Smoke free is good for me?

In January of 2005, the Bloomington City Council passed a ban for all bars and restaurants in Bloomington, Ind. to be a ‘smoke free environment.’ Although I have an occasional cigarette when I am drinking, I am not a smoker on a regular basis by any means. So, for me this ban was good news since I work in a bar. However, it may not be such good news for my pocket book.
As an article in the Indianapolis Star suggests (http://www2.indystar.com/articles/3/220077-2923-098.html) the smoking ban hurt businesses because smokers did not like the idea of separating alcohol and cigarettes. The article featured another local bar, with a few quotes from: employees, other local restaurants and customers. It concluded the ban was a bad economic move.

However, the article failed to mention several other things that could be impacting business. For example, gas is more expensive than ever (Currently $2/gallon). Therefore, the target age of the drinkers who go to the bars have less of an expendable income. Sounds silly, but it’s another possibility that could slow business. Plus, the weather was not mentioned as a factor in the article. Since it is cold in Indiana, a smoker may not be willing to stand outside in the elements. However, when the weather is nice, business will hopefully return. As I have witnessed, many students are saving money to travel on Spring Break and not ‘going out,’ as much. (Well, many still go to the bars, but they limit their spending.)

From a personal point of view, I am grateful this ban was passed. While working in a bar for a year before the smoking ban, I can vouch for that fact that secondhand smoke is hard on your lungs. I was sick 5 times in 7 months. No, it wasn’t a head cold. It generally consisted of losing my voice followed by a week of blowing my nose and coughing-up unwanted creatures from my lungs. Sounds crazy, but one doctor, who was on the board to pass the ban, told me the 4 nights a week I was working could equal as much as smoking a pack a night. Plus, I was not blessed with a filter attached to my mouth, like the filter attached to a cigarette. This made the smoke I was constantly inhaling worse (hence the name “secondhand” smoke). Plus, my clothes, hair and everything in general do not smell like smoke after I leave my job.
Nonetheless, it is noticeable that the bar’s business in the bar I am employed in, and other local bars, is slow right now. This is unfortunate for my pocket book, but my lungs feel great. Yes, some bars have taken the approach to the ban with the attitude that smokers can still smoke in their bar, as long as they remain ‘out of sight.’ This is only sad to me. From personal experience (as you heard), and watching my uncle who has had two open heart surgeries from smoking, I can say I am happy to breath the smoke free air.

The art of tipping less than 10%

In today’s society that is somewhat dependable upon the service industry, it is general knowledge the standard amount for a tip is 15-20%. (I am not sure where this came from, but maybe Allen Greenspan concocted this figure in his free time to help the defecate.) To further add to this rule, when a party of 5 or more people dines in a restaurant, they are charged with an automatic 15% gratuity. However, the bar/restaurant I work for does not add automatic gratuity to the bill. They decided this usually limits the tip the server receives, and the party is not likely to tip anymore money than this. In most instances, it is nice not to have gratuity added. However, I was blessed to serve the two families from the world of clueless tippers who decided buying lunch for 9 people and tipping was not in the plans for their fine Saturday afternoon. The point of this is not to complain, but I am appalled with and fed-up with people who can pay for their meal but do not know how to tip.

Anyway, while working on sunny Saturday afternoon, what appeared to be two perfectly normal families, consisting of 9 people, decided I was the chosen one to wait on them. After attentively serving them with the array of juices, alcohol (for the parents) and all the food their hearts desired, I brought their $79.00 check to them. They split it into two separate checks, according to which two families were having what, and they paid. One of the moms told me, “Everything was great…You are a great server.” Obviously, not great enough…

After cleaning the table, and the surrounding macaroni plastered to the kid seat, I glimpsed at the credit card receipt before putting it away. Needless to say, I did an instant double take. One of the broken-off checks from the original bill had a $3.50 tip on $40.00 and the other had a $2.00 tip on another, almost $40.00 bill. Okay, what’s wrong with this picture; Two families who are willing to spend $40.00 each on lunch, then proceed to tip less than 10%. Call me crazy, but something, called the tip, is missing.

