A friend of mine just got a job as a bartender at a swanky hotel named after a Great American Writer in a shitty liberal town. To get the job, he had to sign
Dear Street Carnage,
A friend of mine just got a job as a bartender at a swanky hotel named after a Great American Writer in a shitty liberal town. To get the job, he had to sign an agreement that he would not discuss gun control, women’s reproductive rights, politics in any form, religion in any form, or any “debatable topic.” It was that term “debatable topic” that struck me when I heard it. Seriously, how retarded is the fucking suit that came up with this policy? The implication is that the people who own the hotel/bar don’t trust the people SERVING ALCOHOL to have decent conversations with DRUNK PEOPLE. Ostensibly, we want our staff to be seen and not heard. Which is fine, but a fucking legal contract? More than likely, this means that at some point in the recent past, a bartender got into an argument with a customer, and won. Maybe the bartender told the guy to mind his own business and leave a woman’s right to choose up to women, or he was espousing the wonders of Sarah Palin’s stance on marijuana laws… it doesn’t matter. Whatever they were talking about offended the customer so much that he took it to management and made such a big deal that they hired a lawyer to draw up a contract so that it would never happen again.
A couple things. One, if you run a business, you have to get your employees backs. Especially in a bar. Every bar and nightclub I’ve ever worked at, if you are drunk, you are wrong. Period. If my manager reacted to every silly thing a drunk custy got shitty about, I’d have been giving out free drinks and avoiding eye contact for fear of putting someone off. Of course a manager wants to make his customers feel welcome, but it needs to be understood that, in a bar or nightclub , the customer is usually drunker than the bartender, and therefore more likely to react poorly to a given situation.
Two, the idea that a lowly bartender will not have the social decency to respect the confines of the customer/employee relationship is ridiculous. Bartenders work for tips, so being an asshole just for fun is counter productive. It also means that if a bartender is willing to sacrifice a tip for an argument, the customer must really be acting like an asshole.
And third, it’s disrespectful to the customer to assume that a reasonable person can’t differentiate between the opinion of a guy working in a building, and the opinion of the guy who owns the building.
Imagine an intelligent business traveller WANTS to have a conversation with his bartender about something interesting. The gentleman says “what do you think about this subject, barkeep?” The bartender in question has two choices. Tell the truth: “I cannot discuss that matter with you, kind sir, for my employer has forbade such talk. They fear me an idiot, and you as well. For they believe that whatever opinions I speak aloud will be mistaken, by you, as their own. In that way, good friend, they are in turn insulting YOUR intelligence.” Or avoid the question, and likely alienate the customer and lose his tip. Way to go Scaredy-Crats.
Extreme liberalism makes me ashamed. To assume that left to our own devices, average people are incapable of acting like adults. The short version is they feel that we need guidelines from wealthier, more educated people who know better than us. There is a point where liberalism goes so far left, it loops back around and becomes repression.
Love,
Bryan Swift
ps… the irony of the Mark Twain hotel arresting free speech is not lost on me, I just thought it was too easy to bitch about.
Bryan,
Thanks for the letter. We need content because Arv is on tour. Will read this soon!
Sincerely,
SBTVC
This piece is good and funny but –
it is a real stretch to describe this policy as “extreme liberalism.”
You’re probably doing a “P.C. = liberal” thing, which fits the contours of this site, but is technically inaccurate.
This sort of thing is in fact NOT tied to any particular political persuasion (something you actually allude to at the beginning of the article).
I agree with frankie. I’m not sure what makes this an “extreme liberalism” issue. It could just as easily be that the suits that run the hotel figure less controversy = more money. Maybe they don’t trust their new hires to not be dumbasses with the customers.
Historically, aren’t bartenders SUPPOSED to have conversations with customers? They’re the shoulder to cry on when you’re down, the ones to give advice when you’re confused, and the ones to tell you to shut the fuck up and stop whining about political reform when you’re the fucking asshole talking about political reform when everyone around you wants to get drunk.
bureaucrats= dumb motherfuckers.
I’d agree with Frankie, extreme liberalism can sometimes be seen to go hand in hand with overly anti-septic political correctness, that’s why they may always be linked, but most of the time it’s simply business decisions without any moral motive. We see it all the time in radio and television where content is watered down so that controversy that would lead to boycotts of advertisers are avoided now. The hotel is simply avoiding being linked with the opinions of it’s staff that serve as its public face.
Nothing to do with “extreme liberalism” (I wish I could insert lightning bolts around that). The author is a bit too wrapped up in fighting “the man”. The management is simply saying let’s not get mixed up in extremely divisive conversations, serve drinks and nod your head when someone is being an asshole. I definitely don’t want to hear a bartender’s political opinions, or know about their stance on abortion.
‘drunk custy’, ‘barkeep’
Time a tumblelog was devoted to your words, oh bard.
I love that a guy named Drippy dog dix and cum bubbles or something is making a thoughtful and reasonable political point on the internet.
go to heck luke o’neil. you think you’re so great just because you are a sensitive poet-type with cute buns.
Oh brother. Thanks, I think?
“A friend of mine just got a job as a bartender at a swanky hotel named after a Great American Writer in a shitty liberal town”
translation: I just got fired from my job as a bartender for insulting peoples traditionalist opinions. seriously, it does seem going overboard but it’s the guys business he can make any rules he wants.
My guess is what inspired it was some annoying bartender who tried to sue him or something. I doubt he just thought of it one day like yeah that’s a good idea, I’ll have’ em sign a contract.
I’m an extreme liberal and I think you are an ass. Sensitive enough for you, skippy?
I’d just like to clarify this: liberalism =/= leftism. The left/right political wings are descriptions of economic policy whereas the authoritarian/liberal spectrum is descriptive of social authority. By restricting a person’s actions, you are being authoritarian not, in fact, liberal. The employer in this article doesn’t appear to be particularly leftist, either. If anything, they are restricting the rights of and demeaning their workers, which isn’t a principle of the left by definition. I hope I was of assistance.
@non-american.
Try this perfesser. Liberals will get up and dance, conservatives worry about who is watching them.
I admire how the girls in that pic have 3 strikingly different pairs of nips. VHAT A MISE EN SCEENE sacred blue!
I don’t talk about religion, politics, or business when I’m drunk (as a personal rule). I either get angry or lose money if I do.
Ummm, “Average people ARE incapable of acting like adults”. Truest part.
Just checked out the website.
Instead of a “Home” or “About Us” page, they have a “Vibe” page. They have a dictionary definition complete with the pronunciation: [vahyb] n. a distinct emotional atmosphere. Because it took five seconds, I checked Dictionary.com, Websters, and Oxford, and not surprisingly nobody gave that definition.
It should be noted that the hotel is located in the heart of the financial district, which has been completely overrun with neurotic dot-com transplants. This is hilarious and hardly surprising, but only represents the top 90th percentile or so of the alarmist, pushover attitude that makes it a pain in the ass to run a business here. We may be losing ground to the overflow of the Upper-West Side, but at least there’s still fun shit to do.
May not be that the owner of the joint thinks lowly of the barkeep, but that he fucking hates how political conversations at bars always fucking blow and turn what would be a fun night of mustering up the liquid courage to get turned down by hot chicks into some douche-bag grand-standing about some shit of which s/he knows little and/or nobody gives a shit about… Fuck I wish the owner would make the patrons sign that contract as well..