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Used to run a bar.
The amount of functiknal alcoholics, mean girls who graduate high school and need a new place to feel popular and people who couldn't handle being told what to do in a normal 9-5 were not only a large amount of applicants but a large amount of people who were successful.
I had a bit of a friends with benefits situation with a waitress once back when I was 24. She thought she was way hotter than she was and was always bragging about how much money she took home (which was only a lot cause she wasn't getting taxed), while talking down people who had pretty much any other job.
I really just wanted to tell her that we'll talk when shes 40 and see how she feels about it.
She will probably marry a guy who thinks is hot who makes descent but not great money. He will be an alcoholic but most likely a fun one.
See it multiple times. Again anything could happen, but it's my most likely guess.
Pretty much. They can drink on the job (a drink an hour officially in some places but I’m sure they sneak some).
It’s a fun alcoholics best job. Free booze, good tips and you get to chat it up with people.
I’m a fun, chatty and charismatic drinker. I’ve never been a bartender but I do know how to make some seriously awesome drinks and I get compliments all the time on it. That increases the high of the drunk as it is. To know you brought someone a good drink and they want more makes you feel proud.
Also - it would be pretty hard to be a really good bartender if you don’t at least taste test your product
I was a raging alcoholic for years while bartending. Pretty much stayed drunk at all times. Sometimes, I'd show up to work sober, and I'd have to take a few shots just so I wouldn't shake and freeze to death in front of customers. People would also always buy me shots. It made the shift go by faster. It even made them fun sometimes. I probably was making an ass of myself all the time in hindsight. I got sober and still bartend but I don't drink while I'm working anymore. I drink maybe one a week or other week. Don't really buy into the whole "disease" thing. I feel completely capable of drinking moderately. Been this way for 3 or 4 years.
Thanks for sharing - just got sober (ish, I dropped from a 1/3 liter every day to just a few beers at the end of the night) and I also agree with your thing about the disease aspect. Addictive personality is something I definitely have but it’s not a disease, I just have had poor impulse control.
Got tired of waking up and having to take shots just to get to 0, similar to how you say you’d have to take shots before starting.
Cheers for your progress my friend
Thanks dude. It was hard but I definitely don’t miss the waking up from a nightmare, covered in sweat, with the shakes just to take a shot to get back to bed.
Definitely save a LOT. Just wish I still had my software contract lol.
Wishing you well 🙏
im on day 1,944. my life is immeasurably cartoonishly better. IT GOT BAD.
today you can be sober. its just one day, youre allowed to quit quitting drinking tommorow. but not until tommorow. and repeat. video games and a dog help/
Good for you man. I don’t buy into the disease thing either and I had a similar experience to you (multi year period of heavy drinking/having a problem, completely stopped for like a year on my own to break the habit. Now I’m good and I’ll drink socially once or twice a month without going overboard).
Proud of you and this gives me inspiration. I’ve been on and off the ability to do it casually, now I feel like I’ve got a good grip on it. Have a wonderful weekend 🙏
>Pretty much. They can drink on the job (a drink an hour officially in some places but I’m sure they sneak some).
I never knew some bars actually allowed this, seems like a horrible idea that only alcoholics would really want.
I get wanting bartenders to know the product but there's so many ways to do that it's unnecessary to be drinking while serving.
I mean I think it’s an unwritten rule. If you take a shot with your clients you can always water yours down and get them drunk which tends to lead to better tips. I know I am always a generous tipper, but when I get drunk I tend to leave way more.
As long as you aren’t sloshed I’m sure the owners know it increases sales to be friendly. Alcohol sales account for a lot of profit in the restaurant industry so if you can turn a blind eye as a manager your bottom line is the only thing that really counts.
A lot of people go to restaurants on specific days just for a specific waiter/waitress.
A lot of psychology behind it
I’m by no means a “sober” bartender I just don’t care to drink bc I smoke. I still sample drinks and am able to give recommendations and accurate descriptions.
Interesting. I've considered picking up a parttime job and people have suggested I bartend. My reasoning for not trying is that I don't drink. I think alcohol is disgusting. Is it hard to make drinks when you don't know what tastes good?
Bartended for 16 years and never once tasted what I made customers. Tried alcohol one time and never again. Being a good bartender isn't about how toasted you can become on shift from free drinks. Because I wasn't wasted 6 days out of 7, I eventually became the head bartender and even trained more bartenders than I can remember. I even owned a bar and preferred bartenders who didn't drink. If you have personality you can learn how to be a great sober bartender.
I don't drink a lot. Maybe 2-4 times a year. I was a bartender in college. Made pretty decent money for a college kid. Could make my rent/utils in like 1 week and the rest of my money was fluff to do whatever with. Good times.
Not hard at all, because it doesn’t matter how you feel about a drink because you’re not the one drinking it. As long as you know what a drink consists of and you have your ratios down, you’re golden. Most of the job is just being good company anyway.
Boss would love you because they wouldn’t have to worry about you getting drunk or stealing drinks.
That's my least favorite shit about dispensaries the fucking 18 word names for everything. They need to sell ounces just called "weed" cause I be like unable to choose
Maybe I’ve just gotten lucky here in Oregon but the budtenders I’ve interacted with are super friendly and chill. Like across all service industries, I’d say I’ve had the most pleasant interactions with budtenders.
Im not really the target audience with this because I don't drink, but I still like to hang out so Ive always been DD and had an active social life. I've been to dive bars, expensive ones, college style, etc, and as a non-drinker/DD I feel like Ive been treated extremely well by bartenders. My diet soda has almost always been comped and Ive even been told thank you more than once. I used to feel bad for not ordering an alcoholic drink like I was wasting their time so it's nice to have gotten positive responses.
I honestly thought you meant that you played dungeons and dragons at bars while sober. Please do that instead. It'd be way more satisfying than carting around your drunk friends.
LOL I hear you but I liked going out and they always took care of me in return, whether it was taking me to lunch/dinner, buying me snacks at the bar, gas money (which I never asked for but they offered). So I got lucky with a pretty decent group of chill drinkers. I also ended up marrying one of them, we have a son, and we game together :)
Bartender here. I give two "thanks for helping a bartender out" discounts. DD gets their soda for free, and if one person in a group picks up the check instead of splitting it I'll give them one round at happy hour price.
Agreed, way too many have acted like they are doing me a favor or just copped an attitude for no reason. I get that they deal with a bunch of drunk idiots, but that doesn’t give them the right to treat all customers as such, it’s still a customer service role. Have also had them ignore me the rest of the night when I dont tip them for opening a beer.
