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 Message 7887 of 22774 in Behind the Bar
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Subject: Could I have handled this better?
From: Mister2
Posted: Fri Jul 29. 2005, 14:27 UTC
As per TABC law, all drinks are supposed to be off the floor at 2:15 AM 
anywhere that serves alcohol.

So at 2:15, I do my usual - I turn the house lights up, and start walking 
around, telling people to finish their drinks because I have to take them.  
One guy who comes in every so often is drinking a hurricane, and he always 
brings in those stupid little light up ice cubes for whatever reason (I've 
never seen him set a drink down, so it's not to differentiate it from all the 
others, that's for sure).

Anyways - I tell him he needs to finish his drink, as I have to take it from 
him.  He doesn't have a problem with this, so he puts a napkin down on the 
closest available surface, and pour out the remainder of the drink on the 
napkin (not a huge amount, but enough to soak my fresh bar rag), to get his 
cubes out.

Therein lies the problem: The closest available surface was a VERY expensive 
speaker.  Here's the exchange I had with him:

Me: Hey buddy, I it's 2:15, I gotta get all the drinks up, go ahead and finish 
it but I have to take it. [I'll give everybody a few seconds to finish their 
drink]
Him: That's cool, I was already done with it.  Let me just get these out of 
the glass.
*pours drink onto the speaker*
Me: Dude, don't do that, those speakers are expensive, use a damned table! [I 
know I shouldn't have cursed, but I was pissed off]
Him: Well you told me you wanted the glass, I had to get my ice cubes out!
Me: So let me get them for you, don't pour it out on the speaker like that!

And from there it just got into a yelling match.  I could have been a bit 
calmer, but it was the end of a VERY busy night and I was dead tired and 
running on pure adrenalin.  Should I have worked a little more to keep my 
cool?  He's not a real regular, I wouldn't recognize him if not for the fact 
that he uses those damned ice cubes, so I'm not hugely concerned about him not 
coming back in - but should I have been more professional?  The way I see it, 
his actions could have been DAMN costly for the club, and my immediate 
reaction is to stop him if possible, and if not, correct his behavior so it 
doesn't happen again.

Sorry for the long post - ideas?


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