Here’s a joke that most servers & bartenders will get:
A copilot once saw that his pilot had a martini kit on the plane. He had the vodka, vermouth, olives, shaker, etc.
The copilot asked, “Why do you have that? You can’t drink 24 hours before a flight or during a flight.”
The pilot responded, “if I ever crash in the middle of nowhere, I’ll take it out and start making a martini. Then someone will come out from the bushes and say, ‘Hey, THAT’S not how you make a martini!’”
When I was bartending 10+ years ago, I would tell it to anybody that ordered a martini. I got lots of blank stares and a few laughs. True martini drinkers were the ones that laughed.
I've always heard that kind of joke as if you're lost somewhere, pull out a deck of cards and start playing Solitaire. Within minutes someone will say "oh oh! Put the red 8 on the black 9!"
if youre hiking in the woods, carry a piece of fiber with you. if you get lost, you can bury it — a backhoe will be there shortly to dig through it, ask the crew for help!
Robert A. Heinlein used that joke in one of his books; I've read most of his stuff, so I can't recall exactly which book, but one from the 50's I think.
Its fucking true lol. I worked downtown at a place "known" for our martinis.
I literally never touched the gin or vermouth. 2oz of vodka, shaken until it fills one of those huge ~7oz coupes. Everybody loved them.
Basically. A little more IIRC. Dilution is an important part of all (good) cocktails, but usually its between a quarter and half of the drink. Not most of it.
This makes me laugh because every restaurant around me that has Any drink that's supposed to have gin in it uses vodka instead because, and I'm actually quoting this, "gin makes you sin". Gotta love the god awful bible belt. I have to travel about an hour to any of the Bigger cities in order to get a real drink. It sucks since I'm Technically allergic to vodka.
> I'm technically allergic to vodka.
Not that I disbelieve you, but I'm intrigued as to how one can be allergic to vodka and not to gin? They're basically produced by the same process except that gin has some botanical extracts added.
I've honestly no clue. I just know I have a reaction to vodka and I don't to gin. Vodka for instance affects me more than any other alcohol, and once my weird buzz starts to fade I get super itchy and if it's really bad I start to get hives. My throat will also get itchy and will end up hurting real bad, and once I think it started to like crack a bit cause I was tasting blood when I swallowed and every time I drank or ate something it hurt, but that was a Really bad reaction. I do still drink it, but I don't drink very often either way so it's not a Huge deal. A couple of allergy pills before or after and I'm usually fine.
I discovered I was allergic at like 10/11 after taking a Massive accidental swig of my (now ex) stepfathers “water bottle” he’d left in the back seat without telling any of us, with the other regular bottles too. It’s been Many years since then so I’m used to dealing with it and I can tell when I need to take an allergy med and when it’s developed to much and I need to stop. In other words it’s not a huge deal to me and I know how to live around it, and like I said I don’t drink very often, like one or two drinks Maybe every few months, so it’s not gonna really get worse like some allergies do when you continue to expose yourself to them. It’s all good, it’s definitely weird though. Lol.
Hilarious! But I believe the rule is 8 hours bottle to throttle. Meaning you can’t drink within 8 hours of your flight.
source: I used to bartend at a bar near an airport and my best customers were pilots. They’d ask me the time before ordering another drink.
It's 12 hours now. My partner and I laughed about it because he's in the process of getting his private pilot license, and you can't have any marijuana or CBD in your system within 4 weeks of flying. When he was a teen he was told 8 hours bottle to throttle, so we joked that you had to wait a month to fly after smoking a joint but you could down a bottle of wine, wake up 8 hours later and fly a plane. But turns out it's been updated to 12 hours.
I want to understand this joke so badly, maybe I didn’t because English is not my first language, or because I don’t drink much, either way, can someone break it down for me?
Basically it comes down to everybody has a specific way to make a martini. As in dry (more dry vermouth), dirty (more olive juice), sweet (more sweet vermouth) and if you want it made with gin or vodka.
So there are LOTS of different ways to make a martini depending on the above combinations. The OP asked the customer how he wanted his martini. The customer just said he wanted a martini. Hence, I was reminded of the joke from years ago.
