You and your racist patron...

A question for those in the service industry, especially bartenders, and especially bartenders who are not white men: If a non-regular is being a tool to a bartender, what is the best thing for a regular to do? I was at my local this evening, which is largely staffed and patronized by white people. A  white guy I have not seen before was calling the young, Black, dresses kinda preppy bartender "Darius." As it happens, that's not his name. My inclination was to call the guy out, but I did not want to create a situation that would cause the party (4 people) to stiff the bartender/run out on the check. So, bartenders, a question -- if a customer is being a dick to you, what do you want from your regulars? 

Comments

[Jay Porter]

I'm an owner who used to bartend, and I'm generally of the whitish hue, so I'm not fully qualified...but a few thoughts that might be helpful. Assuming that the bartender is a dedicated hospitality professional, I'd wager that:

* He cared more about you being made uncomfortable by the meatheads, and your experience being compromised, than he did about what the people said to him;

* He sees so many people in various states of goodness and badness that he's really good at letting things roll off him, much more than anyone would have the right to expect; and

* Collecting a tip from that party was not something he was concerned about. (I was surprised to find when I entered the hospitality industry that the best servers and bartenders never think about tips while working. They just think about their guests.)

At our establishment, I encourage all of our team to boot anyone who shows significant disprect to them, not only to make ours a respectful and positive work environment, but also because boorish people tend to ruin the experience of other guests (who we want back). Which your experience shows perfectly. However, hospitality professionals tend to be so accommodating to guests that they'll almost never 86 someone for being a dick. I wish we'd do it more often.

Naturally, if an owner or GM is around when something like that happens, they'll be quick to boot the offender, since anything less is, you know, uncool.