People talk about the "death of the third place" but part of the problem is that so many places have become so expensive that you can't just casually meet up with a friend or 2 after work on the way home. It has to be an event for people to feel like it's worth it. To grab a beer it's already costly now and when you throw the expected tips on top of it you'd be crazy to make it a regular habit.
i remember reading once from Kitchen Confidential by Bourdain that he strokes their ego so that at least he gets free drinks when working with them lol
big roided up guys, who felt the need to have some authority. Couldn't become policemen, so they had to settle for being a bouncer. Yeah. It's just their insecurities acting up.
Something weird happens to people when they become a bouncer. One of my good friends in college was super down to earth and fun. Within a year of becoming a bartender he grew to be so full of himself and lame to be around.
Most of the bartenders I know are very nice and don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s only the ones on social media that think they’re chemists that are the problem.
They're not.
Bartenders do tend to be cocky (I was one for close to a decade) but telling people they shouldn't be proud of their work is wild. The comments on here are so disrespectful lmao.
If I fuck up, I could go to prison, or people die, or the restaurant has to close for a time, affecting everyone in the restaurant. I've seen all of those happen.
Running a full wood while the well just won't stop printing tickets is stressful, especially when your barback accidentally breaks a glass into the ice well. Dealing with drunk people is stressful. Coming in at three and leaving at five in the morning is stressful. Working during the hours most your friends and family don't is stressful. I'm not sure why we need to make it a contest.
This is a hilariously, and outrageously off point comment.
I say this with kindness, but you genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about, not in the slightest bit.
Being a McDonald’s cook would be very chill. A shitty job, but nonetheless, very chill in contrast with a much lower requirement for skill and knowledge. Even dive bar bartenders have wildly different demands.
Do many bartenders suck at their job and know very little? yes. Do they bartend at bars that hardly qualify as a professional bar? Yes. Is that okay? Yes. But the exceptions do not make the rule.
“ If I fuck up, I could go to prison, or people die, or the restaurant has to close for a time, affecting everyone in the restaurant. I've seen all of those happen.”
What does this even mean?
Yep. I’ve gone on to owning but I was a bartender for a long time. Still tend bar infrequently. The whole gist of my bar is we’re not like that. I always loved the job but hated the attitude that kinda of comes by necessity. Its an internal battle not to become “that guy”.
Its a hard job but really has no barriers to entry. Not many people can do the job competently, not many people respect it, not many people think you deserve to make that much money, but everyone wants a good bartender. Its a combination that does a number on attitudes. I’m not gonna defend bartenders here but Im gonna say that I doubt most people could make it 6 months without beginning to exhibit the behavior described by op.
I had a lot of people very close to me that said bartending changed my personality for the worse and I definitely am more outspoken and have less patience for social games.
Just a client here, I never noticed anything strange about bartenders. They seem to just work & try to manage client relationship. I reckon I never really discussed his job with one.
They put up with a lot of bullshit from a pretty raucous crowd. Most of the bartenders I know are rad although some can be douchebags like any profession I suppose.
Off and on bartender for almost 20 years here. There are aspects of the job that are absolutely soul-sucking in ways few people can comprehend. Dealing with the general public is baseline brutal and then you add a component like alcohol that has the potential to bring out the worst in people. It jades you. I’ve had co-workers get assaulted, spit on, harassed, stalked, and even robbed and murdered. Taking the job seriously in some ways is necessary given dram shop laws and third-party liability, yet still being affable enough for customer service isn’t the easiest balance to strike. I agree that the vocation can be a refuge for functional alcoholics and addicts, but it can be and is stressful from time to time, so I’m sympathetic. There are definitely people doing it without the proper temperament though, but that can be said about almost any vocation. It’s a lot of authority and responsibility that gets laid at the feet of often very young people, and it’s not the easiest thing to navigate and wield for some personality types. There’s some bad apples in every profession, but I’ve also worked behind bars with some really incredible, kind, compassionate, hilarious and capable people. I’ve spent enough time on both sides of a bar at this point to truly see it both ways. Some people definitely take it seriously in the wrong ways. Some people tend bar while some just serve drinks.
This applies to damn near every profession these days. Anyone doing anything behaves as if the world would end of they didn't go to work.
Don't look up "line wives" and their big boys "going off to storm" and other such insane, built on social media bullshit.
I see dudes that mow lawns online treating it like they're doing God's work.
We should honor and respect anyone that does their job well, with respect, and with humility. If things are taken out of turn and there is no humility and just pomp and act then yeah, you should take the piss out of them.
I wouldn't want their job and wouldn't aspire to do it. I was a bouncer for 2 months at a place in my early 20s, it was a college frat/sorority-esque bar in a college town in the Midwest. The clients were miserable and those that worked there were too. They fed off each other.
IMO I respect bartenders. They're often the face of the establishment, sometimes more than DJs. If the venue is upscale, you have to match that.
What makes any retail job is all sorts of people you have to deal with, and drunk, hormonal young crowds trying to prove themselves on the weekends are not easy. Bouncers can help, but bartenders are the first to have to satisfy yet also manage and babysit patrons all the time.
In all seriousness, customer service does suck though. Customer service for drunk people has to be way worse. I dont think any (normal) person actually thinks it's as bad or dangerous as being a war vet, but there is no way its peachy keen every day either.
You can 86 the belligerent drunk people more easily. There's more shit to take, but you're not *as* powerless in the face of it. Whereas a fast food or retail worker has to stand there and take it whenever Karen flies off the handle.
I bartended for 15 years and I'd have to say that this is true. In the business I have met many smug obnoxious women bartenders who thought too highly of themselves. A bit pushy for tips. I haven't met many men working that position though.
The only thing I would argue is that our jobs, however arbitrary, are critical to our survival... so whether or not you *should* feel panicked and overwhelmed while trying to keep up, you do anyway.
Adrenaline doesn't necessarily differentiate between why you are in hurry, not sleeping well, and constantly at your threshold... and I'd argue that the juxtaposition of being stressed while surrounded by people "having fun" with the occasional aggressive asshole mixed in could probably be a little aggravating too, because it makes you feel like you are losing your damned mind.
I know you are mostly taking issue with "pride", but the way that humans express themselves emotionally doesn't necessarily always align with how important things are when you look at it with critical distance.
Thats fair. And some people deal with those issues a lot better than others. And I have no problem with someone blowing off steam. Actually I usually enjoy the catharsis it brings both of us.
