DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY
I'm an old bartender, which means I was once a young bartender. People think of bartenders as soft upstairs, sort of like the character of Woody from the TV sitcom Cheers. In truth, a bartender who takes pride in the craft has many skills not called for in the bartenders guide: they are called on to maintain control of drunks, to diplomatically cut them off before they lose control, they are called on to counsel the lovelorn, or the depressed, to know a little about many subjects, and of course, to have a deep knowledge of cocktail recipes as well as a taste memory of the various bottles on display. I once worked with such a bartender. Stan was the the rare old bartender. He was then my age now. I was a young novice. Stan had an encyclopedic memory of classic cocktails and their history. People, mostly men, would stride up to the bar, lay down a $5 dollar bill and name a drink that might stump Stan. Invariably he would make the requested cocktail, charge the p...