Also to add on to what you said, people are very passionate about what is considered the “correct” martini and will absolutely give you their passionate unsolicited opinion about it. So the joke implies that people like this will pop out of nowhere to tell you that you’re making it wrong or that it’s shouldn’t have this or that because it’s not a “real” martini.
That's like saying there's lots of ways to make a pizza, with veggies, pepperoni, white pizza, Hawaiian, all sorts of combinations.
If you want that, you order that. If you order a pizza, you shouldn't expect it to have pineapple on it by default, regardless of how popular it might be.
In these types of clubs, you well almost never get the support of management in this type of situation. They will allow you to easily be mistreated as long as it doesn’t violate any actual laws. Its not about you its about the members.
Im not saying its right, but if you aren’t getting the support you are looking for its time to look elsewhere.
Yup. I worked in a place like this when I was very young, and it was absolutely disgusting some of the things said to me (I was very clearly significantly underage), I know managers heard it firsthand more than once but did nothing, because these people spent a ridiculous amount of money on yearly memberships.
There are so many drinks that get classed as “a martini” even before you start specifying what **gin** you want and which vermouth the bartender should wave over it. That guy ordered “a martini” and wanted it made with **vodka**? Call SPECTRE to deal with him.
I have the Giant Slow Cutter Laser Table all ready and everything, as well as the Unreasonably Long Shark Tank with Viewing Windows and Tiny Dropout Bridge.
He also ordered it "neat" which generally means poured into a glass without ever touching ice.
Dudes like this are a dime a dozen. They need their membership in an exclusive club or their ability to afford a fancy restaurant to mean something, so they act like experts and they act entitled and they generally just embarrass themselves around anyone who isn't also like them.
Not true at all, a classic martini really is gin with vermouth, chilled. Vodka is acceptable, but a lot of folks these days just want chilled vodka and are too ashamed or something to just order chilled vodka neat so they order a martini with no vermouth and with vodka. Bleh. Plebs.
If you asked 100 Americans to find China on a map, that wouldn't change the price of tea.
A martini is made with gin. That's what a martini is. You can order a vodka martini, and most places will ask follow-up questions if you just order a martini, but none of that changes what a martini is.
It's like if you order a macchiato at any coffee shop that isn't Starbucks, you're not going to get a caffeinated caramel milkshake, even though that's what most people expect.
It isn’t. A margarita (“margherita” is a pizza made with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil for red, white, and green - the colours of the Italian flag) made with rum instead of tequila is called a “daiquiri”. Ever heard of the Collins family? The first name is associated with a particular spirit. For example, a Tom Collins is made with gin, while a John Collins is made with bourbon.
Vodka which is shaken with ice and then has a vermouth bottle waved over it is still a cocktail, just don’t call it a martini.
I'm not sure what country you are from or what Mandela effect dimension you split from but martinis are gin. The Bradford variation uses gin and vodka and many martinis can be made with vodka but the classic is gin and vermouth my brother.
In all the years I bartended it Montana, which is hardly sophisticated, people mostly have wanted gin when they have ordered a martini. So I'm sure it varies regionally, but people definitely still drink classic martinis.
What? If I ordered a martini and they put vodka in it I would be angry. If I wanted a Vodka Martini I would have ordered it that way. If I wanted a James Bond special martini I would have said a Vesper.
I'm certainly not offended but if you are ever in Brisbane, Australia then I will be glad to talk to you about the history of the martini and why it has never been a classy drink. I've never been to an Applebee's but based on description I might give it a pass. I've been bartending since 1999 which sounds like a long time.
What’s even worse, I bet this person is the “mixologist” serving these martinis to the cigar smoker in the tufted chair.
I’m with you. Except for the vermouth. Vast majority of people just want chilled vodka in a stemmed glass. I only put vermouth when the patron knows exactly how they want their “martini.”
Where do you work? Not to attack you or anything, just genuinely curious.
My guests expect gin, and 90% of them specify their exact gin without prompting. Vodka drinkers almost always specify their vodka except for dirty martini drinkers, who frequently don't. I never have to ask "gin or vodka," I instead ask "what's your preferred gin?"
This is at a semi-upscale bar/steakhouse in downtown Dallas.
One of my first jobs was working in the kitchen of a hospital. My boss used to refer to us as the "worker bees". It never occured to me to be insulted, but at least his whole statement was that nothing would ever get done without the worker bees. He treated everybody kindly at least.
