I've always thought bartender was one of the easiest jobs in the world. You take the customer's money, pour alcohol into a cup or glass, hand it to the customer, rinse and repeat, AND you get a tip every time you do it. Oh, maybe sometimes you have to crack open a bottle, boo hoo. Or so I thought. Today, as part of the Venice Art Auctions Charity Event in Venice (Google office location), MJ and I both served as bartenders for just 3 hours, and it was quite the tough assignment. I think we both gained new appreciation for the profession, and it's not as easy as it looks.
First of all, you're standing the whole time. That in itself is quite the feat, as my back starts to ache or some part of my body goes wrong after just an hour or so.
Second of all, opening some bottles are harder than others. Wines have corks in them, and depending on the cork there's a fair amount of twisting and pulling with a corkscrew. Maybe I just have stone hands (really un-dexterous) but it takes me a little bit to get those things open, while customers are waiting berating me with their eyes for being slow.
Third of all, there's some subtle movements bartenders have to do, like remembering to take form of payment, then starting to pour, and always give customers a napkin along with their drink. Bartenders sometimes do those so subtly I don't even notice it, but it's a delicate process. I for one forgot to take drink tickets (the official currency of the auction today) a few times and could have just let someone off with a free drink, not exactly the end of the world but still one less proceed going to the charity event.
Fourth of all, you gotta be sociable! People get alcohol primarily to get wasted, but they also want to have a chat with the bartender! The bartender's gotta know about all kinds of different wines, beers, and other alcohols and know how to make certian things that customers order, all kinds of weird names of animals, (Moscow mule) locations (Manhattan), chasers (orange juice, etc.) and be able to provide that quickly. Our booth was only working with 5 different wines and I couldn't keep them straight already! Customers also ask plenty of questions like "which one is less oakey?" or "which one has more malt/ sugar/ hops, etc., etc. I would NOT know any of that. Bartenders also have to strike up a conversation to engage the customers' interest, not easy nowadays with the eclectic information out there in the internet age, the bartender's gotta have at least a broad knowledge.
So yes, after today, I decided that bartending is NOT the easiest job in the world. That's actually beer/snacks vending at a baseball game/ music concert/ stadium. SEVEN American dollars for a bottle of water today. Holy cow. That's a story for next blog though.......
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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