This Weekend

This weekend was a particularly difficult weekend at The Bar. To start off with, myself and my co-bartenders had a very fun staff meeting on Wednesday night in which we got yelled at by our bar manager for all kinds of silly things (you're not fast enough, stop whining, we're all tired etc etc) which was extraordinarily annoying especially because our bar manager had been out of town the entire weekend before so wahwahwah hope you enjoyed your vacation while the rest of us worked 35+ hours in 2 days #getoveryourself. So, after this lovely meeting, we all came to work on Thursday night not in great spirits. Miraculously, I had Friday night off (I worked the lunch shift that day) and decided to come back and visit with my co-workers after they all got off work. While we were hanging out, some rowdy customers on the patio were asked to leave and eventually had to be escorted out by some of our male staff because they were being so belligerent. This encounter ends up with a trashcan lid being thrown through our storefront which shattered the entire window, a broken display class and a girl having a rock thrown at her which put her in the hospital.

This night was stressful, scary and so unusual for our bar...made me realize how quickly things can escalate and how important it is for us all to take care of ourselves and make sure we're always safe.

For those of y'all who have never waited tables, worked in a restaurant or bar or in the service industry, it's hard to explain how funny and surprising work can be on a day-to-day basis. You're constantly in contact with different people and different personalities and it's shocking how unusual people are.

So, let's just explain a few simple things to get started. 1. Working in a bar means that you work long shifts (10+ hours), you stand the entire time and you deal with drunk people the entire time. 2. You have to be nice to people who suck. Constantly. 3. You work with at least 3 other bartenders and something like 8 or more servers, so there's a ton of different personalities colliding and 4. If you're a full time student like me, this means working Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun and then going back to school on Monday so literally NO days off.

Okay, having said all of that...there are so many hilarious things that happen in a bar that are so difficult to explain without verbalizing them, but I'm going to to do my best...

On Thursday night, after the busiest part of the evening (11p-1a) is for the most part over, my coworker and I are starting to clean things up and reset for the next shift in the morning (this involves restocking beer, cleaning, sweeping, mopping, counting money, doing dishes etc) when 2 younger guys walk into the bar. They look terrified as if they're going to get in trouble for something...so naturally, we assume they are underage and are trying to drink with no ID. I check their IDs and turns out they both had turned 21 in the past week...newbies. Grrreat...the kids ask us "what we know how to make", which is ridiculously annoying because the list of things that are possible to make is extensive to say the least. My response to their obnoxious question is "what do you know how to drink?" with an irritated tone...they both get bottles of Bud Light (go figure) and mosey on to the pool tables in the game room and I think they're done...much to my surprise, they come back to the bar numerous times asking various questions along the lines of what the difference between a pitcher of beer and a bucket of bottled beers is (duh, that's so dumb) and then go on to order a screwdriver (vodka with orange juice) HOWEVER the kid says "lemme git a screwdriver...with Goose (Grey Goose vodka)...and juice...oooorange juice". I scoff at him, make his drink and then they begin to order shot after shot after shot and eventually ring up a $124 tab (woah...they had an hour and a half to drink). These guys are clearly wasted so we ask them to pay their tab (they leave $126 to cover their tab AND tip us...thanks for your 2% tip). After closing time, my coworker and I are walking around, picking up glassware to wash and find that these boys have left a stack of demo cds of their rap group called "F*** B******, Git Money" and a note on top that says "Give us a listen and tell us what you think, hoes".

A hilariously ridiculous end to a long freaking night.

Typical night at the Bar

First Timer

First of all, I'd just like preface all of this by explaining that I'm pretty unfamiliar with blogging and what exactly goes into it/how to do it. This blog will be a day to day story of my life as a bartender at a sports bar in South Austin. I've waited tables and worked in restaurants since I was 15 and working in South Austin is a totally different experience. This blog will recount my shifts at the bar and the hilarious things that you wouldn't believe are true that happen on a day to day basis.