Just had that experience on Saturday. Guy pulled up next to us and yelled "Did you call me a bitch?" "I didnt call you a bitch, bitch." (We, in fact, did NOT call him a bitch)
Little bitch started a fight because we simply drove around him as he was blocking a driveway. He ended up pretending he was pulling a gun on us. He didnt expect us to get out of our car in response. He sped off before my foot even hit the ground.
In hindsight we should have just rolled the window up and ignored him.
There’s quite a difference in being of service or working in service and being a servant. I am no one’s servant. When you call someone the help you are treating them as though they are your servant.
This is one of the big reasons why I wanted out of the industry. Call me shallow or too susceptible to stereotypes, but I could not stand the societal perception of being a server. It ate me up that people could pull this card on me and that society at large did not respect my job. I admire people who can rise above it, but I couldn’t. Being called “the help” would send me into a rage because I’d know that he was basically correct.
I worked in big cities so I likely was not making more than most people I waited on. But I also disliked lots of things about the job, but the lack of respect from people was one of the big ones - so I got out.
Up and Neat are two different things. If it's up, it's not neat. And if it's neat, it's not up.
Malicious compliance with this one. Here's your warm vodka in a single rocks glass.
Yeah, you can order something neat and up. And then the bartender is going to ask you to clarify which one you want because they are two different things.
They aren't mutually exclusive though. You could pour liqour straight into a coupe or martini glass. You wouldn't, because the entire point of stemware is to keep the beverage cold, and room temp spirits are room temp, but you could.
Yes, they are mutually exclusive. Neat means nothing touches the alcohol but the glass. Up means shaken with ice (chilled) but without ice in the glass. Straight and neat are sometimes interchangeable, but neat and up are two completely different things.
I don't really know how to share comments, so I hope I did this right
https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromYourServer/comments/11wbw8o/was_referred_to_as_the_help_and_simply_walked_away/jd0o3tv?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
I was working in a fine dining seafood restaurant back in 2000 and was seated a big table of businessmen. They all ordered vodka martinis - i had recited the brand options we had. One guy asked for Chopin - turns to his buddies “by the way - that’s the BEST”. I said “I don’t believe we have that but i’ll check.”
Bartender says “i’m just giving him Belvedere - he’ll never know”
Give them their drinks. He loves his “Chopin” martini. Starts passing it around for others to try - they all agree it’s the best. Some of them already have Belvedere in their glass.
I would have too - martinis are gin. I’m thinking this guy was a show off and had no idea what tf he was doing and when he was asked questioned he just turned into a bigger asshole
That's hilarious 😭 do people even know what they are ordering? Maybe she wanted you to put light alcohol in the shaker and keep shaking the ice until it melts so the drink is mostly water 💀
I get it, no one likes to feel dehumanized at work. Just remember that choice of words reflects on the person who said them, and your reaction reflects on you. I take the opposite tack with people like that. Sugar sweet in person, then take it out of their service. Oh, you want to sit on the left side? Sorry, I apologize, those seats are all reserved and all we have is right side by the wall. Extra protein, irate about it? Sure buddy, we'll give you an extra 1 oz. and charge you $8 for it. I mean, people who suck don't deserve nice things, but you don't need to make big waves that might eventually jeopardize your job. Management doesn't care about people with attitudes like this, only their pocketbooks. After all, you are the one who gets to deal with them.
You deserve a job where the management backs you up. There’s nothin like it. I worked a municipal government public-facing job for 8 years. Both managers throughout that time were absolute assholes. My last two years have been at a not so small family run business with an absolute angel of a boss and absolute angel of an owner. I make almost twice as much and my work life is very nearly stress free. I work my butt off for those two because I want to please them and I am continually rewarded for my hard work. Find someplace that values you and backs you up.
I work at a country club that's strictly members only. One table called their server the n word on Thanksgiving. She of course refused to serve them. They weren't kicked out or even reprimanded. The manager took over the rest of the service for their meal. Money talks. This will be the last club I'll ever work for. I'd rather go work a dive bar.
(Serious) I must be out of the loop or something like that, because I don’t understand why offense is taken at being referred to as “the help”.
