Partying all night with your bartender friend does not give you free reign over the bar they work at.
It sounds like an obvious statement, yet many people seem to forget that friendship doesn't always equal free stuff, and stealing is stealing, even if it's from your "friend.
" On my side of the bar, it's hard to justify charging good friends full price, especially if they're staying on a slow night just to keep me company.
While the general public expects to pay full price, it's different when they're friends or regulars who you've gotten close to over the months.
Other bartenders should get special treatment-we look out for each-other-but it's tricky when someone is a friend and even more tricky when they expect to be treated better than other customers.
This is where lines have to be drawn, or else somebody's about learn the hard way.
Some people get away with it after their friends come back to apologize and pay.
Once, a friend - I'll name her Tina - took her friend's tip to me and said it was hers (he was right next to her, though, and set her straight).
In her defense, she was wasted, but that wouldn't fly with anyone else; I guess I'm the nice guy.
At any rate, she somehow seemed to get away with similar things fairly often but was always forgiven, though she was kicked out of another bar down the street for crazier antics (I'll leave that story out since it's not mine to tell).
Other people, however, are much worse.
Another local - he's Norwegian, so we'll call him Bjorn - pulled similar moves but was sketchier about it.
Bjorn was a heavy drinker, as are we all, and he was generally strapped for cash.
His trick was to convince random patrons, usually girls, to buy him drinks.
That pissed off my coworkers, but I was fine as long as he wasn't hurting anyone and drinks were getting paid for.
I'd also toss him the occasional shot if he helped me out by, say, putting my chairs up at night.
Unfortunately, if you give a drunk a whiskey, he'll probably want the whole bottle - eventually the entire situation blows up in everyone's faces.
It's really sad to see someone begging to come in, knowing that if they're caught inside, matters will get worse.
Unfortunately for Bjorn, he was forced out for good after he allegedly stole my coworker's tips off the bar as well as someone else's drink.
Why drama goes down when I'm out, I'll never know, but I returned from vacation to learn this-but not before trying to come in on my shift and risking my job.
You would think he'd learn to not come back, but instead, thinking I didn't know the full story, he came back to plead his case and nearly got caught inside.
Sorry, dude, I know we hung out one night drinking beer on your roof 'til sunrise, but that doesn't mean I can take back what happened.
For the rest of that month, the stories of him getting kicked out of other bars kept growing, and eventually he disappeared, especially after I wouldn't buy him drinks anywhere.
Friends, it unfortunately comes down to money.
If you don't pay for your drinks, you're out, and if you swipe a drink and get caught, that doesn't look so good, either.
Then there was the one lady who drank candle wax, thinking it was a shot...
Still, friends and regulars try to pull the same moves all the time, usually without realizing it, and it's hard to tell someone you genuinely care about that you can't hook them up.
Longtime regulars also judge new bartenders on how much they get for free - even I've been guilty of judging other bartenders, but I'm not about to ruin my relationship with them or the establishment.
Perhaps it's a learning experience for everyone.
Don't take advantage of your bartender, and understand that, while you can probably get hooked up bit once you get to know us, it's still our job on the line.
When alcohol's involved and when we live off of tips alone, the moral scales are shaky, but while it may seem easy to try to play us, we're not dumb.
Let's all play fair here from now on, guys, okay?