In Their Shoes: student bartenders
Charlie Specht
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Features
By Charlie Specht
Advisory Editor
Courtney Shares stood behind the bar of The Burton Hotel, looking up at the patron who stood on the bar stool in a sort of drunken wonder.
Such a scene is pretty common for Shares, a senior who has bartended at the Burton since her junior year. She said she was a regular customer at the bar popular for its monstrous cheeseburgers and pub-like atmosphere before she asked the bar's manager for a job one weekend night.
She said she hasn't looked back since, noting time seems to tick by a little faster when she's behind the bar.
"It doesn't even feel like work," she said. "It goes by really fast, and it's like 'Oh my gosh, it's two o'clock already.'"
Erin Danahy can relate. The senior works with Shares a few times each weekend. She described a marathon shift last Alumni Weekend that included eight hours of taking burger orders followed by a full night of bartending.
"You couldn't move," she said. "I think I messed up 25 orders. I don't really mind when it gets that busy because it goes by faster, and you're not looking at the clock."
Danahy said the demand among students is always high for what they consider their rightfully earned free drinks. She said she balances her friendship with the bar's patrons with her responsibility to do her job.
"It gets annoying, but you have to laugh it off because you know they don't really mean it, and they're not going to remember it," she said. "You want to help everybody out, but you've got to do what's right for the bar."
Shares said the job is a win-win for her and Danahy, affording them the opportunity to mingle with friends while making money on weekends.
"I love it," she said. "It's the ideal college job, definitely. I hang out on the weekends with my friends and stuff, but I feel I don't miss out on parties. I can still go places until 11 (p.m.). I can still have fun. I don't miss out on fun things because I'm with my friends but I'm working and making money and having fun."
Advisory Editor
Courtney Shares stood behind the bar of The Burton Hotel, looking up at the patron who stood on the bar stool in a sort of drunken wonder.
Such a scene is pretty common for Shares, a senior who has bartended at the Burton since her junior year. She said she was a regular customer at the bar popular for its monstrous cheeseburgers and pub-like atmosphere before she asked the bar's manager for a job one weekend night.
She said she hasn't looked back since, noting time seems to tick by a little faster when she's behind the bar.
"It doesn't even feel like work," she said. "It goes by really fast, and it's like 'Oh my gosh, it's two o'clock already.'"
Erin Danahy can relate. The senior works with Shares a few times each weekend. She described a marathon shift last Alumni Weekend that included eight hours of taking burger orders followed by a full night of bartending.
"You couldn't move," she said. "I think I messed up 25 orders. I don't really mind when it gets that busy because it goes by faster, and you're not looking at the clock."
Danahy said the demand among students is always high for what they consider their rightfully earned free drinks. She said she balances her friendship with the bar's patrons with her responsibility to do her job.
"It gets annoying, but you have to laugh it off because you know they don't really mean it, and they're not going to remember it," she said. "You want to help everybody out, but you've got to do what's right for the bar."
Shares said the job is a win-win for her and Danahy, affording them the opportunity to mingle with friends while making money on weekends.
"I love it," she said. "It's the ideal college job, definitely. I hang out on the weekends with my friends and stuff, but I feel I don't miss out on parties. I can still go places until 11 (p.m.). I can still have fun. I don't miss out on fun things because I'm with my friends but I'm working and making money and having fun."
Be the first to comment on this story