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

This seems like the right place to ask...
It's about waving green bills in bartenders faces. I've always tried to position myself at the taps, money in hand (not waving) and then try to get eye contact with the bartender. Am I an obnoxious customer because of this? *shudder* (I've noticed it usually takes a little while before I am served.) I'd really hate to be an obnoxious customer...

JAR, Still young learning...

Positioning by the taps (I take it you mean what we'd call pumps?) is not a bad idea at all. It's where the staff usually are when they're pouring the beers.

An idea is, when you walk into the place, take a quick look along the bar and try and see where there are any groups of customers on bar stools. These people are invariably Regulars. They get served as soon as their glass is empty, so being near them is often a good way of getting served quickly.

The end of the bar where the entrance hatch is is another good place, and this is often where you'll find the Regulars. Don't block the hatch though, or you'll never get served, just asked to move.

Across the bar from the cash register is also somewhere where you might get served quicker.

That's posistioning yourself, but as you mentioned there is more to it than that. Contact is vital as well.

Eye contact is great, verbal contact is better. If you happen to be of a chirpy disposition, then walking up to the bar where the member of barstaff is currently working, and saying to them "Evening" or even "Morning" if you're like me, automatically gets their eye contact. But do it in a nice way or you really will end up waiting forever.

As for holding cash, this really depends on the place you are in. If the venue is staffed by eighteen year old college kids (no disrespect to them) then showing cash is often a good thing. But, the longer some one has worked in the bar trade, the less notice they take of little gambits such as displaying notes, and the more notice they take of whose turn it is to be served next.

A golden rule when trying to get served, is get yourself noticed. But in a nice way.

Either that or drink in quiter places

Thanks for the advice! I really would go drinking in a quieter place, but unfortunatly I'm living in a small (as in very small) place with only one place to be called a bar (allthough diehards like the entry's author might call it a club. Personally I call it sad..)

I'll try out your advice next Saturday!

JAR

Good luck!

Where abouts is it you're living? Somewhere in the UK? It changes for different countries.

Nope, I'm living in Norway, in a small town called Horten. Not reknown for it's great nightlife I'm afraid...

Thanks for the fish...