Two days later I still cannot figure out why people try to get away with being so frugal. I know, money may be tight, you’ve had a bad week, etc., but give me a break: Tipping less than 15%, when you claimed you received great service, is poor etiquette. I am working to provide guests with great and friendly service, but this service is not free. I could have made telemarketing for $10 an hour than serving a family for two hours who left a sub-par tip. Lesson learned: A verbal tip will not compensate for a next to nothing tip. If you pay for the bill, and your service was good, than you should be required to tip a minimum of 15%.

The loss of a friend

Upon walking into my job last night I had no idea what was about to be announced: The night before one of my fellow employees died.

From the instant I heard these words questions arose: What, did I hear correctly? Someone is dead? Who? How? When?
Then, the story was briefly explained to me. On February 15th, one of the bartenders at the establishment I worked at had gotten drunk, passed out alive on his couch and was then discovered dead by his roommate the next morning. From the descriptions that were given, he asphyxiated on his vomit. When I was began my shift at 9:00 p.m. almost everyone else already knew of his death. My next question was who?
His name was Wes. It took a moment for me to place the face with the name, but another employee showed his picture to me. As soon as I saw his face, it hit me: Wes was gone, forever.
Unfortunately, I did not a close relationship with him, like the majority of the other employees I work with. But when employees slowly staggered into the bar periodically throughout the night, often with tears streaming down their faces, it struck a nerve in the entire staff. When an employee was asked, “How’s it going,” the general response was, “I’ve had better days.”
As I began to talk to one of my favorite fellow employees in the bar, questions arose such as: Why would a benevolent God take this amazing person from everyone, what about his little girl, how could this happen? All of these are questions that death offers only the answer of silence to. Every employee in the bar also realized they could have been Wes. Many of us knew how fortunate we are to be alive today.

The shift today offered the same mellow and somber tone lurking over the bar. I noticed one of the managers stumbled in wearing the same clothes he was wearing the night before. It was obvious that Wes was not only an awesome person who touched everyone we worked with, but no one was quick to forget him or look the other way.
Jo, another manager and part-owner, who trains all of her employees herself, offered the employees, her ‘kids’ of the bar, a few comforting words. Yet everyone was still speechless. In a situation such as this, there is not much to say. From death, it is apparent how someone was in life. Although I did not know Wes, it is obvious how much he is loved. I only wish in retrospect that I had more time to get to know the person who is part of the new family I joined. From the day I took the job, Jo (the aforementioned manager) said everyone in the bar is like a family. After only six weeks of working there, I know exactly what she meant. All I can think about now is what Jo left her employees with to remember Wes: “Cheers to my very good friend Wes, you have truly made a difference in the lives of this very blessed family.” I’m sorry someone so great had to end their time on earth so abruptly.

Big girls don't cry?

While serving on a semi-busy Saturday night, I noticed one customer as she shamefully trotted out of the bar with tears streaming down her face. After a few minutes, (what appeared to be) her friends brought the same girl back in for another round of drinks, only after she had wiped the mascara from her underneath her eyes.
As her server, my only question to her friends was: Can I get anything for your friend? Then one of the girls remarked, “She'll be fine, she had a fight with her boyfriend. You know how that is.”
Unfortunately, I do know. I have only been 'that girl' once in a public place, but it is still a rather uncomfortable situation. Sometimes it might be something another person says, or something that's happened, but before you know it, tears are steaming down your face. Much like the crying girl, I left. However, she was faced with the drunken ultimatum of drinking more, possibly to rinse down her problems, or completely leaving the bar.
Nonetheless, the girl spent the rest of the night drinking in the bar with a frown on her face. I do not know her situation, but this is not the first time I have seen this happen. Unfortunately, humans do not have a button that can tune out things that will hurt their feelings, especially when liquor is involved.
When I described this situation to another friend, she decided it was best that the embarrassed and crying girl went back into the bar for one reason: she would not have to face being alone to deal with her problem while she was drunk. This is a great point, however, it seems the liquor heightened her emotional response in the first place.
For whatever reason, things like this do happen. Maybe the only thing that can be done is to be more understanding of the crying girls situation and bring a glass of water to her.

