If you’ve ever been a bartender, you know how stressful the job can be. Constantly making drinks as quickly as you can, handling multiple customers at once, having drunk people shout their orders at you and just hoping they are in their right minds enough to leave decent tips. Bartending is certainly not for the faint of heart. And while most of us know how to be kind, respectful and appreciative of our bartenders, sometimes there are customers out there who need to be taught a lesson.
One bartender in Nashville, Tennessee, Jemima June, recently shared a video on TikTok showing how she had to take matters into her own hands after a customer was taking far too long to pay for his drinks. Below, you can read Jemima’s explanation, watch the full video and see some of the replies that viewers have left, and then let us know in the comments how you feel about this situation.
If you have experience bartending, we would love to hear your personal stories of dealing with difficult customers as well. You have to be brave to work in that field, so we thank you for your service. Then if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article featuring tales from bartenders, check out this story next.
This Nashville bartender decided to take matters into her own hands after both of a customer's cards declined while trying to pay for his drinks
Image credits: jemimajune
Jemima caught the whole encounter with the difficult customer on video and later shared it on TikTok
Image credits: jemimajune_
You can see Jemima's full video right here
Being a bartender is stressful enough, trying to serve everyone at once and keep them all satisfied, so the last thing that should be on any of their plates is having to track down a customer to pay for his drinks. Plus, dealing with people who are under the influence is much harder than serving customers at a coffee shop or a café during lunch hours. You can’t always reason with a drunk person the same way you would with a sober person, so if taking their wallet is the only way to ensure they will come back, Jemima did what she needed to do.
Bartenders have to find the perfect balance of being friendly and personable and setting boundaries with their customers. In this situation, Jemima had already warned the customer several times that he needed to pay and that his cards weren’t working. She also noted that if he did not pay for the drinks, she would have to. It is actually illegal for the bar to enforce such a rule, as it is not her responsibility if a customer walks out. She’s not a security guard; she’s a bartender with many other customers.
However, unfortunately, time and time again restaurants and bars require their staff to cover the costs of rude, irresponsible and intoxicated customers who decide not to pay. While it should not be Jemima’s responsibility to make up for that $27, it is understandable for her to do everything in her power to prevent that cost from falling onto her.
We all know how to be decent and polite human beings, so there is no reason for that to fly out the window when in a bar environment. I’m sure you wouldn’t like a drunken person trying to take $27 from you at your desk job, and bartenders don’t appreciate being put in that situation either. We would love to hear your thoughts on this video below: do you think Jemima was justified in taking the man’s wallet, or would you have handled it another way? Let us know what you think, and the next time you head to the bar with your friends, remember to have more than $27 in your bank account… Or better yet, just bring some cash!
While not everyone understands how stressful bartending is, most viewers applauded Jemima for handling the situation this way
Bored Panda has reached out to Jemima June for a comment and will update the story as soon as we hear back.