Advice for drinking in the union

[queen of scots]

What annoys me (not in the Union, just in general) is when people give back change, and they put a note in your hand and then balance the coins on it, causing me to drop it all. I've only got little hands!

[hr]
Life is like a beautiful melody, only the lyrics are messed up.

[Devilzchild]

Jeez, stop whinging! You're being paid to serve people- if you don't like it then find another job!

I work in a cafe/bar and sure certain things bug me - like people sitting at dirty tables - but serving the customers is what i'm paid to do.

[Mr_Big_Dave]

[s]Tweedle-Dum wrote on 14:13, 9th Feb 2005:
[s]groovy wrote on 13:26, 9th Feb 2005:[i]
7) When it's time to leave, please LEAVE. We typically don't mind people staying til like 1.10am to finish your drinks, but when people arn't leaving til about 20 past the hour, it's starting to take the piss- at this time we're just trying to get to bed.


I think you'll find it a condition of the Union's liqour license that it must allow 15 minutes "drinking up" time after the bar closes, making people leave before 1:15am without some good reason (i.e. a fire) is breaking the law, I don't care about your bedtime, and if you do, get a different job.

[hr]
Live by the sword, die by the arrow.
[/i]


The 15mins grace isn't legally required. The management can ask someone to leave at any time for any reason, and refusal to do so is an offence that carries a £200 fine.

[Rectalprobe]

I totally agree with the original post.

We bar people are there to serve you and the way that some people treat us is totally disrespectful - clicking fingers, shouting,throwing coins at you...its all shit.

Another one that he forgot to add to his list tho is when someone either comes up to the bar and starts complaining that they have been waiting ages to get served, when blatently they have just gotten there. A further one is when someone is getting served and their mate comes up stands chatting to them and when you are done the person you are serving goes "he's next by the way".

To any person who does this i say.....NO HE FUCKING ISNT YOU TWAT HE CAN GO BACK TO THE END OF THE QUEUE AND WAIT FOR HIS FUCKING TURN LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!!!!

Some customers, and granted it is a minority, think that it is easy being a bar man. Well let me tell you, i have worked behind a bar since i was 18(thats 2 years now) and i tell you, it is not. you get arsehole customers and its a lots harder than it looks, although granted it can be easy at times. but what some people fail to realise is that we are not there solely for the purpose of serving them - we have other jobs behind the bar to do, other people to serve and other things to worry about than some git who has had too much to drink and only has the pennies from his penny jar left!!

As for the whole drinking up time, if you look round the union bar you can CLEARLY see that there are notices that say that you have 10 MINUTES DRINKING UP TIME!!!!!!! We legally do not have to allow you your drinks after this as if the building is not cleared of all customers by 15 minutes past the hour, then we could effectively lose our late license! So all you people out there who think its 15 minutes are wrong - take it from the bar man whos girlfriend has a father in the police force - i know what of i speak!!!!! And next time we ask you to drink up and make your way out fucking do it, because at that point we are tired and irritable and we will take your drinks if you piss us off!!!!

And finally(at last) for the guy who said that he didnt care about us wanting our bed.....HEY ARSEHOLE GET A FUCKING LIFE!!!! We have lectures in the morning and although you may not wish to pass by staying in the union all night and drinking yourself into an early grave we do want to pass, so piss off when we ask you to and have some common courtesy.

I thank you all for reading and good night.

The probe

[Zombie Sheep]

Hopie may find this unusual, but I agree with him on this one. Sure, there are probably assholes out there, but you will find that anywhere, and with anything. Assholes are assholes the rest of the time also, we have to put up with them. It sounds harsh, but if you don't like taking shit what must be a small proportion of the time, try something else.

[hr]Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability. And I want you to know we are with you until victory, until Jerusalem.

[Wong]

[s]johness wrote on 17:12, 9th Feb 2005:
Manners don't cost a penny.

They do if you put "I remain your obedient servant" at the end of a telegram.

(I know that joke's several decades out of date, but I've been waiting for a chance to use it.)

