{"id":3314,"date":"2012-08-30T16:02:23","date_gmt":"2012-08-30T22:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=3314"},"modified":"2018-02-09T13:55:05","modified_gmt":"2018-02-09T19:55:05","slug":"bar-strategy-101-surviving-the-oxford-square-by-nature-humphries-from-tlv-163","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/bar-strategy-101-surviving-the-oxford-square-by-nature-humphries-from-tlv-163\/","title":{"rendered":"Bar Strategy 101: Surviving the Oxford Square"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Maybe you\u2019re a seasoned bar hopper. Or maybe you just celebrated your 21st and are ready to hit the ground running. Either way, there are some unspoken rules when it comes to bar behavior. I\u2019ve been slinging drinks in this town long enough to know that plenty of people have bad habits in the bar. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\">The Square is a great place to go out and have a good time, and there are going to be nights when every place in town is packed. Getting a drink can be frustrating when there\u2019s a mob of people fighting for the bartenders\u2019 attention. You\u2019re going to need some patience, but there are ways to get fast service. Get to know your bartender, be friendly, and good things will happen. Read on for some important tips that your bartender wishes you knew.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-family: arial black,avant garde; color: #0ec72c; font-size: 28px;\"><strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3317\" title=\"tipjar\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/tipjar.jpg?resize=149%2C240\" alt=\"\" width=\"149\" height=\"240\" \/>DO:<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"color: #0ec72c; font-family: arial black,avant garde;\"><strong>Tip well.<\/strong><\/span> I\u2019ll remember you and will probably be more inclined to serve you faster than that a-hole who stiffed me the last three times they got a drink.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial black,avant garde; font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"color: #0ec72c;\"><strong>Say \u201cplease\u201d and \u201cthank you.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;\"> Goo<\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\">d manners will get you far in life.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial black,avant garde; color: #0ec72c;\">Have your money ready when you order.<\/span> I\u2019ve had people hand me balls of wadded up cash. It\u2019s just going to take more time to flatten it out so I can put it in the register.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial black,avant garde; color: #0ec72c;\">Remember to eat before you go out drinking.<\/span> If you start on an empty stomach, you\u2019re just asking for trouble.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 28px;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: arial black,avant garde; color: #fb0317;\">DON&#8217;T:<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: square;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\"><strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3316\" title=\"bartenderpour\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/bartenderpour.jpg?resize=180%2C240\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"240\" \/><span style=\"color: #fb0317;\">Make a big deal about getting a bartender\u2019s attention and then not have your order ready.<\/span><\/strong> If you\u2019ve been waving at me and I come to take your order, be ready. Don\u2019t turn around to ask your five friends what drinks they want. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"color: #fb0317;\"><strong>Reach across the bar for any reason.<\/strong><\/span> You want a lime? Ask for one. It is incredibly rude to reach into the fruit tray, and I really don\u2019t know how clean your fingers are. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"color: #fb0317;\"><strong>Touch your bartender.<\/strong><\/span> Please, unless I know you intimately, keep your hands to yourself.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"color: #fb0317;\"><strong>Yell my name repeatedly.<\/strong><\/span> Even if we\u2019re good friends, it\u2019s annoying. I see you. I promise I will serve you as soon as I can.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"color: #fb0317;\"><strong>Put your big ass purse on my bar.<\/strong><\/span> If there are hooks screwed into the bar, that\u2019s what they are for. Plus, if it\u2019s really busy and crowded, you\u2019re going to wind up with some spillage on your bag.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #fb0317;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3318\" title=\"DWGS03-L-01\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/DWGS03-L-01.jpg?resize=105%2C100\" alt=\"\" width=\"105\" height=\"100\" \/>Ask me to \u201chook you up.\u201d<\/span><\/strong> I know how to make a good drink. If you get served something unacceptable, then I\u2019ll fix it, but it\u2019s insulting for you to ask me before I\u2019ve even made it. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #fb0317;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\">Expect a free drink just because you spilled yours.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #fb0317;\">Leave your drink unattended, please!<\/span><\/strong> I will likely toss it if it\u2019s been sitting on the bar for too long. <em><strong>Safety first!<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Maybe you\u2019re a seasoned bar hopper. Or maybe you just celebrated your 21st and are ready to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,228],"tags":[702,705,706,5,704,113,4,707,703],"class_list":["post-3314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bartenders","category-local-opinion","tag-bar-strategy","tag-bartender","tag-drinking","tag-mississippi","tag-nature","tag-nature-humphries","tag-oxford","tag-square","tag-tips"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/BarStrategy101Title.jpg?fit=500%2C105&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}