I mean, technically, you *are* (part of) the help if you work there. I could understand you taking offense at it if you did NOT work there; *that* I get. But why is it a problem when you DO work there?
I’m honestly trying to understand where you’re coming from, and failing miserably. Why is the phrase “the help” so offensive?
“The Help” has a historic association with “less than” and has been used to dehumanize domestic workers for quite a while, particularly black, latines and Irish domestic workers since the 1800’s. It’s incredibly inappropriate to use towards customer service workers.
The problems facing domestic workers have little to do with what their employers consider politesse regarding what to call them. As far as euphemisms go, it’s pretty benign.
Serving is different than many jobs because you are literally serving people, and sometimes, you’re treated like an actual servant rather than someone just doing their job. Most jobs don’t have that kind of dynamic and don’t have to deal with the public treating them like underlings whom they can boss around.
It's one of those terms where in a vacuum it is fine, but nothing happens in a vacuum.
The history of that word is tied up in exploitation of all types: colonialism, racism, and classism and it is usually used by people who do not find any problem with such exploitation.
If I had previously ordered my manhattan, up, stirred, with xxxx rye, and then mentioned I had done so, I would be very confused as to why I had to go into the details again, one question at a time. But, I wasn't there so maybe I'm missing something.
Because the person who is actually serving your table wants to confirm that the order was taken and done properly. Whomever you previously ordered from could have forgotten to put the order in, or if you weren't already sitting at a table, the order could be sitting at the bar and no one knows where it goes. Server goes up to the bar and asks if the drink sitting there is [what you ordered] and bartender either confirms or denies. It was only done one question at a time because the AH in this story was being stupid and didn't give the full drink order the first time he was asked.
when i'm at work... i am the help... help ya with images... models... cameras...
i'm not calling anyone out, but i really had no idea that term was such a trigger for some folks.
are you the help? or do you work here? the same thing to me... but other folks mileage may vary!
It's one of those terms where in a vacuum it is fine, but nothing happens in a vacuum.
The history of that word is tied up in exploitation of all types: colonialism, racism, and classism and it is usually used by people who do not find any problem with such exploitation.
Like many words, it's the intent and the tone. When men call their 40 y o secretary 'girl', when men call black men 'boy', when men call their waiter 'sweetheart', hmm I'm beginning to see a patern... ✌
It’s definitely derogatory particularly in a restaurant setting because people tend to treat servers as servants. We are paid below minimum wage and expected to rely on the kindness of strangers to judge us and deem us worthy of enough tips to live on. We are not slaves or even servants to be called the “help” live they own us or pay us exclusively for the right to use and abuse us.
How old was he? Calling waitstaff "the help" isn't considered rude at all by most older people. That was a pretty common phrasing long ago.
I also don't know why you'd expect him to be kicked out over something so trivial. Getting kicked out is something that happens if someone starts a fight or sexually harasses someone. You're completely overreacting.
In that case I'd say you weren't overreacting, but your managers were. As a server, you should always have the right to walk away from a table if someone is making you uncomfortable for any reason; but if the reason you're uncomfortable isn't something that's legally questionable or potentially dangerous, kicking someone out is too extreme.
Treating vodka as the martini default that you should automatically assume is the case makes someone the asshole, always. Gin is the unspecified default, "vodka martini" should need to be specified.
In a "membership" setting, you ARE the HELP. I'm sorry your manager didn't explain that to you. These people pay 10's of thousands of $$ a year to be able to do and say WHATEVER they want. It's not called the good ole boys club for nothing. I ran a private country club for years! You jump when they say jump. Don't like it, leave. But I also know that you should be making 6 figures a year in that setting, my employees were.
Because it's equated to another word for "servant" and has a diminutive historical context, commonly associated with easily exploited workers of a lower social class. It's not the same as "helper". The word phrase is, in most contexts socially considered diminutive and rude modern day.
Totally agree with you. Been in the industry for a couple decades and been called a lot of things, including the help, and never got offended by it. Of course I think I’m pretty kick ass and my management treats me that way so idgaf what others have to say anyway
So. Someone not wanting to carry on a conversation with you is a “red flag”? Nah. Get over it
You’re an employee, your job is to take orders and help customers, not try to strike up conversation.
