A Waffle House spokesperson said the sleeping employee was suspended for a week. He also said that in speaking with Bowen, there is no slight in his actions and that it points out greater issues that they will address in the future. ||||| Many stories involving alcohol have a tragic ending, but for Alex Bowen of West Columbia, South Carolina, a drunken escapade that went viral ended with some hilarious selfies as he cooked his own meal at Waffle House. 
 
 On his way home after a few drinks with friends early Thursday morning, Bowen, 36, stopped by his local Waffle House. 
 
 “It was around 3 a.m. I was pretty inebriated,” admitted Bowen. 
 
 Facebook/Alex Bowen 
 
 He stood at the register for 10 minutes, waiting for someone to take his order. Bowen even went outside to look for an employee, and then went back in. 
 
 “That’s when I got hot on the grill with a Texas bacon cheesesteak melt,” said Bowen. 
 
 He cooked his go-to meal and even cleaned up when he was done. While he was cooking, he saw the one employee who was fast asleep. 
 
 “[The employee] didn’t wake up the entire time. And no one came inside the restaurant,” said Bowen. 
 
 Facebook/Alex Bowen 
 
 Although he didn’t initially pay for the sandwich, Bowen came back and paid for it later that day. 
 
 When the story went viral, a Waffle House district manager reached out to Bowen and asked him to become a Waffle House secret shopper. He even thanked him for pointing out a flaw in their business. 
 
 Waffle House told ABC News in a statement that customers shouldn't get behind the counter -- but it appears Bowen's fun served as a job interview nonetheless. 
 
 "For safety reasons, our customers should never have to go behind the counter. Rather, they should get a quality experience delivered by friendly associates," the statement read. "We are reviewing this incident and will take appropriate disciplinary action. In a related note, obviously Alex has some cooking skills, and we’d like to talk to him about a job since we may have something for him." 
 
 Bowen hopes that the next time he goes to Waffle House, the service will be awake to cook his order. Said Bowen, “But if not, I’d know what to do.”
– A Waffle House customer in South Carolina decided to get behind the counter and cook his own meal after he couldn't find any employees who were awake. Alex Bowen says he was "pretty inebriated" when he stopped by the West Columbia restaurant at around 3am Thursday, WIS-TV reports. He says after waiting for around 10 minutes for somebody to take his order, he got behind the counter and took care of it himself. "Got hot on the grill with a double Texas bacon cheesesteak melt with extra pickles," says Bowen, who shared selfies taken in the kitchen on Facebook. "When I was done I cleaned the grill, collected my ill-gotten sandwich, and rolled on out." Bowen says he eventually noticed a worker snoozing in a booth, but decided not to wake him up. He says he went to the restaurant later that day to pay for the meal, ABC reports. "I give all the credit to my old friend vodka," Bowen says. "I wouldn't normally have done that." Waffle House says the worker found sleeping on the job has been suspended for a week. Customers shouldn't get behind the counter, the company said in a statement but "obviously Alex has some cooking skills, and we’d like to talk to him about a job since we may have something for him." (This Waffle House customer fatally shot a would-be robber.)