Selling vs. Shame in Thy Game

The summer after my first year of college, I got a job back home, tending bar at the Kennedy Center. For some reason, DC allows minors to do this.

Sometimes I worked at these fancy-pants events, but most of the time I was with 1-2 other bartenders at this comedy show. One of the cast members was pre-stardom Steve Carell, so that was pretty cool.

Oh wow! It turns out he married the woman in the show!

It was a funny show. I saw it a million times, so I got to see all the little variations from day to day. One day I told Steve that I liked the way he delivered this one particular joke. Someone flipped the dinner table, throwing everything on the floor, and he said, "I was gonna eat that!"

(I think people like to be appreciated, though I must admit I felt awkward as hell.)

So the bar was off to the side of the seating area, and we'd sell most of the drinks before the show and during intermission. One of the other bartenders, though... man, I couldn't stand this guy.

He was probably in his mid-30's. He returned from breaks stinking of weed, and pronounced the vodka brand "Beefeater" as "Buh-FEE-dur".

At the start of intermission, when the crowd would start heading to the bar, he'd lean out, waving his hand, saying "Hello sir! Hello miss! I can help you right here! We have Tanqueray, Buh-FEE-dur! What can I make for you?!?"

I was embarrassed. I could never act that way. He was loud and obnoxious, and while this was a comedy it was still the Kennedy Center.

Guess what, though... the loud guy? He got all the tips.