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The other day at work had an entertaining little incident. Now, I may have been a bit cranky due to an incident at work that involved some serious allegations directed at yours truly. (Allegations which I brilliantly and completely defused, I might add. This incident may be posted sometime soon in Morons in Management.) In any case....
A group of four (one older lady, two 20's something ladies, and one 20's something guy) walks up to the bar as I am steady, but not overly busy. Orders six gin and tonics, to take with them on a walking tour. (Yes, you can walk around with drinks down here. Have I mentioned that this place rocks?) So....I make them their six gin and tonics. As I am about to start handing to them, the following conversation ensues...
SCDUDE: "Aren't you going to shake those?"
JESTER:
"Huh?"
SCDUDE: "Aren't you going to shake our drinks?"
(Yes, he wanted me to shake gin and tonics. You know….drinks with a carbonated beverage as part of it.)
JESTER: “Actually, I hadn’t planned on it, no.”
SCDUDE: “We always get our gin and tonics shaken.”
(I must point out that it was not just this dude. The three women with him were nodding their heads, like it is the most perfectly obvious thing in the world that a gin and tonic should be shaken. Maybe they think they should be flat, I don’t know, but they were all in agreement here, and looking at me like I was a moron.)
JESTER: “Well, I’ve never shaken them. I don’t drink gin and tonics, but I have never seen them shaken anywhere, either.”
SCDUDE: “Well, how else would you get them mixed up?”
JESTER: “Huh?!?!?”
SCDUDE: “How else would you get the gin and tonic mixed together?”
(I resisted the urge to point out why they call that little straw a STIR straw, and, to make them happy, I poured each drink into my mixing tin, then back into the cup, effectively mixing the drink without shaking a carbonated beverage and making a huge mess. And it would have ended there, but this guy had to go too far.)
JESTER: “There you go….all mixed together.”
SCDUDE: [i](condescendingly)[/i}“Damn, dude. How long have you been bartending? Did you just start this week or what?”
(I stopped what I was doing, which was putting their drinks on the bar for them, and just LOOKED at the guy.)
JESTER: “Do you not want your drinks? Because you sure are going about it the right way.”
SCDUDE:
“Um, yes, I want them. How much are they?”
I took his money and his (not surprisingly) pathetic tip, and sent these yahoos on their way.
Generally it is not a good idea to insult your bartender or his ability when you are attempting to get drinks from him. My coworkers said I was far too nice.* Personally, I think I got a little unprofessional there, but he went too far. It is one thing to ask for your drink to be shaken, when it normally is not. And gin and tonics are NOT shaken, thank you very much. But to then question my competence and experience because I don’t make their drinks the way they expected? Because NO ONE makes their drinks the way these people expected!
Perhaps not my most shining moment, but definitely an example of an SC!
*My one coworker said he would have said, “Sir, you obviously are too drunk to be drinking any more, so I won’t be able to serve you these drinks.”
A group of four (one older lady, two 20's something ladies, and one 20's something guy) walks up to the bar as I am steady, but not overly busy. Orders six gin and tonics, to take with them on a walking tour. (Yes, you can walk around with drinks down here. Have I mentioned that this place rocks?) So....I make them their six gin and tonics. As I am about to start handing to them, the following conversation ensues...
SCDUDE: "Aren't you going to shake those?"
JESTER:
"Huh?"SCDUDE: "Aren't you going to shake our drinks?"
(Yes, he wanted me to shake gin and tonics. You know….drinks with a carbonated beverage as part of it.)
JESTER: “Actually, I hadn’t planned on it, no.”
SCDUDE: “We always get our gin and tonics shaken.”
(I must point out that it was not just this dude. The three women with him were nodding their heads, like it is the most perfectly obvious thing in the world that a gin and tonic should be shaken. Maybe they think they should be flat, I don’t know, but they were all in agreement here, and looking at me like I was a moron.)
JESTER: “Well, I’ve never shaken them. I don’t drink gin and tonics, but I have never seen them shaken anywhere, either.”
SCDUDE: “Well, how else would you get them mixed up?”
JESTER:
“Huh?!?!?”SCDUDE: “How else would you get the gin and tonic mixed together?”
(I resisted the urge to point out why they call that little straw a STIR straw, and, to make them happy, I poured each drink into my mixing tin, then back into the cup, effectively mixing the drink without shaking a carbonated beverage and making a huge mess. And it would have ended there, but this guy had to go too far.)
JESTER: “There you go….all mixed together.”
SCDUDE: [i](condescendingly)[/i}“Damn, dude. How long have you been bartending? Did you just start this week or what?”
(I stopped what I was doing, which was putting their drinks on the bar for them, and just LOOKED at the guy.)
JESTER: “Do you not want your drinks? Because you sure are going about it the right way.”
SCDUDE:
“Um, yes, I want them. How much are they?”I took his money and his (not surprisingly) pathetic tip, and sent these yahoos on their way.
Generally it is not a good idea to insult your bartender or his ability when you are attempting to get drinks from him. My coworkers said I was far too nice.* Personally, I think I got a little unprofessional there, but he went too far. It is one thing to ask for your drink to be shaken, when it normally is not. And gin and tonics are NOT shaken, thank you very much. But to then question my competence and experience because I don’t make their drinks the way they expected? Because NO ONE makes their drinks the way these people expected!
Perhaps not my most shining moment, but definitely an example of an SC!
*My one coworker said he would have said, “Sir, you obviously are too drunk to be drinking any more, so I won’t be able to serve you these drinks.”
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