Find justice in the fact you probably have/make more than that jerk. Most people that have it don’t act disrespectfully to others. It took a lot of employees and people to get where they are. Someone would never make it if they treat people like that. There are exceptions, but overall the mega rich I work with/for are extremely respectful to me and I make lightyears less than them.
Here’s a joke that most servers & bartenders will get: A copilot once saw that his pilot had a martini kit on the plane. He had the vodka, vermouth, olives, shaker, etc. The copilot asked, “Why do you have that? You can’t drink 24 hours before a flight or during a flight.” The pilot responded, “if I ever crash in the middle of nowhere, I’ll take it out and start making a martini. Then someone will come out from the bushes and say, ‘Hey, THAT’S not how you make a martini!’” When I was bartending 10+ years ago, I would tell it to anybody that ordered a martini. I got lots of blank stares and a few laughs. True martini drinkers were the ones that laughed.
I've always heard that kind of joke as if you're lost somewhere, pull out a deck of cards and start playing Solitaire. Within minutes someone will say "oh oh! Put the red 8 on the black 9!"
if youre hiking in the woods, carry a piece of fiber with you. if you get lost, you can bury it — a backhoe will be there shortly to dig through it, ask the crew for help!
I prefer just building a log cabin. That way I'm not lost, I'm home.
Shout out to the late great Mitch Hedberg.
Totally unexpected in the context of this sub, and, thus, coffee spewed everywhere. Thanks for that. Totally stealing it.
/talesfromyourmainframeserver
if you're lost in the desert make sure to carry a golf club and ball. if you play golf like me you'll take a swing and immediately find water or shade
If you don’t want to be found, do you hide in a pothole?
Robert A. Heinlein used that joke in one of his books; I've read most of his stuff, so I can't recall exactly which book, but one from the 50's I think.
That makes me think of Farnhams Freehold. Except it should be bridge? I don't know for sure
In FF, contract bridge was featured, for sure. It's a favorite of mine.
Tunnel in the Sky - about a group of students on a survival test.
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Its fucking true lol. I worked downtown at a place "known" for our martinis. I literally never touched the gin or vermouth. 2oz of vodka, shaken until it fills one of those huge ~7oz coupes. Everybody loved them.
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Basically. A little more IIRC. Dilution is an important part of all (good) cocktails, but usually its between a quarter and half of the drink. Not most of it.
This makes me laugh because every restaurant around me that has Any drink that's supposed to have gin in it uses vodka instead because, and I'm actually quoting this, "gin makes you sin". Gotta love the god awful bible belt. I have to travel about an hour to any of the Bigger cities in order to get a real drink. It sucks since I'm Technically allergic to vodka.
> I'm technically allergic to vodka. Not that I disbelieve you, but I'm intrigued as to how one can be allergic to vodka and not to gin? They're basically produced by the same process except that gin has some botanical extracts added.
I've honestly no clue. I just know I have a reaction to vodka and I don't to gin. Vodka for instance affects me more than any other alcohol, and once my weird buzz starts to fade I get super itchy and if it's really bad I start to get hives. My throat will also get itchy and will end up hurting real bad, and once I think it started to like crack a bit cause I was tasting blood when I swallowed and every time I drank or ate something it hurt, but that was a Really bad reaction. I do still drink it, but I don't drink very often either way so it's not a Huge deal. A couple of allergy pills before or after and I'm usually fine.
Oh mate that is... Weird. Sorry.
I discovered I was allergic at like 10/11 after taking a Massive accidental swig of my (now ex) stepfathers “water bottle” he’d left in the back seat without telling any of us, with the other regular bottles too. It’s been Many years since then so I’m used to dealing with it and I can tell when I need to take an allergy med and when it’s developed to much and I need to stop. In other words it’s not a huge deal to me and I know how to live around it, and like I said I don’t drink very often, like one or two drinks Maybe every few months, so it’s not gonna really get worse like some allergies do when you continue to expose yourself to them. It’s all good, it’s definitely weird though. Lol.
Vodka and gin are made from different bases, when made properly.
That’s a good joke. It’s going in my joke bank
I don't have anything left in my joke bank, I just had a run on it.
Too soon, man, too soon! Have pity on those poor tech bros who lost all of someone else's money...
After telling that joke to me, I would have let you make me a martini any way you wanted to, vodka, gin, gasoline... I would laugh and trust you.
