Should Bartenders Be Held Responsible for Patrons?

Wine, beer, and spirits are very popular in this century. Most of the streets we walk down in our own towns have a bar with a large welcome sign of some sort advertising a happy hour. Many of our favorite sit down restaurants have a bar or serve alcoholic beverages of some sort. As every street has its bar, every bar has it's overly intoxicated human.

So what are the responsibilities of a bartender? Bartenders are those that fill the orders of patrons at the bar itself or are given a beverage order by a waiter or a waitress that he or she will pick up and serve to the patron. Bartenders also are to check identification of patrons that are seated at the bar to make sure they are of legal drinking age. Bartenders must also prepare a wide range of alcoholic beverages, as well as stock the bar, clean the bar, and collect payment for the beverages.

What about how much a customer drinks? In some bars, bartenders are told a cut off limit for patrons, in other bars, the bartender has to use his good judgment and common sense based on the actions of the consumer. But the bartender should not be held responsible for the customer's actions. In many situations, the patrons that walk into some local bars have already consumed alcoholic beverages either at another bar, at a party, or at home. Unless the bartender has a breathalyzer test, there is no way to accurately calculate how high the patron's alcohol level is. So the bartender will serve his customer as if he hasn't had anything to drink besides the rum and coke the bartender just sat in front of him.

Of course, there are situations where the bartender can smell or sense by the patron's actions that he has had a bit of alcohol already that evening. One thing the bartender may want to do is to cut down the amount of alcohol in the drink he is serving to the patron. Instead of ¾ rum cut it down to ½ rum and coke. If there is free peanuts, popcorn, or pretzels that are scattered around the bar, fill the basket up and serve it to the patron with his alcoholic beverage. People have the habit of munching while drinking or just some people munch on foods just because they are there. By consuming pretzels or popcorn or peanuts with an alcoholic drink, helps the body to absorb the alcohol and flush it out of the patron's system quicker. And common sense tells you to space the drinks instead of setting down four shot glasses of whisky.

Many bars have at least one or two of the annoying and violent drinkers. You, being the bartender, have the ability to refuse to serve them. You also should have the ability, as a concerned human being, to call them a cab home. No matter where the bar is located, all bars should have a bouncer or an on duty officer that should be responsible for escorting the patron out of the bar if the patron is not willing to be calm about the situation.

But what about the situations where the patron has had one too many and becomes violent, such as striking another patron, or drawing a weapon? If someone gets hurt, should the bartender be responsible because he or she served the angry patron? Absolutely not, because what someone does while intoxicated on while sober is of their own will and of their own decision. The bartender did his job of serving the patron, but the bartender did not strike another patron, the intoxicated patron did. Many say that it is still the bartender's fault because he or she gave the patron alcohol. But the alcohol was given at the request of the patron. When a bartender walks up to a customer sitting at the bar, normally his words are "What can I get for you?" There is a choice of answers that the patron can give, such as; "nothing", "a beer", "a shot", "a Pepsi", or "I'll have a water". Yes, bartenders serve non-alcoholic drinks as well. The patron is the one that forms the type of beverage that he wants to order in his head and speaks the words.

In conclusion, this is another prime example of customers blaming their actions on others, when in fact the customer was the not so bright person that actually conducted those actions. The bartender should not be held responsible for the actions of a patron.