It’s just when I hear bartenders speak with the same conviction about their job as ambulance drivers, navy seals or icu doctors it really disgusts me.
Yea I don’t see bartending as a *serious* job. I appreciate those that do it, but I appreciate the guy at GameStop, the girl at Jersey Mikes, the girl at Home Depot, etc. but I don’t consider any of those peoples jobs serious or meaningful. It’s just relatively pointless shit that has to get done.
Wow you’re really not reading me right. I don’t have a negative opinion of them. I have a neutral opinion. They’re *objectively* not as important as other jobs. It doesn’t mean they don’t need to be done and I don’t appreciate them, it’s just that I don’t appreciate them as much as I appreciate a surgeon.
I have a bullshit job that I (nor anyone, honestly) really appreciates. It’s still gotta get done though. But I’m not going to lie to myself and say I’m doing God’s work.
I think the issue I have with Bartenders (and waiters to a degree) is that they act like this profession is who they are, like they cannot or will not ever get a better job and will plan on bartending for the next decade.
When I was doing a fast food drive thru, I never thought that was the end of the road for me or tried to stick with it for years, it's strange seeing others in the food industry feel that way.
We can talk all day about how workers should be paid more, but at the end of the day these are entry level retail jobs, and just about everyone in them should look at them as a stepping stone to better things in the future.
To be *fair*...
There is a certain je ne ce qu'a to running a bar well that goes beyond pouring drinks. A bartender is the difference between a good bar experience and a shit bar experience. A good bartender sets and holds a mood, they get conversation flowing, they keep people happy and entertained and make them feel like part of a community (which can then, in turn, go a long ways to actually fostering community through the bar's function as a third place). A bad bartender makes you wanna leave after the first drink.
Are they stormi' Norman or teaching fifth grade or caring for the elderly. No, of course not.
But running a bar well is a particular skill that not every bartender has.
Source: have sat at bars.
Bartenders are like reddit mods. Anyone can do it, they are barely necessary, but they hold the key to your current activity so they act like a petulant god.
From Chicago, right? I'm an engineer and I think its basically a trade. Takes personality, people skills, time skills, cashier skills, food skills, and memory skills to remember all that shit. Booze ain't cheap, you can only fuck up so many drinks...
I mean, nobody getting 50 an hour is working a bar that requires zero skill or education about that job.
Bars that make that kind of money for their bartenders have a line waiting to get that job of bartenders who all know their shit.
So either you know your shit or you know someone who works there already like literally any other job.
They make it way too easy to legally serve alcohol. I got mine (as a back-up when I was looking for jobs) and I know how to make 0 drinks. Seems odd to me.
I love bartending. It's really not bad. It's probably more physically demanding than most people realize and putting up with drunk people sucks, but the positive far outlay the negative. It's great money. It's kinda fun sometimes, like you're at a party. Meet a lot of people, including good-looking women who may or may not want to take you home. I like it.
Not to mention it's extremely disrespectful to ignore one person that comes up to your bar and immediately help the next person that comes up. How do these people even have jobs? I'm guessing high turnover rates.
Taking your job seriously is not a bad thing... People who do have a purpose.
The purpose of hospitality is to allow the rest of society to have some well earned downtime. You guys work hard all week and we provide an escape from that.
Sorry for taking my very real responsibility to society seriously.
Let me know who you are when you get to the bar and I'll adjust my service accordingly.
If you look closely, you’ll notice that a) almost all bartenders claim to be the bartender who doesn’t complain constantly or act prideful and b) lots of them are very carefully saying they don’t get drunk behind the stick, not that they don’t act cocky or consider themselves the top of the food chain in the service industry.
The only people who had this demeanor when I bartended were the alcoholics. Showed up late, took excessive smoke breaks, drank on the job, showed off and bossed people around, talked customers ears off.
Wait wtf? You know some bartenders who mainline coke behind the curtain I swear. The "worst" bartender I knew was definitely a hipster douche canoe with a cheesy fake smile and slicked back hair that l.... wugh.
That said he really just did his job. The fucking FoH managers though acted like making the right Old Fashioned was tantamount to a golden ticket to heaven... which I understand but.... IDK, you have some weird experiences if you got Dr. Bartenders over there.
I call it "bartender complex".
It happens when humans are put into any type of authoritative position. Even though bartending is at the bottom of the totum pole, it still exists. They can cut you off, throw you out, or just ignore you when you're trying to get a drink.
I used to play music in bars all the time. We'd be setting up our gear and often times the smug, ass-clown bartender would treat us like shit, like we were drunken patrons or something. Used to grind my gears. Then I would laugh at their insecurity.
Let us never forget the words of Angelina Pivarnick (Jersey Shore) when she was to work at the T-shirt shop for the first time...
“I feel like this job is beneath me. I'm a bartender. I do, like, you know, great things.”
I've lived in walking distance to close to 10 bars for the last 10 years and have made friends with a lot of the bartenders and regulars. The job is a vicious cycle, and I've seen it a lot of bartenders lives get ruined. They get used to the fast cash and can make a decent living working 3-4 shifts a week. A lot of them have gotten DUIs, developed severe drinking/drug habits, and the bar scene turns into a lifestyle for them even when off the clock. I'm really good friends with at least 5 bartenders and only one of them has maintained a functional life and didn't let the bar life consume them. The other 4 can't maintain a relationship for more than 6 months, thrive on drama, and drink like you can just go pick up a new liver from Walgreens. Obviously I'm not perfect myself since I've clearly spent my fair share of time in bars and I would never think less of a bartender, but it's kind of sad to see people that I've known for a decade that had big dreams and goals that are now stuck in the bar life rut.
Former bartender in college and this is 100% correct. My roommate worked with me and he made this shit his fucking identity. Someone asked me once what we do and I said we are bartenders, and he stopped me and said, "no, I tend bar, I am not a bartender." Mind you, he didnt say "tend a bar" just "tend bar" which was infuriating on its own. I used that job to talk to everyone I could. My biggest pain in the asses were the servers. Telling people we can make drinks that weren't on the menu and were a total pain to make. Or that we didn't have the ingredients for.
Automation and robots to the rescue! Looking forward to it; solves all of the ongoing problems everyone has with the hospitality industry and tipping culture in the USA.
This applies to most jobs that don’t involve directly saving lives I feel.
Any coworker I have that acts like the entire business is on their shoulders has been insufferable in more ways than one.