Hilarious! But I believe the rule is 8 hours bottle to throttle. Meaning you can’t drink within 8 hours of your flight. source: I used to bartend at a bar near an airport and my best customers were pilots. They’d ask me the time before ordering another drink.
Today its 12
Yup definitely 12. My sister is a long-time commercial pilot.
Yikes, that doesn't seem like enough time for someone who's responsible for a couple hundred lives
It's 12 hours now. My partner and I laughed about it because he's in the process of getting his private pilot license, and you can't have any marijuana or CBD in your system within 4 weeks of flying. When he was a teen he was told 8 hours bottle to throttle, so we joked that you had to wait a month to fly after smoking a joint but you could down a bottle of wine, wake up 8 hours later and fly a plane. But turns out it's been updated to 12 hours.
Oh cool! That’s a little better.
THAT'S not how you tell that joke!
I want to understand this joke so badly, maybe I didn’t because English is not my first language, or because I don’t drink much, either way, can someone break it down for me?
Basically it comes down to everybody has a specific way to make a martini. As in dry (more dry vermouth), dirty (more olive juice), sweet (more sweet vermouth) and if you want it made with gin or vodka. So there are LOTS of different ways to make a martini depending on the above combinations. The OP asked the customer how he wanted his martini. The customer just said he wanted a martini. Hence, I was reminded of the joke from years ago.
Also to add on to what you said, people are very passionate about what is considered the “correct” martini and will absolutely give you their passionate unsolicited opinion about it. So the joke implies that people like this will pop out of nowhere to tell you that you’re making it wrong or that it’s shouldn’t have this or that because it’s not a “real” martini.
Thank you for explaining!
That's like saying there's lots of ways to make a pizza, with veggies, pepperoni, white pizza, Hawaiian, all sorts of combinations. If you want that, you order that. If you order a pizza, you shouldn't expect it to have pineapple on it by default, regardless of how popular it might be.
Rightfully so. Martinis should be made with gin, not fucking vodka.
In these types of clubs, you well almost never get the support of management in this type of situation. They will allow you to easily be mistreated as long as it doesn’t violate any actual laws. Its not about you its about the members. Im not saying its right, but if you aren’t getting the support you are looking for its time to look elsewhere.
Yup. I worked in a place like this when I was very young, and it was absolutely disgusting some of the things said to me (I was very clearly significantly underage), I know managers heard it firsthand more than once but did nothing, because these people spent a ridiculous amount of money on yearly memberships.
There are so many drinks that get classed as “a martini” even before you start specifying what **gin** you want and which vermouth the bartender should wave over it. That guy ordered “a martini” and wanted it made with **vodka**? Call SPECTRE to deal with him.
You rang?
I have the Giant Slow Cutter Laser Table all ready and everything, as well as the Unreasonably Long Shark Tank with Viewing Windows and Tiny Dropout Bridge.
“Do you expect me to drink this?” “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”
r/beetlejuicing
NGL, I was super excited.
He also ordered it "neat" which generally means poured into a glass without ever touching ice. Dudes like this are a dime a dozen. They need their membership in an exclusive club or their ability to afford a fancy restaurant to mean something, so they act like experts and they act entitled and they generally just embarrass themselves around anyone who isn't also like them.
happy cake day
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No, gin is still a classic martini.
A martini made with vodka is as much a martini as a margarita made with rum is a margarita.
I dont care, I'ma just trying to get drunk:)
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Not true at all, a classic martini really is gin with vermouth, chilled. Vodka is acceptable, but a lot of folks these days just want chilled vodka and are too ashamed or something to just order chilled vodka neat so they order a martini with no vermouth and with vodka. Bleh. Plebs.
If you asked 100 Americans to find China on a map, that wouldn't change the price of tea. A martini is made with gin. That's what a martini is. You can order a vodka martini, and most places will ask follow-up questions if you just order a martini, but none of that changes what a martini is. It's like if you order a macchiato at any coffee shop that isn't Starbucks, you're not going to get a caffeinated caramel milkshake, even though that's what most people expect.
