Sweet providence certainly seemed to be smiling on me. I was 22 years old and had just secured a prime bartending gig at the busiest nightclub in town. Back then I had more energy and bravado than experience, but I also had something else — determination. And I was determined to prove my mettle by sheer hard work.
The manager’s girlfriend booked special events and the manager’s best friend was the bar manager.
“Listen kid,” the bar manager said. “Everybody has got to work weekends and holidays.”
Everyone of course, except him.
“You’ve got to prove yourself,” he added for clarification.
I wondered exactly how it was that he had proved himself, considering that he was barely two years older than I and his only real qualification for the job was his friendship with the manager. But back then I was just happy to have a job.
A series of private events were booked at the club. The first was a software company, back when software companies were just beginning. It was a complete buyout, which meant that we would essentially be a private club for the evening. A tip for the staff was figured into the total cost, and with that in mind we all showed up for our assignments.
This particular nightclub was set up with two front bars and a small “satellite bar” in the dining area. Typically, the front two bars were the busiest, with one of the two stations being even busier still. We called that station “the point” because of the way it stuck out into the crowd.
Typically, our bar manager would work “the point” because it was the busiest station. He claimed he was the only one who could handle it properly. I suspected it was actually because it was the place where you could make the most money in tips. Volume bars bring in volume tips and even though percentages can go down, sheer volume will usually make up for it.
On the night of the event the bar manager assigned me to “the point.”
“Think you can handle it kid?”
“I think so.”
That night I worked my butt off. Meanwhile the bar manager worked the satellite bar. It was literally 10 to one in customer ratio. Near the end of the night the bar manager closed the satellite bar and came over to me.
“I’m going to take off,” he said. “You go ahead and close up, and if you do a good job we might consider having you work the point more often.”
I doubled down and cleaned the place up all by myself, staying late and doing as thorough a job as possible. The next couple of weeks came and went and I was never scheduled at the point. But when the next private party came along, there I was, working the point, staying late and cleaning up.
“You’re almost there,” the bar manager said. “Just keep working hard.”
The next two private parties I redoubled my efforts.
“You’re doing great,” the bar manager said on his way out the door with his arm around a blonde.
Three hours later the other bartender and I were sitting down to a beer.
“You know,” he said, “we all make the same money on these private parties.”
“That’s not possible. We are here later than everyone else.”
He shrugged his shoulders.
Later I asked the bar manager about that. It turned out that the other bartender was correct. In fact, the bar manager made more tips on private parties than anyone else. A long complicated explanation ensued that did nothing to actually explain anything.
“You’re still proving yourself. Don’t worry we’ll take care of you when the time comes.”
When that time came, he hired his new blonde girlfriend for the job instead, someone who literally had no experience.
Leaving me with these thoughts:
• In life, sometimes you are Tom Sawyer and sometimes you’re the dummy whitewashing the fence.
• California Labor Code 351 provides that “every gratuity is hereby declared to be the sole property of the employee or employees to whom it was paid, given, or left for.” Meaning that owners, managers or supervisors cannot participate in the tip pool, “even if these individuals should provide direct table service to a patron or are in the chain of service to a patron.”
• The only exception to Code 351 are “mandatory service charges.” Go figure.
• Working smarter is always better than working harder. Even if that means working somewhere else.
• I never much cared for Tom Sawyer. Just saying.
Jeff Burkhart is the author of “Twenty Years Behind Bars: The Spirited Adventures of a Real Bartender” and an award-winning bartender at a local restaurant. Follow him at jeffburkhart.net and contact him at jeff@thebarflyonline.com.