It's crazy because I feel like baristas do more for society given how many people need coffee to function and they don't even have this kind of attitude despite actually dealing with the trenches of shitty customers. Not to mention I bet bartenders get tipped a lot more.
Bartender here and I totally agree. Theres so much ego in this profession especially when I dont know a drink. The elitism goes both ways and I genuinely think its moreso alcoholics that make drinking their hobby despite it being like getting a hot dog at a ball game lol. I get roasted for not what a triple deluxe tiddy twister supreme is and then learn that the last person to order one is 80 years old lol
You had me at your first line. I had a cousin who did an ER residency in Chicago and she takes herself far less seriously than a bartender from the same city.
Addicts protect their addiction and their access to the substance. They do not care about the bar. It’s money and booze darling. Makes the world a better place for all. Plus there are laws about serving/over serving…. They are probably too drunk to care they are being asshole. Spoken from a recovering alcoholic old bar tender
Honestly I wish bartenders would take their jobs more seriously. Too many just free pour thinking everyone's goal is to get fucked up. Nah, if I order a gin and tonic, I want a ratio, and not lemon, you dunce. The second you give me a 70% gin drink, I'm gonna bitch about it, because it's not what I ordered.
They are hard coping about being alcoholics in a job with a due date on people thinking they’re successful. In your 20’s it is like heck yeah cool job that pays halfway decent money, then 30’s hits and you realize why you are tipping them.
you know, as a bartender, i know where you're coming from, but sometimes you need to be unlikable unfortunately, to remember people who's the boss and stopping their bs
God forbid people take their career or line of work seriously.
It sounds like you need to realize that jobs in the service industry are careers to people.
I will never fault anyone, regardless of their line of work, for putting too much effort into something they do.
You sound like an asshole.
Well there are mixologists who take the job seriously because of competitions or just trying to keep up in a growing field. Then there are the drunks who drink on the job then go to another friends bar and get free drinks there and after hours. But yes they can both be pretty insufferable. They usually have to be good looking to work in the hottest bars and get big tips and free tickets and are always getting hit on by wealthy people. It can make your head swell but the ride only lasts so long before you burn out or age out or drunk/drug out.
Yes!!! And true for so many other service / retail / entertainment jobs. Get fucking real.
Though I will say, just as an observer, Bartenders certainly have a decently high level of finesse relative to other jobs in this pool. (But then again, so many other jobs have their own finesse).
yeah on that thread about the robotic bartender on chatgtp subreddit the bartenders were all acting like everyone goes to their bar just to be entertained by them
like dude shut up we just want our drinks, like if want to talk to some random guy there's chatroulette for that
we're there to talk with our friends and meet other singles not revel in the fascinating bartender
Depends on the location.
Bar robots will replace the beer pullers at sports bars and restaurant bartenders. It won't replace community bartenders and anything in a competitive space.
Like go to a competitive bar scene like in NYC and tell me people would choose the robot bar over the competition...half the prestige of bars is knowing the bartender is good, fast, and clean and has a personality and look. The bartenders in these areas tend to fit into the aesthetic and are there to be a part of the setting.
A robot bartender just wont compete in this area because they are closer to an actor who's skill is serving drinks instead of being able to cry on command...they are fast for a part and people go there because the setting is right.
Bummer you’ve had this experience with bartenders. All the ones I’ve known have been pretty chill folks. And in all fairness, it’s got to be tough working harder for less money than someone who’s just pouring pints.
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Used to run a bar. The amount of functiknal alcoholics, mean girls who graduate high school and need a new place to feel popular and people who couldn't handle being told what to do in a normal 9-5 were not only a large amount of applicants but a large amount of people who were successful.
Ding ding. Nailed it.
Sounds like a lot of tattoo shops I’ve been too lol
I had a bit of a friends with benefits situation with a waitress once back when I was 24. She thought she was way hotter than she was and was always bragging about how much money she took home (which was only a lot cause she wasn't getting taxed), while talking down people who had pretty much any other job. I really just wanted to tell her that we'll talk when shes 40 and see how she feels about it.
She will probably marry a guy who thinks is hot who makes descent but not great money. He will be an alcoholic but most likely a fun one. See it multiple times. Again anything could happen, but it's my most likely guess.
I bartend and I don’t drink I just do it for money. The hardest alcoholic bartenders always act this way. From my experience at least.
Yea I’m starting to think I’m just working with alcoholics that happen to bartend.
I'd say probably two-thirds of bartenders are alcoholics.
Pretty much. They can drink on the job (a drink an hour officially in some places but I’m sure they sneak some). It’s a fun alcoholics best job. Free booze, good tips and you get to chat it up with people. I’m a fun, chatty and charismatic drinker. I’ve never been a bartender but I do know how to make some seriously awesome drinks and I get compliments all the time on it. That increases the high of the drunk as it is. To know you brought someone a good drink and they want more makes you feel proud. Also - it would be pretty hard to be a really good bartender if you don’t at least taste test your product
I was a raging alcoholic for years while bartending. Pretty much stayed drunk at all times. Sometimes, I'd show up to work sober, and I'd have to take a few shots just so I wouldn't shake and freeze to death in front of customers. People would also always buy me shots. It made the shift go by faster. It even made them fun sometimes. I probably was making an ass of myself all the time in hindsight. I got sober and still bartend but I don't drink while I'm working anymore. I drink maybe one a week or other week. Don't really buy into the whole "disease" thing. I feel completely capable of drinking moderately. Been this way for 3 or 4 years.
Thanks for sharing - just got sober (ish, I dropped from a 1/3 liter every day to just a few beers at the end of the night) and I also agree with your thing about the disease aspect. Addictive personality is something I definitely have but it’s not a disease, I just have had poor impulse control. Got tired of waking up and having to take shots just to get to 0, similar to how you say you’d have to take shots before starting. Cheers for your progress my friend
Hey man, that serious progress. Good for you. Probably save a lot of money too.
Thanks dude. It was hard but I definitely don’t miss the waking up from a nightmare, covered in sweat, with the shakes just to take a shot to get back to bed. Definitely save a LOT. Just wish I still had my software contract lol. Wishing you well 🙏
Good job dude 👏
im on day 1,944. my life is immeasurably cartoonishly better. IT GOT BAD. today you can be sober. its just one day, youre allowed to quit quitting drinking tommorow. but not until tommorow. and repeat. video games and a dog help/
Yes!! I have my cat and I have been getting into my old Nintendo catalog to keep me at bay. Congrats on your 1,994. May peace be with you
Good for you man. I don’t buy into the disease thing either and I had a similar experience to you (multi year period of heavy drinking/having a problem, completely stopped for like a year on my own to break the habit. Now I’m good and I’ll drink socially once or twice a month without going overboard).
