RANT
Overserving
July 31st, 2006
A few weeks back I read an article in the Milford Times about a young man being overserved at one of our local area restaurants. Two family members had written in exclaiming their shock that a bar would allow a customer to drink this much and I agree 100% that the bar is to blame. Now I don’t know the whole story and there is always two sides to every story, but a breathalyzer that says your blood alcohol level is .294 percent is not lying. With .30 being in a coma, what was this bartender thinking? If the bar owner hasn’t been fined very heavy and sentenced to making everyone of his staff go through some sort of alcohol training, then they should get their license revoked; and this is coming from a person that believes the liquor laws are way to strict!
In this day in age of drunk driving and over-intoxication being on the front page of everything you read, I would like to know which bar in Milford it happened at and if this bar owner still has his liquor license? If the bartender or manger on duty that night is still working at this establishment, then the family should find a lawyer to make sure this person can never serve alcohol again.
Working behind the bar for many years of my life, you know when a patron has been overserved. In this small town area we live in, none of our bars are too big to not know what is going on throughout the entire bar. Sure there might be a night that you’re filled to capacity and it gets a little crazy, but 99% of the time, any good bartender or bar manager knows what’s going on and who’s had what to drink. If you say you don’t, then you don’t belong behind the bar. The family also stated that this young man had a problem with binge drinking and I’m here to tell them that most kids these days do. For some reason kids under the age of 25 think its fun to see how many shots they can do in the shortest amount of time. This is why the State of Michigan makes it so hard for people to acquire a liquor license. It’s not like anyone can just open up a bar and start serving alcohol. You have to jump through many hoops and follow some strict guidelines. After you do all this, if you mess up just a few times, then plan on getting that license taken away from you.
When I was behind the bar, we made it clear that as soon as anyone thought a patron had reached their limit, then they were to be cut off and a manager would either take them home themselves, or make sure that they were taken care of and not allowed to have anymore alcohol. Did this work every time, NO, but once you let kids know that drinking till you puke, or seeing how many shots they can do in an hour isn’t going to get them anywhere but into the hospital, then I think this binge drinking epidemic will come to a stop. This goes along with many articles I have written about letting kids start drinking at a younger age so they don’t feel they have to prove a point by staying intoxicated for the first few years. Or maybe doing a little education on alcohol instead of just telling them “DON’T DRINK”? Hasn’t anyone learned that telling a young adult ‘NO’ only makes them want to try it more?
Instead of telling kids not to drink at all, lets educate them with the consequences about what happens when you do over indulge. Instead of M.A.D.D. driving around at night calling the cops when they see someone intoxicated in a vehicle, why not diffuse the problem and drive the person home. Since we don’t have a means of public transportation, most people don’t have the option when it comes to getting behind the wheel unless they choose to not drink at all. Since we all know this will never happen, lets pull our heads out of the sand and try something different.
Getting back to the young man who had alcohol poisoning, do yourself a favor, and learn to pace the flow of alcohol entering your body. Every third drink, order a glass of water, and after an hour of drinking, take a half hour off; if you want to be around long enough to enjoy your 23 birthday, pace yourself. Believe me, I know what a night in the hospital due to overserving can feel like, especially when you don’t have health insurance and get stuck with an $800 medical bill, needless to say it was the last time I ever did that again. All money aside, think what you did to your family that night making them sit there and watch you helplessly because of some ignorant bartender who was only worried about running his/her nightly sales up.
Next time, order a few waters in between the Jagermeister.
Pat Bonish
pat@stldmag.com
Got something to say about this article? Email us at info@smalltownlowdown.com
