Monday, July 20, 2009

Responsibility Behind the Bar

My Friday shift gave me a solemn reminder as to why my judgement, and my subsequent use thereof, is very important to my trade.  The choices I make in service can mean the difference between a fantastic bar visit or disaster...
 
Remember I said that Friday looked busy?
 
My first six guests were a group of soldiers who had literally just stepped off the plane from Afghanistan.  They hadn't had a drink in 15 months, they said - a fact that, in retrospect, was an important one for me to notice - and were just looking to enjoy the sweet nectar that they'd been deprived of in that desert hell.
 
Hours went by and these fellows were having a blast - one in particular.  This fellow was buying round after round after round for himself and his friends.  Eventually, the majority of his friends ducked out.  Our friend tabbed out, left me a 55.00 tip and went out to smoke. 
 
He came back in with a few more friends and reopened his tab, and the day continued - he tipped me 40.00 more (a fact that may have clouded my judgement further) and I kept serving him.
 
Now, fellow is a solidly built guy.  He came in sober, ate a huge meal full of protein in the form of chicken, rice, etc.  All signs that mean "go" in my experience.
 
But after fifteen months, ones alcohol tolerance diminishes completely - and after a 16 hour flight in, exhaustion had no doubt set in to him, furthering his likelihood of rapid intoxication.
 
Naturally, by the end of his visit he as schmammered.  He began becoming belligerent, melodramatic and violent all at once - and was asked to leave.
 
Fourty five minutes later he was in the parking lot surrounded by his friends passed out.
 
An hour and a half later he was in a squad car for threatening a mall cop - and those guys are dicks anyway.
 
Essentially, my failure to properly assess his tolerance and my inability to properly pace him landed him some time in tank. 
 
And that's why I need to be more aware.

Friday, July 17, 2009

The Payday Phenomenon

I don't know much about other economies, but I have to say that the economy in my town is probably unique to any other in the United States.
 
You see, we're the biggest military town in the world.  And everyone gets paid on the same days - the 1st and the 15th.
 
During PayWeek (either the first or fifteenth), we are the busiest city in the world.  For instance, the mall just opened and I saw a stream of people going in and out (on a weekday morning, to top it all off).  Next week at this time I'll hear crickets.
 
Seriously, people here spend all of their money in one week - and then do nothing the next week - and then spend it all again the week after.
 
Wild, eh?

Thursday, July 2, 2009

A Thief!?!

Apparently my douchebag bar manager thinks I'm stealing money from the bar.
 
Why?  Because two days this month our bar sales numbers were low - yet my tips were strong.  Since I've been bartending, I've typically averaged 23-28% of sales in tip.  So if we sell $1000.00, I'll make $280.  Well, Monday was dead - we sold 1550 - and I made $427.00.  When I say 'I', I mean 'we.'  We split our tips based on the hours we were scheduled to work.
 
So what the fuck? 
 
Apparently, HE doesn't get tipped that way so I must be stealing.  Bullshit.  Garbage.  Crap and Dogfuck. 
 
The worst part of all this is that I can't disprove his theory.  Paranoia like that will always stick around - even in six months when he's still found nothing.  And then some busy night in the future I'll forget to ring a beer in and POOF!  All his paranoia has been PROVEN and he was right all along!
 
Bastard.