h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The original entry referred to none of the above.

A true bartender, one who sees the job as a profession, as a career as a lifes work, will reel in disgust if ever referred to as 'barstaff'.

No disrespect to barstaff, but, BARSTAFF are students who work behind a bar as a JOB, for the MONEY with a view to getting what many see as a "PROPER" job, once they have completed their degree.

A BARTENDER takes an enormous PRIDE in his work. For LOVE. The money is largely crap, who told you they were ever well paid? Only the best bartenders get to work in the kind of place in London that pays a decent living wage. You're never gonna buy that car you've always wanted tending bar. You have to LOVE the trade, because there are many assorted and FAR EASIER ways to earn money.

Above all they are PROFESSIONALS. They may as well be doctors or lawyers for the ammount of TIME, EFFORT, SKILL, LEARNING, ABILITY, and COMMUNICATION SKILLS they have to become master off to impress. It takes patience and understanding to be a barman/maid and be under appreciated as BARSTAFF. It takes a great deal more style, presence of character and control to be a BARTENDER.

You try serving four or five people at once, giving them good service, and still displaying all the skill of flair and mixology. These people are not barstaff among the 'pubbing and clubbing' community, in the same way as gourmet Chefs dont work in school canteens! For the love of Zarquon have you people never seen Cocktail! They are mixologist in the world of Cocktail Culture.

Its no wonder cocktail bars are in such a poor state in this country when bars are consigned to the same genre as pubs and clubs, and tips are next to non existant. Ignorant and arrogant anglo saxons with about as much idea of cocktail culture as a packet of pork scratchings and a pint of Snake Bite! The two worlds of 'pubbing and clubbing' and 'cocktail culture' are inconsolable. Total opposites. The Dog and Duck is several millenia away from TGI Fridays (the most well known but far from the best of the Cocktail bars) and people have to learn that unlike the constrained and commercial slaves of the pubbing and clubbing world, namely the unfortunate Barstaff, Bartenders do not have to and will not stand for any crap on the customers part. The customer is never right, the bartender is. That is the key difference.

WAKE UP. SMELL THE COFFEE. Go to a proper BAR, not a pub or club and sample for yourself the difference in style and character of the Bartender and cocktail culture. I swear to you ... you'll enjoy the change.

I have been grossly misquoted by the editor of my entry... You seem to have missed the point. Its become rather humdrum.

Bartenders have and enjoy that which is never afforded to Barstaff. They have FREEDOM. Professional Freedom hard won by study and a sense of professionalism. A Brewery will never trust a bar to those that work it. To a bartender the bar is an extension of self. It is a reflection of themselves. It is their front room, and respect is due.

Remember, the best way to get good service from any bar, of any type: Be nice, or get out.

BUT. Thanks for publishing the entry H2G2 and for listening to these corrections to the misunderstandings which nobody else but other bartenders will give a pair of dingos kidneys about.

Cin, cin!

Vaughan, may I humbly suggest the world of bartenders is spread over a lot more ground than a few cocktail lounges in upmarket London (hotel?) bars. As you point out yourself you can get a martini in Leeds.

In New Zealand I am on the management committee of a club that employs many bartenders. None of them are students. Most are full-time professionals. From time to time they are asked to mix cocktails. If they are not civil to club members they do not remain in our employ very long.

The first two paragraphs explain the difference between full-time bartenders and (often) casual bar staff.

Loony, off to the club to drink Slippery Nipples

I accept quite readily the point you make. And would like to take this opportunity to clarify that I am not bitter, and meant no disrespect towards you... just incase there was a misunderstanding.

The original entry referred to bartenders as found in the world of cocktail culture, and not those found in the land of pubbing and clubbing. The basis of the entry, the angle, has been altered. While I readily accept that editors can and do edit, it just suprised me the extent to which the entry has been changed and its relevance altered away from the original context.

We all love the girl at the dog and duck, we enjoy going to clubs but as a lifer of this profession I have worked up from barback to bartender, and worked everywhere from a pub, TGI's, hotel lounge bars, and cocktail bars and I merely wanted to express the very obvious differences between one genre of the drinking world and another.

As for being civil... well that is of course paramount, but it also works both ways. Independants enjoy the freedom of being able to select their customers. A bartender is there to do a job, but there is a great culture in the UK for the Ben Sherman brigade to justify their existance by bullying and demeaning barstaff, demanding their drinks, barging about demanding service... this kind of behavior is not tolerated by independants they are under no obligation to serve anyone. Because they select professionals, and people who genuinely care, they trust their bartenders to make a judgement when a customer doesn't deserve service, and are quite free to tell them to either "go find another mug to be rude to and see if they get served any faster", OR "you know where the door is". Hence the sign that hangs above the door of the bar I've worked in for 3 years, "be nice, or get out" . A bar I may add, that is one of the most acclaimed bars in the UK, the best in Leeds and packs out even on week nights.

In the nicest possible way, Bartenders do not have to, are not expected to and will not tolerate bad manners at their bar. Its down to respect on both parties behalf, but the initative lies with the customer. A bartender will always greet you politely and professionally, but will throw ice and insults at people who believe they are better than them simply because they wear suits and work in an office or by virtue of gracing the bar top with their presence. It is this kind of attitude of ownership and responsibility that isnt present in pubs, clubs and hotels. The "barstaff" are subserviant, not professional equals to the customer. It is not their fault. That rests ultimately behind the desks that power the corporate bars. Any attempt at individuality on the part of the tender is usually smacked down. They are just slaves to the machine.

Any way I've ranted far too much about this... hopefully we can continue to discuss this though. Keep an eye on my space cos Im putting together a guide to the independant bars in Leeds, which as a fellow member of the drinks trade you may find interesting or irritating in equal measure- but hey.

Respect.

Vaughan.

I dunno what "drinking establishments" are like down south, but the only places you'll find round Teeside fall into three catagories.

The Student Bar - Barstaff mostly students, cheap drink offers, etc.
The tacky-pub-that-was-built-in-the-mid-fifties - I avoid these
'Ye Olde Country Pub' - Good food, good staff, need i say more?

I usually frequent the SU Bar cos its dead cheap (us poor students)