[hr]
No tree has branches so foolish as to fight among themselves

[groovy]

[s]Rectalprobe wrote on 17:22, 9th Feb 2005:
I totally agree with the original post.


Amen brother!


I think a lot of people who are posting on this thread were missing the original point of the thread. I wasn't whinging at my job or saying it's shit or anything- I happen to quite like my job, it's just I have a problem with people being polite, I've stopped people in fast food joints and stuff like that before because they were giving undue shit to the girl behind the counter, it's just not on.

After all, good manners are made up of petty sacrifices, we're doing our best to give you the best service you can get.

[johness]

I worked as a waiter for on and off 5 years including a stint of 8 months full time. I would have left if it was that bad, but I loved it, I had great fun. What we're saying is it is that minority of badly behaved customers that really irritate.

That made me laugh Wong, well used.
[hr][s] ...but I will bend the light, always pretending that it somehow lingered on...[/s]

[groovy]

[s]dunqn wrote on 17:37, 9th Feb 2005:
I think i'm occasionally guilty of putting the money on the counter. Usually it's because i've got dirty hands or whatever.
But something the barstaff does annoys me - when you've been standing for longer than most people and they continue to serve others, and they KNOW you've been there as they made eye contact 5 minutes before. This is possibly the most irritating thing any member of the barstaff does. This has made me leave on occasions. People should get served in the order they arrive in, not in the order of how low cut the girls tops are, or if the individual in question knows the person serving. It's not fair.


I can't speak for anyone else, but I make a genuine attempt to serve people in the order they come to the bar, sometimes I'll get it wrong, but it's not intentional. If I've made eye contact with you then not served you it's because I think someone else has been waiting longer.

As I said, mistakes can be, and inevitably will be made, just just need to be patient with us.

[flarewearer]

as a long standing union customer (4 1/2 years and counting) I agree with the original post that some people just have no f*cking clue about how the union "works." And as someone queueing at the bar waiting patientyl for a drink (it's the best way to get served quickest i've found) it annoys me when idiots barge to the front or take 20 drinks orders from their mates at the back of the queue or whatever. However i would say that not everyone knows how "it works" because perhaps its' their firs time in there or something

i would also say my spelling has gone to pot

[hr]...We sing of landscape and memory and the urgency to do it now; in the street and in the fields...

[theflirt]

I've been waiting for 4 years now, and on the bar for 2 in the hotel i work at, and old grumpy people are far worse! Especially when they talk to you like you don't even know how to spell your own name!!
They always seem so shocked when I tell them I'm at university studying Physics, and then go quiet! mahaha

But it is hard to remember who was actually first in a cue along a long bar with hundreds of people at it, and asking who is first never works as people lie!

[hr]"I have nothing to declare but my own genius" - Oscar Wilde

[groovy]

[s]theflirt wrote on 17:49, 9th Feb 2005:

But it is hard to remember who was actually first in a cue along a long bar with hundreds of people at it, and asking who is first never works as people lie!


I ask that quite a lot actually and you would be surprised at just how many people will look around and then point to the random next to them but if you make eye contact and say 'yes please' they'll forget about the fact they just pushed infront of two people and got served first.

[womble chris]

why dont they employ more bar staff when it gets so busy?

unless its becuase they will start to get in each others way, but im sure paying say 4 people 15 quid each to work at just the peak hours must increase the profits by more than 60 quid.


no doubt this has been thought about and it isnt wise, but out of interest what was the reasoning?

[groovy]

I've been asking that for ages.....

[Al]

"As for the whole drinking up time, if you look round the union bar you can CLEARLY see that there are notices that say that you have 10 MINUTES DRINKING UP TIME!!!!!!! We legally do not have to allow you your drinks after this as if the building is not cleared of all customers by 15 minutes past the hour, then we could effectively lose our late license! So all you people out there who think its 15 minutes are wrong - take it from the bar man whos girlfriend has a father in the police force - i know what of i speak!!!!!"

Clearly your source is not speaking to the Scottish Executive as they seem have a very different idea to the law. From their website -


"The 1976 Act presently permits a further period of 15 minutes after the end of the permitted hours for customers to consume drinks..."

