Confessions of an Australian Barmaid: Customer Relations

You may recall my previous blog on interelations in the work place and how dating fellow collegues can be fun but fickle at the best of times. The same can also be said for taking an interest in your ever-thirsty clintele as it can raise all kinds of issues in regards to ethics, conflicts of interest and general customer relations.

As a bartender you are constantly getting hit on, and whilst this is flattering and excellent for the self esteem it can become extremely tedious, especially when said flatterers are sleazy and intoxicated or old and crusty. Even if the customer in question turns out to be both attractive and amicable you have to remember, the more you're seeing of them the more you're serving them, which means they're getting more and more inhebriated. You can learn a lot about a person by plying them full of alcohol and robbing them blind for both drinks and tips whilst you yourself are totally sober, let me tell you.

And the above is not the only ethical hurdle you can encounter. As far as hourly wages go bartending barely lines the pockets so tips become an essential part of life. And while chatting, flirting and serving the occasional over-pour can make for a very lucrative night is this really how you want to start a relationship? Performing a service for money whilst using persuasive techniques to make a little extra on the side?? Bartending is one of the world's oldest professions, but can become akin to another old and well known profession when the above techniques come into play.

In saying that you always meet lovely and interesting people when working, it's one of the best parts of the job. Should you see one of these people at your local after work or randomly out and about one night (which does happen: 'Don't I know you from somewhere?','You served me at...!') it's entirely possible you could strike up more than just pleasant conversation. And should this person be content to live in a relationship where you hardly see each other - and let's face it, that could be a good thing - you can most certainly become ensconced in a semi-normal fun and loving relationship. If you're both working different hours and not seeing each other on a regular basis this can be highly beneficial, making each time you see each other all the more special and exciting. However this is only the case should your new found friend be OK with leading separate lives; day vs night; light vs dark.

Say you do find a keeper through work one night: depending on how and where you work your new crush may be very proud of the fact they're dating a creature of the night, so much so that they brag about it constantly to all their friends and start propping up your bar on a regular basis along with all their best friends. At first it may be just them and a friend or 2 - they get to know the other creatures, maybe even the locals - and as a consequence you might give a free pint here and a sneaky shot there. It's at this point that word spreads like wildfire. Their friends tell more friends and before you know it they're taking up an entire side of the bar, getting drunk and rowdy and generally annoying everybody that crosses their path. Well-connected significant others can sometimes feel they have some kind of immunity or VIP privelige which can in turn make them arrogant and turn them into, well, a right twat.

The other down side of this scenario is that your work and personal life now become one. What was once a kind of safe haven from everday life, people and pastimes now has your new squeeze encroaching on it's boundaries. Needless to say this puts a strain on the relationship, not to mention your tip jar. An ever-present significant other majorly hinders the flirt-for-cash scheme as well as the flirt-for-fun factor. It is a well known fact that all bartenders - single or otherwise - engage in frequent flirt-for-fun activities whilst at work; another perk of the job. And let's not even go into what happens when he/she sees you being admired fro afar by another customer as there's no good way for that to end. Bring all of this together with the often annoying fact that they're having fun whilst you are working your butt off and you've got yourself a bonifide tried and true recipe for disaster.

So to be cliche, literally, never mix business with pleasure. As business - although it is business - can often be pleasurable. So you then have to decide: What pleasures you?...