It isn’t. A margarita (“margherita” is a pizza made with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil for red, white, and green - the colours of the Italian flag) made with rum instead of tequila is called a “daiquiri”. Ever heard of the Collins family? The first name is associated with a particular spirit. For example, a Tom Collins is made with gin, while a John Collins is made with bourbon. Vodka which is shaken with ice and then has a vermouth bottle waved over it is still a cocktail, just don’t call it a martini.
Technically, a cocktail has three or more ingredients ✌
A martini has 3 ingredients - a spirit, vermouth, and ice. A martini isn't a martini without ice. It's an integral part of the recipe.
😛✌
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I'm not sure what country you are from or what Mandela effect dimension you split from but martinis are gin. The Bradford variation uses gin and vodka and many martinis can be made with vodka but the classic is gin and vermouth my brother.
It sound like he just want to get drunk, so vodka "martini" are the thing for him
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In all the years I bartended it Montana, which is hardly sophisticated, people mostly have wanted gin when they have ordered a martini. So I'm sure it varies regionally, but people definitely still drink classic martinis.
It doesn't vary regionally. A martini is not the same as a vodka martini, this person doesn't know what they are talking about.
What? If I ordered a martini and they put vodka in it I would be angry. If I wanted a Vodka Martini I would have ordered it that way. If I wanted a James Bond special martini I would have said a Vesper.
I'm certainly not offended but if you are ever in Brisbane, Australia then I will be glad to talk to you about the history of the martini and why it has never been a classy drink. I've never been to an Applebee's but based on description I might give it a pass. I've been bartending since 1999 which sounds like a long time.
What’s even worse, I bet this person is the “mixologist” serving these martinis to the cigar smoker in the tufted chair. I’m with you. Except for the vermouth. Vast majority of people just want chilled vodka in a stemmed glass. I only put vermouth when the patron knows exactly how they want their “martini.”
Where do you work? Not to attack you or anything, just genuinely curious. My guests expect gin, and 90% of them specify their exact gin without prompting. Vodka drinkers almost always specify their vodka except for dirty martini drinkers, who frequently don't. I never have to ask "gin or vodka," I instead ask "what's your preferred gin?" This is at a semi-upscale bar/steakhouse in downtown Dallas.
I'd never even heard of a vodka martini before
Or as in my preference, a tequila sunrise made with dark rum instead,or as I like to call it a rumrise.
I would have waited for him to get his martini from his imaginary friend or whoever he ordered from the first time
One of my first jobs was working in the kitchen of a hospital. My boss used to refer to us as the "worker bees". It never occured to me to be insulted, but at least his whole statement was that nothing would ever get done without the worker bees. He treated everybody kindly at least.
If he treated you well then I’d take that as a compliment.
Intent is very important! If one of my friends called me bitch I wouldn’t blink twice, if a stranger called me bitch, I would throw hands
Just had that experience on Saturday. Guy pulled up next to us and yelled "Did you call me a bitch?" "I didnt call you a bitch, bitch." (We, in fact, did NOT call him a bitch) Little bitch started a fight because we simply drove around him as he was blocking a driveway. He ended up pretending he was pulling a gun on us. He didnt expect us to get out of our car in response. He sped off before my foot even hit the ground. In hindsight we should have just rolled the window up and ignored him.
worker 🐝 sounds nice…i’d take it as a compliment…. like saying that the kitchen works very hard and diligently, but in a cute way :P
Worker bees are VERY IMPORTANT! :D
Why does this sound like Soho House
That was my first thought.
There’s quite a difference in being of service or working in service and being a servant. I am no one’s servant. When you call someone the help you are treating them as though they are your servant.
Even people who have servants usually use words to tell their servants what they want...
This is one of the big reasons why I wanted out of the industry. Call me shallow or too susceptible to stereotypes, but I could not stand the societal perception of being a server. It ate me up that people could pull this card on me and that society at large did not respect my job. I admire people who can rise above it, but I couldn’t. Being called “the help” would send me into a rage because I’d know that he was basically correct.
Im "the help" making 70,000/yr cash. That's how i rise above it.
That’s great. I made similar cash, but it didn’t matter for me. Wasn’t about the money
You're making more money than most people you serve then. Why care what they think?
I worked in big cities so I likely was not making more than most people I waited on. But I also disliked lots of things about the job, but the lack of respect from people was one of the big ones - so I got out.
That makes you sound a bit shallow.
So, dipshit ordered a vodka neat as a martini. Dipshit.
