A life of service

Ich bein ein COCKTAIL?!

I thought I might take a break from talking about beer, spirits and food to add more of a personal post this blog around. This subject matter of this post being very near and dear to my heart, the title being "A life in service."

Now I know what your thinking my fellow blog reader just what is this post about? Well I thought Id shed a little light on the service industry or more accurately a career in such. Very rarely do I think people actively choose this career path, its more like something you kind of fall into. People romanticize bartenders, due to popular culture references a such as this vintage German movie poster to my left, which was supposed to ultimately be called: "Cocktails; A Journey into the Wide, Wide, World of bad 80's hair-cuts."

What you may not know about is the long hours, the temptation of constant vice, and the ever present search for a tip that some nights just might not ever come.

Being behind the bar really is a young man's game, and often doesn't to lead to much more besides a better choice of shifts. On the bright side working in this industry I have met some of the craziest people from musicians, movie stars, to politicians. A short list; Sting, the guys in Cold Play, Rage Against the Machine, Mini-Me AKA Vern Troyer, Kobe Bryant, John Stamos, Lawrence Fishburne to name a few. Hell Ive even paid for a lap dance for Alan Thicke! (The dad from growing pains), memories of doing Car-bombs with Jerod from subway then leaving him with a $200 dollar bar tab are memories I will always take with me. Sitting in a cubical working in an office I would have never had these experiences, which is ultimatly why I chose this life. Its ever changing ever challenging each day bringing new experiences. I never know whose going to walk through that door and sit across my bar. The key was looking at my job more as a Kraft then some part time gig, taking pride in what I do, being knowledgeable about the products I sell, and coming to peace with the sacrifices Ive had to make along the way. I think such is the way of the world, not to get to philosophical on ye.
-Eric