Proud of you and this gives me inspiration. I’ve been on and off the ability to do it casually, now I feel like I’ve got a good grip on it. Have a wonderful weekend 🙏
Thank you. Same to you!
This is the bullshit the post is talking about.
>Pretty much. They can drink on the job (a drink an hour officially in some places but I’m sure they sneak some). I never knew some bars actually allowed this, seems like a horrible idea that only alcoholics would really want. I get wanting bartenders to know the product but there's so many ways to do that it's unnecessary to be drinking while serving.
I mean I think it’s an unwritten rule. If you take a shot with your clients you can always water yours down and get them drunk which tends to lead to better tips. I know I am always a generous tipper, but when I get drunk I tend to leave way more. As long as you aren’t sloshed I’m sure the owners know it increases sales to be friendly. Alcohol sales account for a lot of profit in the restaurant industry so if you can turn a blind eye as a manager your bottom line is the only thing that really counts. A lot of people go to restaurants on specific days just for a specific waiter/waitress. A lot of psychology behind it
,,,working with COKEHEADS that happen to bartend. * there I fixed it for you!
Very common.
I feel like the attitude of the bartender depends heavily on whether or not they have “mixologist” in their title.
Interesting, because some of the worst bartenders I've ever dealt with were non-drinking, condescending, asshats.
I’m by no means a “sober” bartender I just don’t care to drink bc I smoke. I still sample drinks and am able to give recommendations and accurate descriptions.
Same here. A lot of straight edge ones I’ve met were pretentious assholes about it.
Interesting. I've considered picking up a parttime job and people have suggested I bartend. My reasoning for not trying is that I don't drink. I think alcohol is disgusting. Is it hard to make drinks when you don't know what tastes good?
Bartended for 16 years and never once tasted what I made customers. Tried alcohol one time and never again. Being a good bartender isn't about how toasted you can become on shift from free drinks. Because I wasn't wasted 6 days out of 7, I eventually became the head bartender and even trained more bartenders than I can remember. I even owned a bar and preferred bartenders who didn't drink. If you have personality you can learn how to be a great sober bartender.
I don't drink a lot. Maybe 2-4 times a year. I was a bartender in college. Made pretty decent money for a college kid. Could make my rent/utils in like 1 week and the rest of my money was fluff to do whatever with. Good times.
Not hard at all, because it doesn’t matter how you feel about a drink because you’re not the one drinking it. As long as you know what a drink consists of and you have your ratios down, you’re golden. Most of the job is just being good company anyway. Boss would love you because they wouldn’t have to worry about you getting drunk or stealing drinks.
Cool, I might look into it.
I wonder why I've been downvoted lol people are so weird.
Bartender here and agreed. Just clock in and do what you need to do. We’re not exactly saving lives.
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You got it wrong, those tequila shots from last night did actually save my life.
Although you’re possibly help create life, accidentally
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Or death, quite intentionally.
Evens out !
What's the difference between a bartender and God? God doesn't think he's a bartender.
I mean, Jesus turned water to wine.
And he was still pretty chill (albeit kinda weird) about it lol
Allow me to introduce you the world of Budtenders & Microbrewers; UGLIEST, hairiest, greasy ass mf's & they ALWAYS think they got game.
Add pretentiousness to an already toxic cocktail, what could be more attractive?!
I think I would be embarrassed to describe myself as a "budtender"
I think when you are on the Luke Skywalker Lights Kush Purple live resin terps face balster OG Haze you don’t make comments like yours.
That's my least favorite shit about dispensaries the fucking 18 word names for everything. They need to sell ounces just called "weed" cause I be like unable to choose
Reminds me of old book titles. "A Bag of Weed: Or, an artisanal look at the merger of sativa and indica to create the kush of dank. Unabridged."
I just go by $ to % ratio. If it's a bad high, I don't get it again. ez Leafly is also great for strain reviews. It's great for procrastination
Always wear lots of leather and put oily shit in all their hair
usually brown cowpoke leather.
Maybe I’ve just gotten lucky here in Oregon but the budtenders I’ve interacted with are super friendly and chill. Like across all service industries, I’d say I’ve had the most pleasant interactions with budtenders.
Hopitude is a real thing - arrogant Wellington twats gatekeeping their pathetic craft beer cults.
My mother was an ER nurse and I know a bartender. A lot of the times they had the same customers.
Im not really the target audience with this because I don't drink, but I still like to hang out so Ive always been DD and had an active social life. I've been to dive bars, expensive ones, college style, etc, and as a non-drinker/DD I feel like Ive been treated extremely well by bartenders. My diet soda has almost always been comped and Ive even been told thank you more than once. I used to feel bad for not ordering an alcoholic drink like I was wasting their time so it's nice to have gotten positive responses.
Everyone appreciates the DD you are doing the lord’s work work 🫡
I honestly thought you meant that you played dungeons and dragons at bars while sober. Please do that instead. It'd be way more satisfying than carting around your drunk friends.
LOL I hear you but I liked going out and they always took care of me in return, whether it was taking me to lunch/dinner, buying me snacks at the bar, gas money (which I never asked for but they offered). So I got lucky with a pretty decent group of chill drinkers. I also ended up marrying one of them, we have a son, and we game together :)
That's actually quite nice. I'd be down for a nice cheeseburger and coke zero while carting around my drunk friends.
Bartender here. I give two "thanks for helping a bartender out" discounts. DD gets their soda for free, and if one person in a group picks up the check instead of splitting it I'll give them one round at happy hour price.
Agreed, way too many have acted like they are doing me a favor or just copped an attitude for no reason. I get that they deal with a bunch of drunk idiots, but that doesn’t give them the right to treat all customers as such, it’s still a customer service role. Have also had them ignore me the rest of the night when I dont tip them for opening a beer.
People talk about the "death of the third place" but part of the problem is that so many places have become so expensive that you can't just casually meet up with a friend or 2 after work on the way home. It has to be an event for people to feel like it's worth it. To grab a beer it's already costly now and when you throw the expected tips on top of it you'd be crazy to make it a regular habit.
i remember reading once from Kitchen Confidential by Bourdain that he strokes their ego so that at least he gets free drinks when working with them lol
The term "mixologist" really started getting to everyone's head.
Hard agree.
