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.” ||||| Investigators with the North Charleston Police Department collect evidence at the scene of a shooting that stopped an attempted armed robbery at a Waffle House on Dorchester Road, according to police. 
 
 The Waffle House crew was busily going about its typical early-morning ritual — smothering and scrambling breakfast, clanking through the dirty dishes — when a robber jolted them out of their routine. 
 
 A customer decided he was having none of that and opened fire in the North Charleston eatery, thwarting the holdup Saturday by fatally shooting the suspect. 
 
 The young man who tried to rob the restaurant was rushed to Medical University Hospital, but he later died, police spokeswoman Angela Johnson said. 
 
 The intervening customer, who has not been identified, had a permit to carry a pistol, authorities said. 
 
 A restaurant employee expressed gratitude for the customer’s action. 
 
 “He saved us, that’s what he did.” 
 
 Said an officer at the scene: “It says something about firearms ... for good people with firearms being in the right hands.” The policeman said he was not authorized to speak for the North Charleston Police Department. 
 
 Shortly after 5 a.m., police responded to reports of an armed robbery and shots being fired at the Waffle House at 6907 Dorchester Road. When officers arrived, they found the suspect had been shot. 
 
 The Charleston County Coroner’s Office and the police department turned to the public for help identifying the suspect. The Coroner’s Office later identified the suspect as 19-year-old Joshua Jermaine Davis. It is unknown where Davis resided, but the family believes he lived with a friend in downtown Charleston, according to Johnson. 
 
 Johnson said police are not pressing any charges against the customer at this time. 
 
 Waffle House employees spent the morning sweeping shards of broken glass in the doorway, preparing for a noontime reopening. 
 
 Brandon Rogers, division manager for the restaurant chain, said nothing was stolen in the incident, the first he could recall there since it opened a year ago. 
 
 “No one was hurt, which is the best part,” Rogers said. “No one was injured — besides the suspect.” 
 
 David MacDougall and Christina Elmore contributed to this report.
– 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.)