Keeping on track

So if you haven’t noticed I’m trying to post at least once a week, So far I think I’m doing very well. This is the longest amount of posts I have had in a row without gaps in the time so I’m pretty happy with myself even though this is just me venting most of the time. What am I saying? Most of the time? I mean all of the time! Hopefully I won’t always be venting, hopefully I will have experiences to write about and questions to answer.

In keeping I am going to moan again. Today I was called stupid because one of my customers already paid for a drink, I asked who it was in with and they went “Are you stupid or what, I’ve paid for it” This annoys me because anyone and everyone can say that. Am I supposed to just hand out drinks like there is no tomorrow? Apparently so. Well I can imagine the losses behind the bar but at this point am I supposed to care?

Another thing is when the bell rings I’m meant to stop serving anyone who comes to the bar after it rings is a no. If you are at the bar when it rings well then yes I’ll serve you if you come after then I can’t. I get annoyed when people kick off at me my simple answer is ask the manager. It’s always ask the manager. I still get shit for this. Are you that hell bent on drinking that you can’t go somewhere else that is still open you have to complain the staff won’t serve you after time. GTFO.

Barstaff/Bartenders/Waiters etc take so much crap and by rights should stop serving you if you give them crap but we still do because we’re not complete assholes and if one more person says without me you wouldn’t have a job I’ll tell them the truth without me you’ll have to get off your own ass and do something. If I get given a break someone will take up most of it trying to ask me to serve them. I was eating a sandwich on my break and someone shouted through “you should be serving not eating” I felt like saying you should fuck off and leave me in peace for five minutes won’t be caring that much when I pass out before giving you your pint you silly bint. I’m going to find these people at their jobs and complain while they are on their break. Just imagine that you’re relaxing eating your lunch or having a cigarette and someone comes up to you and says “You done yet?Get back to serving” This annoys me on so many levels. I’m working on a hurt knee and wrist, I’ve smashed my hand so many times in the last two days because I need to do things fast apparently you can’t wait two minutes while I change a barrel. I really used to love my job but shit customers make me hate it now and I don’t want to hate my job. I’m going to have to leave this post here because I’m just so annoyed at the way people in the hospitality industry are treated, I wouldn’t wish the way I am treated on anyone but here it is. We work hard to be treated like crap, congratulations you make us feel low.

I will write soon,

Till Then

Stay Sane

How much?!

That is something which is shouted at me often but in two different ways.

Let’s do the examples and say they are rounds; your six pints and eight house vodka and lemonades are £38.60. “How much?!, Wow that’s so cheap!” hell yeah it is fourteen drinks for less than £40.00.

Shut the front door and don’t let no one else in or they’ll be none left for me.

This is funny. These are the people who have been other places and they know a round like that some where else would cost a lot. Hell the second cheapest place I know (That isn’t a JD Weatherspoons – The prices are good but they suck. (No music)) it’s £52 and that’s me rounding down. If you’re lucky I might even agree to make some cocktails for you, say two for just under £5.00 whereas it’s £5.20 for the same cocktail in the other place and I can make you two rather than one for less than the other place. (You catching my drift yet?)

The reason I’m trying to drive the point home is because of the rest of the time someone shouts “How much?!” at me, these are the people who drink there either all the time or only ever come out once and a while. “How much?!”  “Prices gone up again have they?” “Why is it every time I come back to this bar I’m charged more and more?” “The prices couldn’t have gone up again so soon” The last one makes me laugh, So soon? The prices go up the same time every year, every where. Its a fact inflation happens, it’s not some mythical thing, we actually see it happen we just don’t notice too much because with certain things it’s usually just a few pence up. Example a can of coke used to cost 50p it now costs 68p that’s 18p from 2009 to present. It didn’t happen over night it went up to 55p, after a couple of years it went up to 59p and now it’s 68p (I think there was a price increase between 59p and 68p, but I can’t remember and this is the best example you’re going to get from me) but alcohol is taxed more.

But please tell me where you can get that round cheaper than £38.60 and I’ll meet you there. I’m definitely buying the first round.

These people don’t go anywhere else to drink (Apart from JD Weatherspoons) so they just don’t know how good the prices are and that is a shame because soon there won’t be any bars like ours. The bar industry is a dying one, people used to meet at bars with their friends and even sometimes they met the person they would spend their life with. (Think about Tea Dances often used to find someone to love and how they have died out.)