Don't be rude

In the service industry, I realized the saying “patience is a virtue” applies not only to the servers, but likewise to the RUDE customers.
Super Bowl Sunday in most sports bars with a big screen is a major event. People within the community flock to the bar like herded sheep to: watch the game, drink alcohol and eat greasy food.
At my particular bar, the pre-game show offered people the chance to claim their spot at a table in front of one of the big screens. However, for a server, when seven plus tables all want food and drinks at the same time, this can be a problem.
Most of the customers are semi-patient and they know they are not the only people in the restaurant, but every so often a customer wants the focus of the entire server to be solely on them.
For example, one particular girl decided that she would snap her fingers, while I took an order from another table. Yes, I understand, the point of going to a restaurant is to be served. But in this case, I had taken her order, she had a full beverage in front of her, so what was her immediate problem?
Well, in her state of rudeness, she realized she had to have a side of ranch for her fries. This side of ranch was important enough for her to prevent me from taking an order from another customer.
Nonetheless, this particular rude customer received her side of ranch, but the point is: Where is the line drawn from a customer’s desire to have exceptional service to just being rude.
Since I have worked in many restaurants, including fine dining, I understand how easily things can go wrong. However, problems can occur in any restaurant, especially within the food industry where catering to the needs of some people can be a challenge.
Customers on the other hand often do not have this insight. For this reason, it is understandable that they want seamless service.
Yet, was it necessary for this girl to be so abrupt? She was given at least three more chances to ask for the side of ranch before her food was served.
In conclusion, if I observed anything from Super Bowl Sunday, other than the fact that the Patriots won again, it would be this: Have more respect for people around you. Plus, the people in restaurants are there to serve you, but have common courtesy when making requests.

A woman's right to SEX

While I closed the bar two nights ago, one of my favorite customers approached me to note that she was leaving to have sex. Yes, she openly admitted that she was venturing off to rendezvous with a boy. As soon as these words left her mouth (and she walked away), another customer quickly said what she is doing is degrading, and she is a slut.
Therefore, the idea struck me: If a woman can openly admit she wants to have commitment free sex, is this degrading or liberating?
After further thought, men have been having 'care-free,' meaningless sex for years. Yet, somehow after the fight for women's rights, women are often still considered the sluts, and men get off without any reputation.
Therefore, have girls, like my customer who can admit she just wants sex, taken anything to the next level, or she simply being looked down upon?
Recent research has shown that women may not be capable of having commitment free sex like men. There is a chemical produced in the brain, that only women have, that makes their emotional attachment flourish from sex: Meaning, if a woman has sex, she is likely to get attached.
For whatever reason, this sex-loving customer ultimately made one thing clear: It is possible men and women will never be looked upon as equals when it comes to sex.

Bar Talk

Over the past two years I have worked in two different bars in Bloomington, Ind. Needless to say, not a shift passes that I hear, see or experience something out of the ordinary. Therefore, this blog offers everyone the chance to hear how liquor changes the lives of both the purchaser and seller. Plus, when you get off work as the sun is rising, you are not able to always maintain a normal life.
My career as a bar-worker began in the fall of 2004. I had just turned 21, and was looking for a part-time job while attending school. I happened to walk into the bar I was a customer in the night before, and I was hired on the spot. At first, this job was not that out of the ordinary. The only downfall was that I started working at 9:00 p.m. and finished around 4:00 p.m. every morning.
After only a few weeks of working in this bar, I began to realize how "out-of-the-norm" this lifestyle is to maintain. Suddenly, I was sleeping all day and working all night while trying to go to school.
Nonetheless, I tried my best to maintain classes and working.

Over the next five months I experienced enough drunkenness to last a lifetime. I usually was not the one participating, but I became the waitress/shot girl who collected the money. I became numb to the rudeness of customers in order to make a buck.
Over time I observed one thing: if you are willing to listen, drunken people are usually willing to talk. This is not to deceive them, but after a few drinks, many people want to exalt the problems from the day. No holds bar is the general rule for the drunk talkers. Everything from politics to drugs is spoken of while in the bar.

Currently I am employed at another Bloomington bar. However, the same talk happens amongst the drinkers and employees. On any given night someone is willing to discuss more than the game on the big screen. This will offer the anecdotal insight into the bar life based around the business of college kids and workers.