An annoying drunk girl is sitting at the bar. I ask her what she needs and she says "What can I get for free?" "Yeah, nothing."
I serve other people and out of the corner of my eye I see the other bartender approaching her. She asks him the same question. And he gives the same response.
Seriously, I'm sick of bitching about people asking for free shots, but what gives? Would you walk into the gas station and ask for free gas? Would you ask the video rental for free videos? No. So, back off. And, quite frankly our cheapest shot was on special for a dollar. If you come to a bar without a dollar, you have serious problems.
Later in the night a guy walks up to the bar and ask for a drink. There are 3 minutes left. Which in our bar, and most bars I am familiar with.. means "shots only". I told him this and he whined.. I expected nothing more. He then asked the bartender working on my side and he got the same response. He then walked to the other side of the bar and asked both of those bartenders as well.
What annoys me about this is that people will say "ohhhh but I can drink it quick before you close". Yeah, but the thing is they don't. They sit in the bar until we've exhausted our please leave the bar is closed's... and have to start taking drinks from people and pushing them out. And then they will whine about having the drink they paid for thrown away. Well, maybe you shouldn't have begged for a drink when you only had three minutes to drink it. So, I just follow the rules and say no.. because I will be the unlucky bartender who gets spotted making a drink after the call by another customer who is trying to get a drink at the last minute.. and then everyone wants special privileges.
My point is, when you ask for things like free drinks and drinks after they've called last call, all you're doing is wasting my and the other customer's time. I don't want to argue for five minutes about why I have to follow the rules. Sorry, I like my job. . and quite frankly I don't feel like risking it for you. And that, folks, is the bottom line.
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8 comments:
Well put. They wouldn't put their job on the line for you so why should you for them?
Thanks waiter extraordinaire! I've seen some of the beggars while they are at work and they don't offer me anything for free or against the rules.
I love this blog! Please keep on writing! I'm working as a bartender in Norway, and we have most of thee same problems. We also have bouncers who throw out the jerks, (or beat them up in the backyard) so I can't really understand why you just let the assholes stay in the bar. But it makes some really nice reading, and I feel your frustration.
Next time someone asks you, "What's the cheapest thing in here?" -- just tell them, "You are."
Chris- It means a lot to me that you love my blog and that you took the time to let me know! I love writing so it's always very special to me when someone takes an interest. As for not kicking people out.. I think it has to do with the fact that we are just always so busy.. I'd rather make another fifty dollars on my register so I get a better tip out.. then let the low life who is being an ass take more of my time and money away from me. In other words I don't want to stop serving to find someone to kick him out and explain to the managers why he was kicked out.. etc. Thanks for the comment, keep stopping by!
Flobus- That is great! I absolutely love it, and would very much like to use that line. Thanks for reading and for the comment!
I am new here, i found your blog through waiter extroardinaire and its great to read the trials and tribulations of other people in the industry - funny thing is, no matter where you are in the world(i am from australia and living in sweden) the stories are all very similar for those of us in hospitality. We do put up with some shit dont we!!
I used to manage a restaurant that did a lot of weddings and I kid you not, every single wedding, when the bar closed I would have drunk idiots in my face trying every different angle to get me to sell them a case of beer or a bottle of bacardi. It almost came to blows on a couple of occasions which is not really something you want to deal with after doing 120 pax for a wedding and running a la carte service at the same time!
The thing that got to me was - why the hell did they not plan to have an after party and buy their liquor beforehand (it is a wedding for christ's sake!) and therefore why the hell is it my problem?
The thought of working weddings has made me cringe ever since!
Keep up the good work on the blog!
Hi waitersfriend! I'm glad you stumbled upon my blog and thank you for commenting and telling me your story.
I always overtip the wedding bartenders because they have to deal with such a large group of drunk people who are usually too drunk to tip. Either that or every person in the wedding party thinks they get drinks for free and won't tip too. Or at least that's been my experiences.
I've also just looked at your blog and the holiday drink ideas are good! I was wondering if you have an alcoholic drink idea for anything with apple cider.. if so please share it with me! I'm looking for a holiday drink to make for my family with cider in it.
It's nice to be able to relate to people all over the world through blogging. I guess people are to servers everywhere you go!
Hi BB,
I don't know anything really off the top of my head for apple cider, but I could suggest that apple goes really well with rhubarb - so depending how much prep you want to put in - you could stew some rhubarb beforehand and then on the day muddle the rhubarb with perhaps one wedge of lime, add maybe some vanilla vodka, shake with ice and serve it caiprioska style, topping with apple cider? I am not in a bar at the moment so I can't test it for you but I reckon the flavours should match pretty nicely!
Let me know if you give it a go!
The holiday drinks on our site are fairly slim at the moment - bit of a work in progress but glad you like them. Encouragement is good...
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