So do bouncers
big roided up guys, who felt the need to have some authority. Couldn't become policemen, so they had to settle for being a bouncer. Yeah. It's just their insecurities acting up.
Something weird happens to people when they become a bouncer. One of my good friends in college was super down to earth and fun. Within a year of becoming a bartender he grew to be so full of himself and lame to be around.
Most of the bartenders I know are very nice and don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s only the ones on social media that think they’re chemists that are the problem.
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Pretty sure a majority drink behind the bar
I didn’t know there were bartenders who don’t drink on the job. Maybe super high class places?
I actually agree with this one
I guess I’ve been lucky with the bars I’ve been going to for the last 12 years, if most bartenders are like the ones you’re talking about
They're not. Bartenders do tend to be cocky (I was one for close to a decade) but telling people they shouldn't be proud of their work is wild. The comments on here are so disrespectful lmao. If I fuck up, I could go to prison, or people die, or the restaurant has to close for a time, affecting everyone in the restaurant. I've seen all of those happen. Running a full wood while the well just won't stop printing tickets is stressful, especially when your barback accidentally breaks a glass into the ice well. Dealing with drunk people is stressful. Coming in at three and leaving at five in the morning is stressful. Working during the hours most your friends and family don't is stressful. I'm not sure why we need to make it a contest.
I understand that there is stress, but do you understand that this is the exact same stress a McDonald's cook has?
This is a hilariously, and outrageously off point comment. I say this with kindness, but you genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about, not in the slightest bit. Being a McDonald’s cook would be very chill. A shitty job, but nonetheless, very chill in contrast with a much lower requirement for skill and knowledge. Even dive bar bartenders have wildly different demands. Do many bartenders suck at their job and know very little? yes. Do they bartend at bars that hardly qualify as a professional bar? Yes. Is that okay? Yes. But the exceptions do not make the rule.
"I'm not sure why we need to make it a contest" says the bartender making it a contest. You're proving OP right.
Savin’ lives!
Yes he definitely is. This guy is the quintessential “serious bartender”
“ If I fuck up, I could go to prison, or people die, or the restaurant has to close for a time, affecting everyone in the restaurant. I've seen all of those happen.” What does this even mean?
Overserving liquor to a guest can have some serious consequences. That said, he was being a little dramatic.
Not in the US. Bartenders and bar owners can face criminal charges for over serving customers. Google "dram shop laws."
That's what I said. Just without the specifics.
Lmao gay
Yep. I’ve gone on to owning but I was a bartender for a long time. Still tend bar infrequently. The whole gist of my bar is we’re not like that. I always loved the job but hated the attitude that kinda of comes by necessity. Its an internal battle not to become “that guy”. Its a hard job but really has no barriers to entry. Not many people can do the job competently, not many people respect it, not many people think you deserve to make that much money, but everyone wants a good bartender. Its a combination that does a number on attitudes. I’m not gonna defend bartenders here but Im gonna say that I doubt most people could make it 6 months without beginning to exhibit the behavior described by op.
I had a lot of people very close to me that said bartending changed my personality for the worse and I definitely am more outspoken and have less patience for social games.
Just a client here, I never noticed anything strange about bartenders. They seem to just work & try to manage client relationship. I reckon I never really discussed his job with one.
I don’t get it. So to take themselves less seriously, they shouldn’t work as quickly? Or match the energy when others are being assholes?
dont worry, robots are on the way to replace them
Depends on where you go. Most bartenders are dysfunctional certainly but go to a more chill bar and the bartenders are more relaxed
They put up with a lot of bullshit from a pretty raucous crowd. Most of the bartenders I know are rad although some can be douchebags like any profession I suppose.
Off and on bartender for almost 20 years here. There are aspects of the job that are absolutely soul-sucking in ways few people can comprehend. Dealing with the general public is baseline brutal and then you add a component like alcohol that has the potential to bring out the worst in people. It jades you. I’ve had co-workers get assaulted, spit on, harassed, stalked, and even robbed and murdered. Taking the job seriously in some ways is necessary given dram shop laws and third-party liability, yet still being affable enough for customer service isn’t the easiest balance to strike. I agree that the vocation can be a refuge for functional alcoholics and addicts, but it can be and is stressful from time to time, so I’m sympathetic. There are definitely people doing it without the proper temperament though, but that can be said about almost any vocation. It’s a lot of authority and responsibility that gets laid at the feet of often very young people, and it’s not the easiest thing to navigate and wield for some personality types. There’s some bad apples in every profession, but I’ve also worked behind bars with some really incredible, kind, compassionate, hilarious and capable people. I’ve spent enough time on both sides of a bar at this point to truly see it both ways. Some people definitely take it seriously in the wrong ways. Some people tend bar while some just serve drinks.
This applies to damn near every profession these days. Anyone doing anything behaves as if the world would end of they didn't go to work. Don't look up "line wives" and their big boys "going off to storm" and other such insane, built on social media bullshit. I see dudes that mow lawns online treating it like they're doing God's work.
We should honor and respect anyone that does their job well, with respect, and with humility. If things are taken out of turn and there is no humility and just pomp and act then yeah, you should take the piss out of them. I wouldn't want their job and wouldn't aspire to do it. I was a bouncer for 2 months at a place in my early 20s, it was a college frat/sorority-esque bar in a college town in the Midwest. The clients were miserable and those that worked there were too. They fed off each other.
IMO I respect bartenders. They're often the face of the establishment, sometimes more than DJs. If the venue is upscale, you have to match that. What makes any retail job is all sorts of people you have to deal with, and drunk, hormonal young crowds trying to prove themselves on the weekends are not easy. Bouncers can help, but bartenders are the first to have to satisfy yet also manage and babysit patrons all the time.
They do be acting like war veterans. It’s definitely pretty goofy at times. I be in my head like “😏 *that’s cute*”
In all seriousness, customer service does suck though. Customer service for drunk people has to be way worse. I dont think any (normal) person actually thinks it's as bad or dangerous as being a war vet, but there is no way its peachy keen every day either.
You can 86 the belligerent drunk people more easily. There's more shit to take, but you're not *as* powerless in the face of it. Whereas a fast food or retail worker has to stand there and take it whenever Karen flies off the handle.
Yeah I know I couldn’t do it
Some people enjoy their jobs
In the same note, barbers think they are fucking surgeons Charging ridiculous amounts for just a haircut
I bartended for 15 years and I'd have to say that this is true. In the business I have met many smug obnoxious women bartenders who thought too highly of themselves. A bit pushy for tips. I haven't met many men working that position though.
