You notice a boisterous group wander up to the bar. Are they
really waving dollar bills at the bartenders? Snapping? Yelling?
Knowing how profoundly rude this is you wince in apology for the
group you don’t know. The righteously irked bartender gets to them
after serving the people that were in line before them. Smiling, she
asks the group to see their ID’s. Without batting an eye they all
hand over their shiny, new horizontal plastic pictures.
You hear the Boniface exclaim “Happy Birthday!” To which one
of the youngsters quickly asks “Do you have, like, birthday shots?”
Shaking her head no with a raised eyebrow, she asks what they’d
like. The order starts with six Vegas Bombs – no, wait – make it
three Vegas Bombs, three shots of whiskey and four whiskey sours.
The nimble bartender whips up the order, dodging co-workers in an
intricate dance of body dodges and twirls. Placing the ten glasses in
front of the group, she asks “all together?”
The group looks at each other dumbfounded and questioning
until they finally figure out who’s paying. “I’m going to pay for
two of the V-Bombs, and one of the whiskey sours. He’s going to
pay for the whiskeys, and she’s going to pay for the rest.” A fistful
of cash and a debit card is given to the, at this point, very patient
bartenderess. She rings everyone up, and gives the receipt and
change back to the customers with a smile, obviously trying to hide
her annoyance.
“The minimum wage for serving in
Nebraska is $2.13. So yes, we do
depend on tips to survive.”
The group takes their shots, picks up their drinks and walks away,
leaving nothing for her hard work.
At this point you’ve savored your gin and tonic to nothingness,
and it’s your turn again. The flaming orange peel from earlier
has quipped your interest, so you ask the bartender about it. She
explains that it uses a house infused coffee tequila, and some other
things you’ve never heard of. You like tequila, so you decide to try
it. As she’s pouring all the ingredients into a glass, she’s telling a few
34
of the others waiting that she’ll be with them in a second. Shaking
your drink she laughs at a joke she over heard about a duck smoking
quack… get it?!?
She strains the shaken concoction into a glass in front of you,
taking a lighter to a thinly sliced orange peel and sending sparks
of orange zest into your drink, you get excited about tasting this
treat. Asking for your name again, you tell her so she can add the
drink to your tab. Bringing the glass to your lips, you continue the
merriment with your friends.
“Bartenders don’t set prices...
if you have a complaint, talk
to a manager.”
This story is an excellent of what NOT to do when you go into a
bar and it’s as busy as all get-out. Play it straight and your chances
of getting excellent service and being a ‘smart’ customer go way up.
Impress your friends, your date, and your bartender. Here are some
tips;
Things your Bartender wants you to know:
•? When in doubt, have your ID ready when you get to the
door/bar
•? Know what you’re going to order when you get to the bar.
This will make things a lot quicker for everybody.
•? Have your payment (Cash, Credit, etc.) ready when your
drinks are served.
•? If you have questions about a product, please ask! We like to
be informative, we like to share our knowledge, and we like to
talk about alcohol!
•? If it’s busy, it’s going to take a little while to get a drink. We’re
working as quickly as we can. We’re not Sonic the Hedgehog.
We are only human, and as discussed, we don’t have eight arms,
sadly.
•? The minimum wage for serving in Nebraska is $2.13. So yes,
we do depend on tips to survive. Take that into consideration
when you pay, please! I don’t want to live in a cardboard box