Does having a mate behind the bar still yield the goods?
I have a friend who works behind a bar. He’s a friendly kind of guy, and generous to a fault so will inevitably only charge his mates half-price for a drink. We don’t go there too often, as he was sprung a couple of months ago after one particularly decadent evening. But every once in a while we’ll go and see him at work and have a good night out for half the price.
I have another friend who works in a different capacity in liquor. He is part of a crew that goes out to pubs and measures the amount of alcohol that has been used, and compares it to the amount of money earned. Like a sheriff of alcohol, he can determine how many drinks are going waywardly into the palms of friends or being snuck for a bit of Dutch courage by the bar staff.
I have no plans to introduce these two people to one another. They represent a new era of complexity in working behind a bar and having your mates drop by for a pint. The first friend I like to think of as old school, representative of a time where things weren’t quite so strict. The other friend represents an era where costs are tightly controlled and giving away free drinks is indistinguishable from putting your hands directly in the till.
So should the practice of giving a mate a free beer once in a while be considered stealing?
Certainly from an employer’s point of view, it’s the same thing. When I was growing up in the Blue Mountains (and too young to have friends working behind the bar) I benefitted from the friends working at cupcake stores and kebab shops. But the Free Beer Syndrome is unique to the hospitality industry. I never expected my friends working at Coles to sneak a Mars Bar into my shopping trolley with a sly wink and a nudge.
Jeff Gurtman discusses the issue from a management side of things, http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article35929.html. His suggestions include allowing staff to give away two free drinks a shift, which is then recorded in a logbook. Gurtman’s logic? They’re going to do it anyway, so maybe you should meet them halfway. On top of that, the occasional free drink is an excellent marketing tool so supporting it could be a good business move.
Sam Spesso believes having a friend behind the bar is not a cost-saving measure. http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/midnight_sun/blog/2007/09/free_drinks.html His theory is simple; you have a reduced tab at the end of the night, but feel obliged to leave a hefty tip, so no savings are made.
Even though having a friend behind the bar is now a lot less beneficial than it once was, I have found another vocation to befriend. These are the people who work liquor store, who more often than not will turn up with samples of the latest alcohol that no one wants to buy. That, or because their customers have a tendency towards forgetfulness, they’ll turn up with three packs of cigarettes and a bottle of bourbon that someone left on the counter. I know. Definitely an indication it’s time to pull out the Best Friends Forever necklace and hold movie nights of Stand By Me and Now and Then. They can bring the booze.
Do you think having a mate behind a bar is a plus?
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