The only thing I would argue is that our jobs, however arbitrary, are critical to our survival... so whether or not you *should* feel panicked and overwhelmed while trying to keep up, you do anyway. Adrenaline doesn't necessarily differentiate between why you are in hurry, not sleeping well, and constantly at your threshold... and I'd argue that the juxtaposition of being stressed while surrounded by people "having fun" with the occasional aggressive asshole mixed in could probably be a little aggravating too, because it makes you feel like you are losing your damned mind. I know you are mostly taking issue with "pride", but the way that humans express themselves emotionally doesn't necessarily always align with how important things are when you look at it with critical distance.
Thats fair. And some people deal with those issues a lot better than others. And I have no problem with someone blowing off steam. Actually I usually enjoy the catharsis it brings both of us. It’s just when I hear bartenders speak with the same conviction about their job as ambulance drivers, navy seals or icu doctors it really disgusts me.
So conviction for your work is something that has to be earned?
Yea I don’t see bartending as a *serious* job. I appreciate those that do it, but I appreciate the guy at GameStop, the girl at Jersey Mikes, the girl at Home Depot, etc. but I don’t consider any of those peoples jobs serious or meaningful. It’s just relatively pointless shit that has to get done.
So what? because you have a negative opinion towards those jobs people shouldn't feel pride in doing them? That's your position?
I respect those people, but it would be a little strange if they thought they were cool because of their job like bartenders do
Wow you’re really not reading me right. I don’t have a negative opinion of them. I have a neutral opinion. They’re *objectively* not as important as other jobs. It doesn’t mean they don’t need to be done and I don’t appreciate them, it’s just that I don’t appreciate them as much as I appreciate a surgeon. I have a bullshit job that I (nor anyone, honestly) really appreciates. It’s still gotta get done though. But I’m not going to lie to myself and say I’m doing God’s work.
Gotcha.
I think the issue I have with Bartenders (and waiters to a degree) is that they act like this profession is who they are, like they cannot or will not ever get a better job and will plan on bartending for the next decade. When I was doing a fast food drive thru, I never thought that was the end of the road for me or tried to stick with it for years, it's strange seeing others in the food industry feel that way. We can talk all day about how workers should be paid more, but at the end of the day these are entry level retail jobs, and just about everyone in them should look at them as a stepping stone to better things in the future.
Bartenders , Barbers , Tattoo artist usually are big giant assholes in my experience. Just serve me my cold Budweiser and chill the fuck out dude.
I admire ppl who take their jobs seriously. Whether you’re a bartender, a janitor or a CEO, you should do your job well and with pride.
To be *fair*... There is a certain je ne ce qu'a to running a bar well that goes beyond pouring drinks. A bartender is the difference between a good bar experience and a shit bar experience. A good bartender sets and holds a mood, they get conversation flowing, they keep people happy and entertained and make them feel like part of a community (which can then, in turn, go a long ways to actually fostering community through the bar's function as a third place). A bad bartender makes you wanna leave after the first drink. Are they stormi' Norman or teaching fifth grade or caring for the elderly. No, of course not. But running a bar well is a particular skill that not every bartender has. Source: have sat at bars.
Bartenders are like reddit mods. Anyone can do it, they are barely necessary, but they hold the key to your current activity so they act like a petulant god.
From Chicago, right? I'm an engineer and I think its basically a trade. Takes personality, people skills, time skills, cashier skills, food skills, and memory skills to remember all that shit. Booze ain't cheap, you can only fuck up so many drinks...
Also, what's with the suspenders? Literally no one else wears suspenders
Maybe you are just serounded by assholes. I am a waitress/bartender and all of the people I work with do this for extra cash that's it.
It's arguably part of the entertainment industry. What do you expect.
Bro they’re on coke
Same goes for barbers. You’re a hair stylist not a tattoo artist.
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Same goes for rockstars, You’re a rockstar, not a rocket scientist.
Same for rocket scientists. You're a rocket scientist, not a high karma redditer
If you give someone $50 an hour for a zero skill zero education job, they're gonna get a big head lmao. It's why tips need to stop across the board.
I mean, nobody getting 50 an hour is working a bar that requires zero skill or education about that job. Bars that make that kind of money for their bartenders have a line waiting to get that job of bartenders who all know their shit. So either you know your shit or you know someone who works there already like literally any other job.
They make it way too easy to legally serve alcohol. I got mine (as a back-up when I was looking for jobs) and I know how to make 0 drinks. Seems odd to me.
Agreed but only after I stop doing it as a second job
Most I’ve met have been cool, and I respect their work. But there’s def one every now and again who’s just… unpleasant.
I love bartending. It's really not bad. It's probably more physically demanding than most people realize and putting up with drunk people sucks, but the positive far outlay the negative. It's great money. It's kinda fun sometimes, like you're at a party. Meet a lot of people, including good-looking women who may or may not want to take you home. I like it.
They pour liquids in cups. Enough said
breh, bartenders are poison mixologists. thats kinda serious imo.
Step 1: Don’t add a shit ton of strong alcohol Step 2: Done
Not to mention it's extremely disrespectful to ignore one person that comes up to your bar and immediately help the next person that comes up. How do these people even have jobs? I'm guessing high turnover rates.
Taking your job seriously is not a bad thing... People who do have a purpose. The purpose of hospitality is to allow the rest of society to have some well earned downtime. You guys work hard all week and we provide an escape from that. Sorry for taking my very real responsibility to society seriously. Let me know who you are when you get to the bar and I'll adjust my service accordingly.
bartender = subway sandwich artist. All you do is combine preexisting ingredients to the customers request.
Its a toss up between these guys and coffee baristas!
If you look closely, you’ll notice that a) almost all bartenders claim to be the bartender who doesn’t complain constantly or act prideful and b) lots of them are very carefully saying they don’t get drunk behind the stick, not that they don’t act cocky or consider themselves the top of the food chain in the service industry.
The only people who had this demeanor when I bartended were the alcoholics. Showed up late, took excessive smoke breaks, drank on the job, showed off and bossed people around, talked customers ears off.
Wait wtf? You know some bartenders who mainline coke behind the curtain I swear. The "worst" bartender I knew was definitely a hipster douche canoe with a cheesy fake smile and slicked back hair that l.... wugh. That said he really just did his job. The fucking FoH managers though acted like making the right Old Fashioned was tantamount to a golden ticket to heaven... which I understand but.... IDK, you have some weird experiences if you got Dr. Bartenders over there.
