In response to this lament:
“These kids never learned the proper way to be a barfly,” said an L.A. bartender, quoted in “Gen Z Doesn’t Want to Start a Bar Tab/To the chagrin of bartenders, many 20-something bargoers prefer to close out and pay after every single drink.”
That’s not the quote. This is:
As with everything else in the New York Times though, I am going to default to “none of these discussions actually happened” and the “author” just made everything up.
The man’s almost as cynical as I am.
Sic transit mendax.
You just can’t tell any more, what with all the lying going on. I’ve sorta became numb to all of it, and have started limiting my access to all forms of media. I have no more fux to give.
I don’t know that I’ve ever run a bar tab, even back in my youth. And I’m Gen X, or so I’m told. Funny how most of my life that didn’t really seem to be a thing until just recently.
Anyway, maybe it was the poor quality of bars I went to, or the generally level of poverty I suffered under. I guess in the only semi-pub-like place in the area where we’d order food in addition to drinks we’d have several drinks before the waitress would insist we pay before the next round was delivered.
I’ve always preferred to pay as I go, but that’s a function of how I used to drink.
Back when I was working I’d often stop about 2/3 of the way thru my nearly two hour (each way) commute on the way home to have a couple beers and wash the day off. Since I had a train to catch, I didn’t want to wait to settle a tab while the bartender was serving someone else, so I’d pay as I went (always with cash) and when I was done I could leave my tip and depart.
The only time I’d run a tab was if I was having dinner, because then I’d be staying longer and catching whatever train was next after I finished. The bartenders figured out that if I didn’t put cash on the bar when I sat down I was eating and would give me a menu and silverware.
Mark D
Maybe they don’t want their credit card number stolen by some actor want a be working as a bartender?
Maybe they have never experience the joy of being served by a true professional ?