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Bartending: a part-time job that provides the lazy with easy access to alcohol and a stable social life where the only requirement is to have passable looks and

Bartending: a part-time job that provides the lazy with easy access to alcohol and a stable social life where the only requirement is to have passable looks and the ability to show up, stay awake and not steal (too much). It looks like fun, but it's a very dangerous occupation if you're thinking of actually doing something with your life post-booze dalliance. The fact that someone would promote dropping out to live in the outback serving beer to a bunch of tourists is insane. To back it up with tax-reimbursement math is ludicrous. Working as a slave for more than one tourist season should dispel any rational thinker of the notion that they're better off scraping by on minimum wages than working at a real job. To be successful in the real world, you need to acquire domain experience, competent skills and build lasting relationships with people who also work in your industry, not to mention developing your talents in order to have access to higher-paying/rewarding employment. All of them take time and none can be done while you're picking your nose at a tiki bar in Florida, Thailand or Australia. Don't kid yourself. Work is hard and there are no easy way about it.

generalk 16y ago
I upvoted this by accident (meant to downvote), so I might as well respond: > The fact that someone would promote dropping out to live in the outback > serving beer to a bunch of tourists is insane. I know several career bartenders who love mixing drinks and the social aspect of being behind the bar. What's insane for you is absolutely heaven for them. Quality bartenders can make fantastic money, but let's discount that and say that, for some folks, being happy with their job is more important than how much they earn doing it. > Don't kid yourself. Work is hard and there are no easy way about it. You yourself say that bartending for tourists during the busy season is so horrible that you can't survive one season before bailing. That doesn't sound easy, but if you love bartending, it's not so bad. Similarly, some of my clients are hard to work with sometimes, but I love developing software, so it's not so bad. tl;dr: grow up and learn that there are valid viewpoints that differ from yours.
- tomsaffell 16y ago
  >tl;dr: grow up.. I'd liked your post up to that point.
  - stcredzero 16y ago
    At least the parent post to that one knows they got someone's attention. I think Abbie Hoffman once said, "If you ever raise someone's hackles, then you've struck gold!"
- doyoulikeworms 16y ago
  I think he means that bartending is easy in that it doesn't consume your life (unless you're an alcoholic). I mean no disrespect to bartenders in any way, but it appears to be a "clock in and check out" job. Clock in, do your n hours by rote, and clock out.
  - jsavimbi 16y ago
    All's I'm saying is that it must be a great job if a foreigner can just walk into your country, apply, become employed and live happily ever after for the season without competition from the locals or the authorities. What a country! Like our very own migrant farm workers here in the United States I guess, or if you're really ambitious, in Oz: http://www.workstay.com.au/backpacker_harvest_jobs.htm http://www.workstay.com.au/backpacker_harvest_jobs.htm The original premise only works if you meet the following conditions, aside from being young and smart like the guy said: 1. You're taking a gap year between education and/or work to see the world and gain some [travel] experience. 2. You never intend to return to that lifestyle after your year is done and have a plan to a normal lifestyle of continuos employment that doesn't involve taking money from those temporarily impaired by alcohol. Because most people in the world are sober for the majority of their lives and drunks don't have much of a long tail and if you're halfway smart and ambitious you'll tire of them in short order. The post author uses bar-tending as an example because somewhere, someone decided that it was a sexy job (Cocktail, anyone?) that could someday lead you to owning your own place by the beach meeting fancy people of the desired sexual orientation while you party on your time off. Very few bartenders can do that unless someone buys the bar for them or they have two or more partners. My response to that is that it's a lazy-man's job where you're just a cog in the wheel of a drug-dealing enterprise and get paid only after the liquor distributor, bar owner and permanent staff, and in the case of the US, paid only by the patrons through their generosity in the form of tips as a reward for being able to stare at your t&a while they slip into their daily haze. You are a sexually stimulating device that can open beer bottles. The ones that can't stimulate any more get jobs at the airport/hotel lounge where they can use their brains even less while being protected by their union. Those who work sporting events are neither. I prefer the fruit-picking example as it makes more sense to the uninitiated. Also, all growed-up software engineer here making six figures year after year who will never again pour a drink or throw a bum out of a bar or wear a uniform to work.
presidentender 16y ago
The greatest satisfaction I have ever derived from a job was found washing dishes at a main street diner during my late teens. I worked long hours, which grew progressively longer, as my coworkers quit and the owners didn't bother to replace them. I made a poor wage, and my hands were absolutely destroyed by the constant immersion in hot water and the metal scratch pad I favored. I had little time for my intellectual pursuits, and there was certainly no future in it. But I really enjoyed the low-key meditation that was possible, given the repetitive nature of the tasks I had to perform. I liked the interaction with the waitresses and the cooks. I liked going home from work after a ten hour day and knowing that I was done, that there was no technical debt I'd accrued during the day, no nagging concern as to whether I'd done the job right or whether the performance of a particular system would be adequate. I was secure in the knowledge that I was the very best dishwasher in town, as borne out by the fact that I was the only person who could work a Sunday lunch rush alone. Now I have technical debt, nagging concerns, impostor syndrome, and exclusively male and professional coworkers. I like the money, of course, and I like the idea that I'm producing something. But if I didn't have ambition - if I didn't have goals to live up to, or a better world to build - you bet I'd be right at home washing dishes. Of course, bartending might be hellish compared to dishwashing, but I doubt it.
steveklabnik 16y ago
I've said a few times that if making pizza payed more than $10/hr, I'd go back and do it. I derived a lot of enjoyment from doing something really well, and a little bit of diversity in my environment was nice. There was a similar post here a while ago about a guy who was a lumberjack, so he could go home and hack all night. He didn't want to get burned out on development, and switching it up kept him fresh.

