Eric Hussmann: Bartender

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Hello everyone. I am working at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow now as a Glassy (bus boy for glasses and bottles) and Relief Bartender!

The Glassy gig is relatively easy, patrol your designated area and collect empty or abandoned glasses or bottles. We each carry a tray and loaded it up before returning to the bar we're assigned to, where we divvy up the different types of glasses and put them through the dish washer.

Of course that isn't all there is to it, you have to navigate your way trough the press of semi-inebriated patrons, often with the tray (empty or teetering with glass) held high above your head so that you can make it through. What happens at least 3 times throughout then night when you find yourself in the position more often than not? Some drunk smart ass thinks he's being the worlds funniest comedian when he gets in your face and tries to tickle you. Not that they actually have the coordination to tickle, but it is damn annoying when they get in your way while you are trying to do your job. The manager says that if any of them do it more than once, or are just really annoying then we can have security escort them out. It's kind of cool having 7 huge guys who have your back.

Last Friday night I got to work 15 minutes before my shift as I usually do and as soon as I arrived I was asked if I wanted to help out behind the bar for the night, I agreed and was promptly thrown into the Lounge bar (the quietest of the 3 bars) and given a 5 minute instructional on what to do. Now they didn’t just throw me to the wolves (or dingoes I suppose), as Emma was there with me to help as well, though she was often away from the bar checking coats and bags leaving me to deal with the patrons myself.

Before we got started they asked if I knew anything about mixing drinks, to which I replied ‘no.’ Ok no problem, do I know how to pour a pint? Now my 2 brewery tours in New Zealand have paid off, I poured a damn near perfect pint in front of both Emma and Ben, the guy showing me the ropes. They assured me that I would mostly be dealing with pouring beer and a couple of easy mix drinks and left me to it.

After the first thirty minutes of abject terror serving nothing but beer and desperately trying to get my barcode scanner to work, someone ordered a vodka lemon lime (which consists of a scoop of ice, a shot of Smirnoff, a dash of lime juice, and fill the rest of the glass with Sprite). After masterfully creating the drink like some sort of mixologist who had been doing it for years, I got a little less apprehensive about my duties behind the bar. People mostly ordered pints of beer, bottles from the fridge, vodka lemon limes, and Jack Daniels and Coke, so once I was given a barcode scanner that actually worked, I was doing fine.

There was an incident where an English girl ordered a gin and ‘ging’ to which I had to ask her Australian friend “What the heck is a gin and ging?” to which she replied, “Oh she means ginger beer, I don’t know why she calls it ging.” There was also an incident where a woman wanted a white Zambuka and pineapple juice, and try as I might I could not find the damn Zambuka, she kindly pointed the specific bottle out to me after I explained that it was my first night behind a bar EVER. All in all it was actually a lot of fun and I made about $20 in tips, which is pretty good for a slower night in the slow lounge.

The uniform issued to me is a black long sleeve Guinness shirt, black apron, name badge, and Canadian flag badge. We are also required to wear black pants and black shoes when on shift, so when I walk the 5 minutes it takes to get home I am sure to stay off the roads! It’s going to cost me $45 if I don’t return it, but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to keep the Guinness shirt when I leave!

I can’t take pictures when I am on shift, but I may stop by a little earlier next week to snap a few before my shift.

Talk to you all again later!

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