This post has been more me trying to explain that the prices are fantastic, don’t shout “How much?!” at me if you’re going to complain about how “expensive” they are to you.

(Disclaimer – More just for reference really these prices are based on double not single shots of vodka (I know super cheap right)

Speak soon,

Till then

Stay Sane

Zero hour contracts

As the title suggests I’m going to be writing about zero hour contracts and what they mean to me. They are not so bad, I fully agree with them but they need some tweaking. I believe they are good for both the employer and employee if there are certain details in place. By certain details I mean when I started working where I am currently working I said “As long as I get at least sixteen hours I’m good” and they said “Yeah sure of course, we usually get people who want less than sixteen so they can continue to get Job seekers Allowance” and my response was like “Hell no I want off of that thing” but lately I haven’t been.

This has made it difficult for me to survive and I’m sure other people on zero hour contracts struggle worse than I do because I have a family behind me who will help if I just ask but that is not the point although I agree with zero hours I believe they should be changed to minimum hour contract and each contract should state a minimum amount of hours that person will get. This is a bit different where I work they don’t ask if you can do the shift they just put you on so we swap shifts but then we all get in trouble over that. With a traditional zero hour contract you can choose when to work or even if you work. If places aren’t going to give you the choice of when to work like any other job where they set your hours, they should give you a minimum amount of hours.

I think this is a massive failure on their part and they wonder why people leave, People don’t want eight hours a week, no one can survive on that unless they don’t need it. I can’t work less than sixteen hours and I honestly have no idea how some people could or agree to this, I agreed to sixteen I think it’s time I had a chat with someone about it or just find another job but then that’s another problem I love where I work. I don’t want to leave, I love the people I work with and my bosses aren’t too bad either.

I’m not just worrying for stupid reasons. If I don’t like where I’m working I’m not going to like working and I love working but if I’m not working I’m broke and all my bills are due soon. I’ve got £30.00 left after my bills and I need new shoes and trousers otherwise I stop being presentable and therefore unemployable, I still have to buy food but with what? Looks like I’m eating noodles and they aren’t that cheap anymore! These are just a few things that worry me but not working worries me more because… Money doesn’t buy happiness but money does buy security and security buys happiness.

I’m going to give this a rest, people already know zero hours is a pain in the ass but at this point I can’t help venting. I guess this is now my outlet.

Speak soon,

Till then

Stay Sane.

Do you get commission?

I am asked this quiet often because I recommend going for the house version or buying the bottle of wine rather than by the glass. Here’s my answer.

No I don’t get commission I get paid minimum yes minimum wage the reason I recommend house spirits or buying the bottle rather than the glass is because I know you’re going to drink a lot or have already drunk a lot of something.

Here is the deal, I don’t make any money from you buying that particular brand not directly but I’m going to break it down for you. Let’s say a well known brand of vodka and coke costs you £4.50 but the house costs you £2.50. That’s a saving of £2.00 a drink. I know which one I’m going for!

Now let’s talk about the bottle of wine, from a standard bottle you get three large glasses of wine let’s say a large glass of wine is £5.00 but the bottle is £13.00 you save £2.00 the odds are you are going to have more than two glasses of wine you might as well get the bottle and save yourself some money.

You drink more when it’s cheap because you’re not worrying about the prices, which in turn puts our profit up which means at some point I’m going to be getting some more hours hopefully. That’s the “not directly” part but it’s a big maybe, more hopeful than anything else.

On the other hand I may profit from it directly if you decide to tip me because I got you drunk cheaply.

So there you have it or at least that’s how my brain works. The harder I work to show you the offers, the more profit the bar makes and hopefully the more hours I make.

Write soon,

Till then

Stay Sane

Guinness as usual

I love pouring Guinness, it is one of my most favourite pints to pour and I love to put the shamrock on top. The gorgeous dark red, the lovely ripples and waves as the creamy head travels through the dark red nectar to form on top. Guinness is an absolutely lovely pint but there are two things I don’t like about it.

I don’t like the taste. It’s not my fault some pints just don’t agree with my taste buds unfortunately Guinness is one of them, I would love to pour a pint for myself with a shamrock on top but it would be a waste and I won’t have that. It pains me to waste Guinness, I hate it when you’re two thirds up the glass and just about to top it off and the barrel goes and you have to throw it away because you can’t mix the two barrels.

