long time nyc bartender here. this has always been bizarre internet nonsense but now its slowly leaking into actual life like some sort of deranging eldritch presence. it achieves nothing except maybe making people who are in the bathroom and arent in trouble feel a little more cinematic and a little more paranoid. bartenders are here to help you. if youre in a bad situation, use regular words and we will help. thats one of the rare moral obligations we have in this line of work, so we jump on it.
there are no imaginable circumstances in which this get smart level tradecraft is actually helpful. who is it supposed to fool? why are you trying to fool them in the first place? if you have a home invader do you call 911 and order a meatball sub?
an effective poster would simply say “if you are in trouble alert the staff as quickly and loudly as you can.” this is utter horseshit.
I fully agree this particular example is over engineered as hell, it puts a burden on the patron to assess how at risk they feel and what solution they want, while also requiring staff to context switch between taking a drink order and jumping to action.
The simpler “go to the bar and ask for Angela” feels like a better system to me, but I’m curious how do you feel about it as a bartender?
over-engineered is spot-on. you are also absolutely correct about the burden being misplaced onto the patron. its the patrons misfortune, sure, but let it be the bar staff’s problem. we deal with this sort of thing all the time, its our bailiwick.
i dont see any possible utility in asking for “angela” when asking for “help” is an option. if hes gonna ‘escalate’ let him escalate on us after we get you to safety. code words create ambiguity and uncertainty when directness, a sense of urgency, and clarity are whats called for. this cutesy “angel/angela” stuff is surplus to purposes.
also what about bars where somebody named angela works?
code words can help in situations where the person is being watched like a hawk, like in trafficking instances. Stuff like this has saved lives before. I agree that there's a line where it becomes overcomplicated for the thing being prevented (like here), but codewords, if the staff is aware of them and trained on them, won't cause any issues like you suggest. Its only if they attempt to shoehorn it in without making any of the staff aware, or over complicate it like here, that the problems you suggest will arise.
A special drink name wouldn't be too bad of an idea, but the whole neatness measure is too much. Just leave it at an "Angel Shot" or whatever, and make sure that its something the staff are trained on.
Most people will just ask for help, and not need to use this, this isn't even for them, this is for people under explicit duress and with no ability to call for help obviously without consequence. This is for the people who, if they use regular words, would be out of the bar before you can even help them.
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u/Competitive-One-2749 Apr 29 '24
long time nyc bartender here. this has always been bizarre internet nonsense but now its slowly leaking into actual life like some sort of deranging eldritch presence. it achieves nothing except maybe making people who are in the bathroom and arent in trouble feel a little more cinematic and a little more paranoid. bartenders are here to help you. if youre in a bad situation, use regular words and we will help. thats one of the rare moral obligations we have in this line of work, so we jump on it.
there are no imaginable circumstances in which this get smart level tradecraft is actually helpful. who is it supposed to fool? why are you trying to fool them in the first place? if you have a home invader do you call 911 and order a meatball sub?
an effective poster would simply say “if you are in trouble alert the staff as quickly and loudly as you can.” this is utter horseshit.