Story: FNG part 1
In the restaurant world, I've found the name FNG to be great for the vast majority of new employees. It is rare that new employees have much, if any experience, and tend to only look at bartending or serving as a temporary job that "can't be that hard." That's understandable, my job isn't that hard...for me. But for an FNG, they can quickly be buried by their lack of knowledge. And then it becomes my job to dig them out, dust them off, and tell them what they did wrong. And that list tends to be long.
There have been many times when the new guy did something really stupid and all I could do was slap myself in the forehead and exclaim loudly, "Fucking New Guy!"
The first story begins with Link one of the new guys hired at the Club in a slew of hires. Self-admittedly dumb (I think he just says that) he's the all-american boy that girls swoon over. Its amusing how distraught his customers become when they found out he has a girlfriend (and has a thing for Fidelity, unlike most bartenders I know). Still, they are unrepentent in their attempt to get his number. Link has quickly grown into one of our better bartenders, being able to both handle the stress of a busy Friday night and the boredom of a slow wednesday while balancing girlfriend and his other job. However, the stories of his first days on the floor still make me cringe.
One of his first questions was "How do you pour draft beer?" Strike one, although not necessarily a huge strike. My first two jobs didn't serve draft beer, so it was over a year of bartending before I learned how to properly pour a draft and almost 2 years before I learned how to properly pour Guiness.
Second, he asked how to serve the lime with a corona. "Well, do I put it in the bottle or do I hand it to a customer or do put it on the bevnap?" Strike two, although you couldn't help but enjoy his enthusiasm. At least he was trying to learn and knew that he knew nothing (slightly Socratic for those philosophy types). That is alot better than most shmucks who come in from Bartending School and think that they know everything, but thats another story (and likely part rant!)
I'm happy to say though, that despite all of his initial missteps, Link has become a great part of the Club family.
There have been many times when the new guy did something really stupid and all I could do was slap myself in the forehead and exclaim loudly, "Fucking New Guy!"
The first story begins with Link one of the new guys hired at the Club in a slew of hires. Self-admittedly dumb (I think he just says that) he's the all-american boy that girls swoon over. Its amusing how distraught his customers become when they found out he has a girlfriend (and has a thing for Fidelity, unlike most bartenders I know). Still, they are unrepentent in their attempt to get his number. Link has quickly grown into one of our better bartenders, being able to both handle the stress of a busy Friday night and the boredom of a slow wednesday while balancing girlfriend and his other job. However, the stories of his first days on the floor still make me cringe.
One of his first questions was "How do you pour draft beer?" Strike one, although not necessarily a huge strike. My first two jobs didn't serve draft beer, so it was over a year of bartending before I learned how to properly pour a draft and almost 2 years before I learned how to properly pour Guiness.
Second, he asked how to serve the lime with a corona. "Well, do I put it in the bottle or do I hand it to a customer or do put it on the bevnap?" Strike two, although you couldn't help but enjoy his enthusiasm. At least he was trying to learn and knew that he knew nothing (slightly Socratic for those philosophy types). That is alot better than most shmucks who come in from Bartending School and think that they know everything, but thats another story (and likely part rant!)
I'm happy to say though, that despite all of his initial missteps, Link has become a great part of the Club family.
posted by Bartender Savant at 5:46 PM
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