Now in keeping with the rest of my posts so for I’m going to vent. The second thing I don’t like about Guinness isn’t really about Guinness it’s about customers who order it. If you order several pints and the last one is Guinness and you then complain it’s taking too long I will hate you, Guinness takes it’s time and for good reason. Guinness isn’t a pint of larger or a glass of coke you can’t just top it up you have to wait for the creamy head to ripple it’s way to the top of that magnificent velvety red, Just watching it surge is beautiful. So please if you want a Guinness order it first and watch it dance before your eyes while I finish the rest of your order, If you’re lucky I’ll put a shamrock on top of it too. (Unless one of my co-workers ruins it by pulling the lever down instead of pushing it back finishing the pint but doing it wrong.)

Write soon,

Till then

Stay Sane.

Order taking too long?

One thing that drives me insane is people complaining about their wait at the bar. “I’ve been waiting here ten minutes” This from a customer who has just walked up to the bar, I’m through the door on the other side I can see them but they can’t see me, I walk through the doorway and the first thing that greets me is a brazen lie with some imagined slight.

The other day I was fed up of this. I check the clock it says 14:29, I hear clicking as I check the clock so I go to check the pumps. (The clicking sound usually means it’s empty and needs changing) I change it, it takes two minutes at most. I come back up with the empty vessel and check the clock again 14:32 (At this point I’m torturing myself because my shift ends at five) I hear someone knocking on the bar, I pop my head out of the doorway to be greeted with yet another lie about waiting. “I’ve been waiting here for half an hour” to which I put the empty vessel I just changed on the bar and responded with “I’ve literally been gone three minutes and that was to change this, I didn’t realise that side of the bar was on Jupiter” Then they had the audacity to respond with “You were gone much longer than three minutes, I’ve been waiting a while” I sighed “No I wasn’t and you wasn’t waiting half an hour, in fact I’m going to ask for the cameras to be checked” Well that stopped the exchange and they asked for their pint.

The thing that annoys me more about this is they couldn’t have even been waiting for three minutes because I didn’t see them come in when I checked the clock and I would have there is a view of the door near the clock.

The saying the customer is always right is an old one, first used back around the early 1900’s by people like Harry Gordon Selfridge. It’s time we kick it out.

A customer dropped their pint all over the bar and then demanded I give them a fresh one at no cost; I looked at them and said I can’t do that you dropped it, I didn’t. They responded with I’ll tell your boss you did it and that the customer is always right, I obviously laughed in their face (I couldn’t help myself) while pointing to the camera over head.

There are many reasons to get rid of the customer is always right but the main one is the ones who use this are ass holes.

I know this has been a long rant and I’m sorry but if you’re in the bar business (Or any customer facing business – Including over the phone support) you’ll understand and if you’re a customer well hopefully this will give you some insight into not being an ass.

Write soon,

Till then

Stay Sane.

Here we go

I don’t even know where to start, the problem is I have done this for over a year now and I’m just getting annoyed.

If one more person tells me I can do your job, it’s really easy I might headbutt them. I tell you what please step behind the bar and work as fast as I do with no mistakes or even two mistakes for the whole night. I’ll then admit how easy it is and bow down to you and your most supreme tending skills.

Please come behind the bar while I order the drinks and shout out “Hey, I was here first!” That may be true in some cases but if I have just come in the bar and shouted out next please and you didn’t respond that isn’t my fault. The first person who responds is usually the person who is actually waiting to be served and isn’t on their phone or talking to the person next to them. That brings me to the next point if you are next and I know you are next I will say hello to you to get your attention if you continue to talk on the phone or to the person next to you, guess what will happen? You will be skipped I will serve the next customer then come back to you. Do you know why this happens? It’s because I have to clear the bar as fast as possible. I’m not going to clear the bar waiting for you to finish what you’re doing.

People who haven’t served don’t know how hard the job is. I always get this from people who haven’t served. People who have served however smile the knowing smile and look at you with the deepest sympathy. This is not an exaggeration even I do it especially to the new ones.

You don’t know how hard it is until you do it, but if you tell me my job is easy I’m either going to headbutt you or laugh my ass off about how clueless you really are.

I will post soon.

Till then

Stay Sane.