Last Friday in a posh Saratoga eatery, a young woman joined a group of friends having dinner at the bar. Let’s call her Sally. During the course of her stay, Sally became excessively witty and charming with drink. Near closing time, as the manager worked on a pile of receipts at a hightop near by, Sally was in full-throated rut. When the manager went to the gents, she toddled to the hightop, took his seat and began rifling through the paperwork. When he returned, he asked Sally just what the hell she was doing. “I’m just trying to help, duh” was her slurred reply. Her’s was an example of what in the bar and restaurant business is known as buzz management, ie, how well a patron holds his or her drink. Sally failed of course. You’ve seen such behavior as you’ve traveled the byways of life. Those who serve denatured ethanol to the public confront this sort of thing routinely in their work life. Buzz management is not an easy matter.
© 2024 John Oliver
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