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 Message 202 of 22774 in Behind the Bar
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Subject: Q on gaining experience...
From: veriria
Posted: Thu Mar 21. 2002, 07:48 UTC
Ok, if you didn't know, i'm 20 years old, but I am seriously looking at 
becoming a bartender.  I don't have the money, and I don't think I really want 
to actually go to a bartending school.  I've read through past posts here 
about bartending schools vs. becoming a barback or a cocktail waiter/ress, so 
I know pretty much whats going on with that.

Anyways, I recently found out that in Indiana (of course thats where I live) 
you only have to be 19 to serve alcohol; I had thought it was 21 so I had 
pretty much abandoned the thought until I turned 21.  Ok, anyways, I had a 
first interview for a restaurant/sports bar that was fairly new and was 
hiring.  I wrote on the application that I wanted to be a barback, and 
explained that I thought it would be a good way to gain experience in 
bartending - mainly because I see a lot of people here say its one of the best 
ways to go about it.  Well, this guy (who was also the owner) started saying 
that he NEVER had a bartender who started out as a barback turn into an even 
mediocre bartender...He said the best bartenders he had started out as 
waitresses ... It just kind of seemed like he was trying to get me to become a 
food runner or a waitress instead of a barback, because I see so many people 
on this forum say being a barback gives you good experience of how the bar is 
run, etc. stuff like that ...

Ok well I guess my question is, lol, does anyone else think like this?  This 
is the first guy I've ever encountered to say that being a barback isn't a 
good way to start out on the road to becoming a bartender...

I dunno, I just had to gripe ^_^

Cheers~


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