generalk 16y ago

I upvoted this by accident (meant to downvote), so I might as well respond: > The fact that someone would promote dropping out to live in the outback > serving beer to a bunch of tourists is insane. I know several career bartenders who love mixing drinks and the social aspect of being behind the bar. What's insane for you is absolutely heaven for them. Quality bartenders can make fantastic money, but let's discount that and say that, for some folks, being happy with their job is more important than how much they earn doing it. > Don't kid yourself. Work is hard and there are no easy way about it. You yourself say that bartending for tourists during the busy season is so horrible that you can't survive one season before bailing. That doesn't sound easy, but if you love bartending, it's not so bad. Similarly, some of my clients are hard to work with sometimes, but I love developing software, so it's not so bad. tl;dr: grow up and learn that there are valid viewpoints that differ from yours.

tomsaffell 16y ago
>tl;dr: grow up.. I'd liked your post up to that point.
- stcredzero 16y ago
  At least the parent post to that one knows they got someone's attention. I think Abbie Hoffman once said, "If you ever raise someone's hackles, then you've struck gold!"
doyoulikeworms 16y ago
I think he means that bartending is easy in that it doesn't consume your life (unless you're an alcoholic). I mean no disrespect to bartenders in any way, but it appears to be a "clock in and check out" job. Clock in, do your n hours by rote, and clock out.
- jsavimbi 16y ago
  All's I'm saying is that it must be a great job if a foreigner can just walk into your country, apply, become employed and live happily ever after for the season without competition from the locals or the authorities. What a country! Like our very own migrant farm workers here in the United States I guess, or if you're really ambitious, in Oz: http://www.workstay.com.au/backpacker_harvest_jobs.htm http://www.workstay.com.au/backpacker_harvest_jobs.htm The original premise only works if you meet the following conditions, aside from being young and smart like the guy said: 1. You're taking a gap year between education and/or work to see the world and gain some [travel] experience. 2. You never intend to return to that lifestyle after your year is done and have a plan to a normal lifestyle of continuos employment that doesn't involve taking money from those temporarily impaired by alcohol. Because most people in the world are sober for the majority of their lives and drunks don't have much of a long tail and if you're halfway smart and ambitious you'll tire of them in short order. The post author uses bar-tending as an example because somewhere, someone decided that it was a sexy job (Cocktail, anyone?) that could someday lead you to owning your own place by the beach meeting fancy people of the desired sexual orientation while you party on your time off. Very few bartenders can do that unless someone buys the bar for them or they have two or more partners. My response to that is that it's a lazy-man's job where you're just a cog in the wheel of a drug-dealing enterprise and get paid only after the liquor distributor, bar owner and permanent staff, and in the case of the US, paid only by the patrons through their generosity in the form of tips as a reward for being able to stare at your t&a while they slip into their daily haze. You are a sexually stimulating device that can open beer bottles. The ones that can't stimulate any more get jobs at the airport/hotel lounge where they can use their brains even less while being protected by their union. Those who work sporting events are neither. I prefer the fruit-picking example as it makes more sense to the uninitiated. Also, all growed-up software engineer here making six figures year after year who will never again pour a drink or throw a bum out of a bar or wear a uniform to work.

presidentender 16y ago

The greatest satisfaction I have ever derived from a job was found washing dishes at a main street diner during my late teens. I worked long hours, which grew progressively longer, as my coworkers quit and the owners didn't bother to replace them. I made a poor wage, and my hands were absolutely destroyed by the constant immersion in hot water and the metal scratch pad I favored. I had little time for my intellectual pursuits, and there was certainly no future in it. But I really enjoyed the low-key meditation that was possible, given the repetitive nature of the tasks I had to perform. I liked the interaction with the waitresses and the cooks. I liked going home from work after a ten hour day and knowing that I was done, that there was no technical debt I'd accrued during the day, no nagging concern as to whether I'd done the job right or whether the performance of a particular system would be adequate. I was secure in the knowledge that I was the very best dishwasher in town, as borne out by the fact that I was the only person who could work a Sunday lunch rush alone. Now I have technical debt, nagging concerns, impostor syndrome, and exclusively male and professional coworkers. I like the money, of course, and I like the idea that I'm producing something. But if I didn't have ambition - if I didn't have goals to live up to, or a better world to build - you bet I'd be right at home washing dishes. Of course, bartending might be hellish compared to dishwashing, but I doubt it.

steveklabnik 16y ago

I've said a few times that if making pizza payed more than $10/hr, I'd go back and do it. I derived a lot of enjoyment from doing something really well, and a little bit of diversity in my environment was nice. There was a similar post here a while ago about a guy who was a lumberjack, so he could go home and hack all night. He didn't want to get burned out on development, and switching it up kept him fresh.