Confessions of a Bartender

Teamwork is defined as: an action performed by a team towards a common goal. A team consists of more than one person, each of whom typically has different responsibilities. A team also includes seven common elements: 1. common purpose; 2. interdependence; 3. clarity or roles and contribution; 4. satisfaction from mutual working; 5. mutual and individual accountability; 6. realization of synergies; and 7. Empowerment.

 Team work is the foundation of success in the food and beverage industry; this goes without saying.  Everyone helps everyone; running food, taking orders, dish pit when required, covering tables for breaks, covering shifts and protecting each other. 

In my early days of Bartending at the Hard Rock Café I was part of an eclectic team.  We were a team of twelve.  We didn’t require more staff as everyone worked full time and no one missed a shift because the money was unbelievable.  We were a family.  Within this unit there were five key players; The MASTERMIND, the INFORMANT, the SPY, the DECOY and the EXECUTOR.   Twenty years ago we did not operate from the perspective of “The customer is always right” and when one of our family members were affected in a negative manner the pack circled; management was not excluded. 

I had just walked in for my Saturday night shift after coming back from Mexico and was informed by the Mastermind that “Plan Beer Swill” was going down tonight.   It didn’t matter that I had no idea what went down during the week; I just knew one of our managers was in for a treat tonight. 

We had 2 draft towers which each offered 3 flavors from.  When you are as busy as we were there was always beer flowing into the drip trays which ran down a tube into the basement into a couple of large buckets. We called this Beer Swill.  These buckets were emptied somewhat regularly but they were never cleaned.   

Our manager had a regular routine of ending his evening with 3 pints sometimes 4; this usually began around midnight.  So our Mastermind created the plan(Master of Passive Aggressive) ; our Spy kept an eye on our manager and his where-a- bouts; our Decoy would step in any time the manager became a threat and our Informant communicated to the Executer when it was clear to fill 4 pint glasses ¾ full of the Beer Swill.  These glasses then sat in the fridge behind the bar a-waiting to be topped up by the Executor with our manager’s favorite dark beer.  He drank all 4 pints that night.

Which player am I?

The EXECUTOR.

Being the Executor of the family came with a nasty price; KARMA.  A couple days later while at my favorite pub taking the last mouthful of my favorite dark beer was the surprise treat of a cigarette butt stuck to the bottom of my glass.  The Bartender needed a knife to pry it out.  I declined a free pint and called it a day.

Today I am in a very good place with Karma : )

Bridgitxo