grabbing the nozzle, I tried pulling it to one side. The catch released itself, sending up a short burst of air before the valve slammed shut. But, inexperienced me actually thought that "short burst" of air was the unrestrained release of the pressurised contents within the canister. I slammed the nozzle back in, twisting it to lock it, but the catch did not engage properly, resulting in the release pin being pushed down into the unsealed valve.
The result of that was a splendid display of beer flying all over the bar, mostly onto me, in front of the surprised waiters. Cursing, I had to release the catch and lock it again to stop the flow.

Other than that, I survived.