Sean Smith/Kansan
Above: Nikki Polley, Plymouth, Minn. senior, pours a pitcher of beer at The Ranch in the middle of a busy night. "Thursday's are our busiest night," Poly said. Below: Lynn Sander Overland Park sophomore, carries drinks through The Ranch. She has been waitressing there for eight months.
to do anything to get themselves in trouble or fired.
It's Final Four 2003. Bartender Chris Hartley, Lenexa graduate, opens a bar on Massachusetts Street at noon. People start lining up at 9 a.m. After an hour at work, his phone rings off the hook. It's his friends. "Can you get us in?" they keep asking.
When you pull up to your night-out destination and your heart sinks at sight of the line, don't call your friend who is working and expect
him or her to get you in Polley says the people she knows always want to be moved to the front of the line without realizing she doesn't have that kind of pull. They have to wait like everyone else, she says.
"People either love me or hate me depending on how fast I can get their drinks and make them happy."
When you know —Nikki Polley, Plymouth, Minn., senior someone who works at a
When you know Nikki Polle someone who works at a bar, often you will go expecting to get cheap drinks or get in free.
When you finally make it to the front of the line, and it's time to hand over your ID and money to the not-so-scary doorman, remember that you have to be 21 to drink.
"My biggest pet peeve is when someone brings in what is obviously a fake and then gets mad when you won't let them in," Brock Best, Cadillac Ranch doorman, says. "Girls think we're intimidating but we're just doing our jobs."
John Ossie, Kansas City, Kan., senior and bartender at The Hawk, 1340 Ohio St., says people expect deals and get irritated when they don't get them. They don't realize it's the bartender's job on the line. Ossie says people think because it's just alcohol there's some unwritten guideline about getting cheap drinks.
Whether it's your best friend and roommate of three years, or your boyfriend's sister's friend's cousin, don't expect privileges. "One night I had to kick my own friends out and fight them to get into a cab," says Nick Reddell, Overland Park senior and bartender at Quinton's, 615 Massachusetts St.
Many students want to go to the bars. It's a fun atmosphere and it may seem like that's what everyone is doing on weekends. Well, resist the temptation to use a fake ID and wait until you're 21. It will save the doormen the hassle of denying you and you can save yourself from being in trouble with the law.
When Polley walks by the door at Cadillac Ranch, she happens to overhear a girl with a fake ID being denied entry. "This isn't you, I can't let you in," she hears the doorman say. About an hour later, Polley notices of the same girl back at the door with the same ID but dressed in new outfit. Maybe she thought the doorman wouldn't recognize her, or the new outfit helped her to look a little more like the girl she was attempting to impersonate.
There are ways to get drinks at bars, even when it's crowded. Being rude, waving your hands and complaining will get you nowhere.
As Reddell pours a round of drinks at Quinton's, he hears a girl yelling for service. He tells her to wait her turn or go to a different bar. She keeps being rude and obnoxious, so he tells she will not serve her and so to a different bar. In
her that he will not serve her and she should go to a different bar. In response, she spits her gum at him.
"A lot of people don't understand that there's a system to serving drinks. Most places serve left to right," Hartley says. "Someone may jump in and we won't see them." Reddell says if you get skipped, it isn't intentional. Bartenders have areas they must cover and a path they must follow. So if you're not getting your drink right away, be patient, the bartender will get to you eventually.
Now that you know there's a system to serving drinks, you should also know that it won't do you any good to hold that 5- or 10-dollar-bill out in front of you, shouting the name of employees. Reddell says the most annoying thing in the world is when someone is waving money in his face and yelling his name.
"I try not to make eye contact with people because if you're pouring a drink and someone sees you look at them, they're not afraid to yell," Reddell says.
If you stand in line patiently and, more importantly, quietly, you will probably be served quickly. And you won't have a panic attack waiting for your drink.
Polley was racing around the Cadillac Ranch, taking orders and serving drinks. It was a busy night and everyone was eager to start drinking. She took an order for a group of guys and scrambled to the bar to place their order. The bar was hectic and it took awhile for a bartender to find time to pour Polley's drinks. By the time she returned to the table, the guys