Confessions of a Bartender: The Thanksgiving Shift

"But there are also those among us who would prefer not to have random drunk family members passed out in our living room and instead opt for a night out at our favorite restaurant. This is a story about those unlucky few of us who, year after year, open our establishment's doors to the masses and serve hundreds of turkeys, thousands of potatoes, and an incalculable amount of wine. There are two types of people that volunteer to work at"

"a place like this on Thanksgiving; lunatics and psychopaths. The type that will happily dive into a poorly planned service with a last-minute menu designed to maximize profits and turn times, and the type whose relationship with their family is so strained that they find it infinitely more appealing to slog it out at work with people they can barely stand. But Thanksgiving has a sort of magical power to bring these two groups together; with its many elixirs capable"

"of making friends of enemies, bedfellows of strangers, and menage e cinque out of quiet couples. It's booze, of course. The elixirs are booze. One Thanksgiving about ten years ago comes to mind. I was working in yet another swanky hotel. The kind where celebrities, politicians and billionaires all gathered to rub shoulders and...other things. The service itself was unremarkable. Everything took too long, nothing was the right temp, but Goddamn it, was a holiday and everyone still tipped 20%,"

Thanksgiving prompts gatherings, heavy drinking, and early sofa naps. Some people choose dining out to avoid intoxicated relatives. Restaurant and hotel staff open doors to feed large holiday crowds, serving hundreds of turkeys, thousands of potatoes, and vast amounts of wine. Staff who volunteer fall into two types: those who relish chaotic, profit-driven, last-minute services, and those who prefer work over strained family ties. Alcohol fosters unexpected camaraderie among coworkers and guests. A hotel hosted a Thanksgiving service with long, imperfect service but still-generous tipping and a post-shift family-style meal featuring turkey, ham, stuffing, salads, and dozens of bottles of wine.

Read at InsideHook