Yesterday at work a guy was kind of making fun of me because I was counting back his change in my head and took a little bit longer than anticipated to 'do the math'.
What he probably didn't realize was that as I was holding a heavy tray full of drinks and a float full of cash and talking to him while doing head-math, I was also talking to the people beside him, making eye contact with the next table to let them know I would be right over to take their order all the while remembering the drink order I had to make when I got back to the bar and doing all of this with a smile on my face.
He said something cocky like "That's a hard one, you sure you don't need my help with that math?" Laughing at himself.
I rolled my eyes and said said "Let's see you do this job for ten minutes." Smiled and walked away.
That broke the tension, and his table laughed and he said "I guess you're right." and all was good.
But it got me thinkin'.
As bartenders we may look cute and not very smart on the surface, but there's a lot more than meets the eye. Sure, we act silly and laugh at your corny jokes and bend over backwards for you and listen to your same story again and again, but we also remember your name, where you sit, who you sit with, which day of the week you come in, what time of the day you go home, how you like your drink, how much money you are going to pay with, how much change you want back, what your dog's name is, what you do for work, what your wife does, how long you've been married and what you made for dinner last night.
And we remember that for everyone at your table, and most of the other tables in the joint.
Daily.
You see, bartending, actually takes some skill.
That experience, and many others like it, (eye roll) made me want to write an article about bartending, serving customers and maybe the service industry in general. Let's start with a few points.
Your Bartender is amazing because:
She can do math in her head, on the fly, all day every day
She has a fabulous memory
She is organized
She is funny
She can Multitask
She has remarkable Social
Skills
She can put up with your shit and not punch you in the face
She's a fantastic actress
She's got fashion sense and style
She takes good care of you! And likes it!
You like her, too
So, the next time you're out at your favourite watering hole, be a little extra nice to your bartender.
Thank her for her service and her smile. Just like at MCDonald's smiles are free at your bar!
You'll go home happy, she will go home happy and who knows, maybe she will even write you into the story of the novel she is currently working on...
Or her next blog post
LVP 2016