[hr]Life is too important to be taken seriously.

[Mohawk]

also i would like to add my tuppence worth in,


if a member of bar staff asks you politely to move out the way could you please do it, lastnight was a joke, people were just ignoring us, all we needs is a tiny bit of space so we can get through and get more glasses on the shelves,

in the end last night i had to get doorstaff to escort me through, but this was in vain.

please please please if you see someone in a staff shirt carrying loads of glasses, or a big blue tray, try your best to make a little room, and if we ask you to move away please do so,

we are there to make sure you have a good night, if we can't get glasses on the shelves inevitably we wont be able to serve you drinks, as theres nothing to put them in,


anyway, i apologise for the crap spelling and punctuation, but i feel i have made my point.

[Bread Roll]

[s]johness wrote on 17:12, 9th Feb 2005:

The small things are the worst, like the money on the counter, or not saying a simple please or thank you. Manners don't cost a penny.



However it does work both ways. If someone is polite to me then I have no problem returning the favour.

The customer is always right except when they're wrong. Also if people are being abusive you don't have to serve them. Just because you're getting paid doesn't mean you have to put up with crap from numpties with nothing else better to do than moan at barstaff.

Also, different to bar work, but when I was working in a shop you could see people coming in ready for a confrontation and just being nice to them from the outset can often stop it in its tracks. I'm a sucker for politeness and even in a bar when I'm cross at not being served or for waiting for ages while people start chains of pints down the line to their mates, when the bar tender comes over and says 'Sorry to keep you - what will it be?' I'm all peaced down (what is a word for this in English?)

But clicking fingers to get served is not cool and if anyone did that to me I'd purposely make them wait. Or spill their change in their pint.

Not quite sure what this has to do with the original post but there you go.

[Setsuna]

Two problems I have with the union bar:

I notice that staff seem to have a 'section', where they take drink orders from. However, if you are standing at the bondary between these invisible sections, both bar staff can sometimes miss you. On busy nights, this can result in you standing there for fucking ages. Altho granted, i guess its not easy to keep track.

Another gripe involving the punters: if someone has been waiting at the bar before me, but the barperson asks me what i want, i will always tell them to serve that person first, regardless of gender, as it is just good manners.

The thing that astounds me, in this golden age of chivalry, is that very many girls extend this courtesy to me, but few male students do. The locals and old men are particularly considerate in other pubs around st andrews, so why not in the union?

Argh!

[benedict]

benedict wrote on 16:37, 9th Feb 2005:

Don't be too quick to judge on this one.....

'You are taking the piss, right?'

No, actually I'm not. There may not have been a term coined for hyper-politeness but it does exist. Such as giving people about three times too wide a berth when walking past. It can often be mistaken for impoliteness which is quite an irony.

This thread has at least made me feel far happier about just ordering water from the Union on nights out now. Doesn't even involve handing money over which is good for all parties in that respect.

[Elvis]

Before I worked at the Union I always hated the fact that you'd wait your turn at the bar whilst others would be served (undeservedly) before you, and was adamant that when I got the job that I would be totally fair with respect to those waiting in queues.

Sadly I found out it's actually impossible. Of course, generally I have some idea about who's been waiting longest, but when it's busy, the bar staff have got to contend with distractions such as pouring shots (meaning your back is turned to the bar making it impossible to see who arrived first), adding up, getting stuff from the stock rooms/cellar if it's run out, etc etc.

Worse still is when you return from a break or one of the other bars and you have no choice but to pick a random person, sometimes with the result that you get a completely undeserved (from my perspective, at least) tantrum from someone who has actually been waiting ages. The temptation to shove a shooter glass up their nose in this instance is difficult to resist. Normally the situation is tactfully resolved by making them wait longer...

My only real gripes are people smoking at the bar (I really despise this) - 9/10 of people are genuinely apologetic about it and don't realise. You do get the odd bastard though...

And folks, the reason you don't often get served queuing near the DJ booth is that a) it's miles away from most of the drinks and tills, and b) we know you didn't queue there very long to get to the front of the bar!