Confessions of a Former Bartender

This morning we had Libby from Bubba's Bar & Grill on the show and we got to talking about the bartending experience.

Before I got into this radio business, I was a bartender for about 15 years. I started when I was 18 and didn't land in radio until my early to mid 30's. The things a bartender sees and hears on a daily basis can be very interesting. Here are a couple of examples;

Once while bartending in Florida, a lady sat down at the bar and ordered a tall glass of vodka, no ice. This seemed to be a odd order but I served it. A few minutes later she a long with her bar stool tumbled over backwards and she was laid out on the floor. A group of car salesmen at the end of the bar yelled "We'll have what she's having!". turns out she was on the drug Antibuse, a drug to keep alcoholics from drinking. Anyway, she won herself an ambulance ride.

When working in Houston I was a bartender in a nice bar and restaurant on the ground floor of a building full of oil related businesses. I opened the bar at 10 AM and every morning there was a guy waiting when I unlocked the door. He owned a business that sold piping for oil wells. Keep in mind that this was the mid 80's and the oil money was flowing. But this individual would sit at my bar and complain about business being slow. I suggested that maybe if he was in his office answering his phone perhaps business would pick up. He took my suggestion and I didn't see him for about a week. One morning, there he was, back again.  He told me he had hired someone to answer his phone.  Great idea except after a few days, he started bringing this guy down to the bar to drink with him. He filed for Chapter 7 soon after.