Thursday 12 August 2010

You're Not Big and You're Certainly Not Clever

So you buy a beer in a bar, this beer is one you've never seen before, the staff member serving you informs you that this beer is from a foreign county, for arguments sake lets say America.
You question the price, this bottle of beer is more expensive than that pint of lager you're used to drinking in your local and the bar staff tell you it's because it's imported from the states. You think that's bullshit and make some quip about it being a rip off but you pay the money anyway and walk away from the bar muttering under your breath.
The staff member continues serving people for the rest of the evening but remembers your remarks and feels angry that you took your ignorant indignance out on them. You've ruined their day. Nice.
Hope you feel big and clever, because you're not.

9 comments:

Reluctant Scooper said...

Do people ask for prices beforehand? Do you provide a price list? I'm still staggered when punters employ the Andy Pipkin approach of "I want dat one" without giving thought to what a beer actually is or how much it costs.

rabidbarfly said...

We get all sorts, unfortunately we don't have a list as it would have to be changed every week which is a massive job. People do take the Andy Pipkin(whoever he is) approach all the time, the staff do tell customers if the beer is particularly pricey but it's still quite annoying.

Mark said...

I've never seen a price list at The Rake (to be honest I've never looked for one), but I've often been told "this beer is £nn.nn a half" after ordering ... giving me the chance to pick something else if I feel it's too pricey for me.

That's fine by me and works well I think.

Cooking Lager said...

Punters aren't allowed a grumble in your gaff? Next time I am dragged to London I was going to pop into your gaff for a pint with the sole purpose of grumbling about London Prices, how I don't like London and how everything is so much better oop north.

rabidbarfly said...

@Cookie - Of course people can grumble about the prices, I just don't think they should be taking it out on the staff, do you? And you can come in and grumble at me about prices anytime!

Sid Boggle said...

What Mark said. The staff will always tell me if the beer is going to be expensive before they go ahead and pour or pop the cap.

Peter O'Connor said...

common sense time, surely! Your buying premium beer in the capital, it will not be cheap. That is the first thing.
Secondly, I whole heartedly agree. Working in an a bar myself, some respect is appreciated. I don't set the prices in the gaff where I work, so please don't have a go at me if you don't like them! At the end of the day, I've had punters come in, moan at me that their drink is too expensive, or complain that it isn't adequate because I didn't give them their Abbot in a Guinness glass (Am I meant to be psychic?)- only for me to end up finding them half passed out, having been physically sick in the corner, because they've brought a hip flask of gin in with them and are hypocritical swine.
If they think it's that cheap and easy, then they can go brew a range of exciting quality beers, attempt to market them and find a willing specialist outlet, then try and operate and manage that outlet perfectly. If they do that at the price it costs for a pint of Fos**rs, then I'll eat my hat.

rabidbarfly said...

Of course I write this post only to get a pub full of eejits last night!

Bailey said...

The staff in the Rake have always warned me if I'm about to buy something pricey. Did this bloke think you were going to haggle?

Unfortunately, there is a rule in the Man's Code which says, once you've ordered, you can't back down or it means you are a big girl.

It's why I had to watch a friend from work force down a pint of Hardcore IPA in Cask recently, when he really should have ordered a half as the barman suggested.