WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BARTEND

WHAT ITS LIKE TO BARTEND

I enjoy bartending, I really do. People often ask me what it’s like to be behind the bar for work. “What’s bartending like?”

If you’ve read any of the other articles on this site, you know I’ve been bartending for years. Is it an easy job? No. Not at all. Will you have to deal with some jerks/ idiots. Yes. But, if you do it right, and keep a positive attitude, it can be an enjoyable job and one that you look forward to going to.

Over the years, I’d estimate I’ve served over 100,000 drinks. Ninety-eight percent of those drinks went to well-behaved, friendly, or regular “good-member-of-society” type people. People have been kind, understanding, generous, and empathetic. The other two percent of those drinks went to people who, in my opinion, “sucked at life”. These people can be rude, obnoxious, and maybe even get a thrill by being aggressive with someone who works in the service industry.

But I forget about those people; their problem isn’t with me. If there was a different bartender serving them that night, this customer probably would’ve been rude to him/ her instead of me. So I don’t take it personally, and I get over it. If you bartend (or want to bartend), I suggest you adopt this mentality as well. If you don’t, you’ll become angry and things will start to go sour quick (real f*ckin quick, jigga).

Most nights, I am in a good mood. I’m energetic and happy to be there. We’re all there to do a job, and do it well. Of course though, there are nights when things will go wrong (the credit card system goes down, a bottle breaks, a drunk guy swears at you for no reason, etc). Try to take it in stride and keep the bigger picture in mind.

What’s bartending like? It’s usually great! But, on a rough night, it looks like the video I am posting below this. It can be a very tough job! By this I mean, it can be tough not strangling people when you want to sometimes. I show this video to people who think bartending is super easy, and the “funnest job in the world, all the time.” It’s not a new video, but the material is still spot on. Enjoy.

– Ross