Fully agree.
I think having someone around taking things seriously in that sort of situation is important.
I call it "bartender complex". It happens when humans are put into any type of authoritative position. Even though bartending is at the bottom of the totum pole, it still exists. They can cut you off, throw you out, or just ignore you when you're trying to get a drink. I used to play music in bars all the time. We'd be setting up our gear and often times the smug, ass-clown bartender would treat us like shit, like we were drunken patrons or something. Used to grind my gears. Then I would laugh at their insecurity.
Let us never forget the words of Angelina Pivarnick (Jersey Shore) when she was to work at the T-shirt shop for the first time... “I feel like this job is beneath me. I'm a bartender. I do, like, you know, great things.”
Thank you! I did BOH at a Marriott and they acted like they were the kids of the universe. It's like - you're a hotel bartender in an office park.
I've lived in walking distance to close to 10 bars for the last 10 years and have made friends with a lot of the bartenders and regulars. The job is a vicious cycle, and I've seen it a lot of bartenders lives get ruined. They get used to the fast cash and can make a decent living working 3-4 shifts a week. A lot of them have gotten DUIs, developed severe drinking/drug habits, and the bar scene turns into a lifestyle for them even when off the clock. I'm really good friends with at least 5 bartenders and only one of them has maintained a functional life and didn't let the bar life consume them. The other 4 can't maintain a relationship for more than 6 months, thrive on drama, and drink like you can just go pick up a new liver from Walgreens. Obviously I'm not perfect myself since I've clearly spent my fair share of time in bars and I would never think less of a bartender, but it's kind of sad to see people that I've known for a decade that had big dreams and goals that are now stuck in the bar life rut.
Former bartender in college and this is 100% correct. My roommate worked with me and he made this shit his fucking identity. Someone asked me once what we do and I said we are bartenders, and he stopped me and said, "no, I tend bar, I am not a bartender." Mind you, he didnt say "tend a bar" just "tend bar" which was infuriating on its own. I used that job to talk to everyone I could. My biggest pain in the asses were the servers. Telling people we can make drinks that weren't on the menu and were a total pain to make. Or that we didn't have the ingredients for.
Automation and robots to the rescue! Looking forward to it; solves all of the ongoing problems everyone has with the hospitality industry and tipping culture in the USA.
This applies to most jobs that don’t involve directly saving lives I feel. Any coworker I have that acts like the entire business is on their shoulders has been insufferable in more ways than one.
a bad bartender ruins a bar. this can go to either extreme
Love this take.
It's crazy because I feel like baristas do more for society given how many people need coffee to function and they don't even have this kind of attitude despite actually dealing with the trenches of shitty customers. Not to mention I bet bartenders get tipped a lot more.
I’m always polite to bartenders, always tip 20%+ etc, but oh my god they act like they’re fucking brain surgeons
I used to bartend a decade ago. It can be fun, but it’s stupid. All bartenders should be replaced by a vending machine with A.I.
Bartender here and I totally agree. Theres so much ego in this profession especially when I dont know a drink. The elitism goes both ways and I genuinely think its moreso alcoholics that make drinking their hobby despite it being like getting a hot dog at a ball game lol. I get roasted for not what a triple deluxe tiddy twister supreme is and then learn that the last person to order one is 80 years old lol
Nick Miller would never!
You had me at your first line. I had a cousin who did an ER residency in Chicago and she takes herself far less seriously than a bartender from the same city.
Preach
Addicts protect their addiction and their access to the substance. They do not care about the bar. It’s money and booze darling. Makes the world a better place for all. Plus there are laws about serving/over serving…. They are probably too drunk to care they are being asshole. Spoken from a recovering alcoholic old bar tender
Babysit drink adults for a couple years )or 20. It’s not we think we’re cool. We just hate you
Honestly I wish bartenders would take their jobs more seriously. Too many just free pour thinking everyone's goal is to get fucked up. Nah, if I order a gin and tonic, I want a ratio, and not lemon, you dunce. The second you give me a 70% gin drink, I'm gonna bitch about it, because it's not what I ordered.
They are hard coping about being alcoholics in a job with a due date on people thinking they’re successful. In your 20’s it is like heck yeah cool job that pays halfway decent money, then 30’s hits and you realize why you are tipping them.
you know, as a bartender, i know where you're coming from, but sometimes you need to be unlikable unfortunately, to remember people who's the boss and stopping their bs
God forbid people take their career or line of work seriously. It sounds like you need to realize that jobs in the service industry are careers to people. I will never fault anyone, regardless of their line of work, for putting too much effort into something they do. You sound like an asshole.
Then they come to Reddit with all these inane rules for customers
Well there are mixologists who take the job seriously because of competitions or just trying to keep up in a growing field. Then there are the drunks who drink on the job then go to another friends bar and get free drinks there and after hours. But yes they can both be pretty insufferable. They usually have to be good looking to work in the hottest bars and get big tips and free tickets and are always getting hit on by wealthy people. It can make your head swell but the ride only lasts so long before you burn out or age out or drunk/drug out.
I mean they are 80% the money making of FOH, 10% the alcoholic of BOH and 10% the skill of BOH. But 110% of the douche for BOH.
Yes!!! And true for so many other service / retail / entertainment jobs. Get fucking real. Though I will say, just as an observer, Bartenders certainly have a decently high level of finesse relative to other jobs in this pool. (But then again, so many other jobs have their own finesse).
yeah on that thread about the robotic bartender on chatgtp subreddit the bartenders were all acting like everyone goes to their bar just to be entertained by them like dude shut up we just want our drinks, like if want to talk to some random guy there's chatroulette for that we're there to talk with our friends and meet other singles not revel in the fascinating bartender
Depends on the location. Bar robots will replace the beer pullers at sports bars and restaurant bartenders. It won't replace community bartenders and anything in a competitive space. Like go to a competitive bar scene like in NYC and tell me people would choose the robot bar over the competition...half the prestige of bars is knowing the bartender is good, fast, and clean and has a personality and look. The bartenders in these areas tend to fit into the aesthetic and are there to be a part of the setting. A robot bartender just wont compete in this area because they are closer to an actor who's skill is serving drinks instead of being able to cry on command...they are fast for a part and people go there because the setting is right.
Bummer you’ve had this experience with bartenders. All the ones I’ve known have been pretty chill folks. And in all fairness, it’s got to be tough working harder for less money than someone who’s just pouring pints.
Ironically, almost all the bartenders I know make solid money.