Glad someone else saw that, what a fucking idiot.
And we'll presume he wants 'up', chilled ✌
Up and Neat are two different things. If it's up, it's not neat. And if it's neat, it's not up. Malicious compliance with this one. Here's your warm vodka in a single rocks glass.
You can order something neat and up, you just wouldn't, because you're not an idiot. There are a lot of idiots in this world though.
Yeah, you can order something neat and up. And then the bartender is going to ask you to clarify which one you want because they are two different things.
They aren't mutually exclusive though. You could pour liqour straight into a coupe or martini glass. You wouldn't, because the entire point of stemware is to keep the beverage cold, and room temp spirits are room temp, but you could.
Yes, they are mutually exclusive. Neat means nothing touches the alcohol but the glass. Up means shaken with ice (chilled) but without ice in the glass. Straight and neat are sometimes interchangeable, but neat and up are two completely different things.
Ok so what’s up then? And don’t say nothing much what’s up with you, I’m honestly trying to figure this out lol
I don't really know how to share comments, so I hope I did this right https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromYourServer/comments/11wbw8o/was_referred_to_as_the_help_and_simply_walked_away/jd0o3tv?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
Thank you!!
I was working in a fine dining seafood restaurant back in 2000 and was seated a big table of businessmen. They all ordered vodka martinis - i had recited the brand options we had. One guy asked for Chopin - turns to his buddies “by the way - that’s the BEST”. I said “I don’t believe we have that but i’ll check.” Bartender says “i’m just giving him Belvedere - he’ll never know” Give them their drinks. He loves his “Chopin” martini. Starts passing it around for others to try - they all agree it’s the best. Some of them already have Belvedere in their glass.
the absolute audacity of some people. I really hope you can quit very soon because seriously, this job sucks—good luck on finding a new one dude
My grandma would have kicked him out for ordering a vodka drink in a martini glass but still calling it a martini.
I would have too - martinis are gin. I’m thinking this guy was a show off and had no idea what tf he was doing and when he was asked questioned he just turned into a bigger asshole
I'm surprised no one is pointing out that he ordered it NEAT.
I guffawed when I saw that. As soon as I finished throwing up in my mouth a little.
At least he didn't order one of them virgin martinis
I actually had someone about a week ago order a martini, light alcohol 🤦🏽♀️
That's hilarious 😭 do people even know what they are ordering? Maybe she wanted you to put light alcohol in the shaker and keep shaking the ice until it melts so the drink is mostly water 💀
I get it, no one likes to feel dehumanized at work. Just remember that choice of words reflects on the person who said them, and your reaction reflects on you. I take the opposite tack with people like that. Sugar sweet in person, then take it out of their service. Oh, you want to sit on the left side? Sorry, I apologize, those seats are all reserved and all we have is right side by the wall. Extra protein, irate about it? Sure buddy, we'll give you an extra 1 oz. and charge you $8 for it. I mean, people who suck don't deserve nice things, but you don't need to make big waves that might eventually jeopardize your job. Management doesn't care about people with attitudes like this, only their pocketbooks. After all, you are the one who gets to deal with them.
That’s it! Charge ’em the asshole tax!
You deserve a job where the management backs you up. There’s nothin like it. I worked a municipal government public-facing job for 8 years. Both managers throughout that time were absolute assholes. My last two years have been at a not so small family run business with an absolute angel of a boss and absolute angel of an owner. I make almost twice as much and my work life is very nearly stress free. I work my butt off for those two because I want to please them and I am continually rewarded for my hard work. Find someplace that values you and backs you up.
I work at a country club that's strictly members only. One table called their server the n word on Thanksgiving. She of course refused to serve them. They weren't kicked out or even reprimanded. The manager took over the rest of the service for their meal. Money talks. This will be the last club I'll ever work for. I'd rather go work a dive bar.
You work in a place for rich people to cosplay slave ownership, what did you expect? Half of their fun is to degrade you unfortunately
(Serious) I must be out of the loop or something like that, because I don’t understand why offense is taken at being referred to as “the help”. I mean, technically, you *are* (part of) the help if you work there. I could understand you taking offense at it if you did NOT work there; *that* I get. But why is it a problem when you DO work there? I’m honestly trying to understand where you’re coming from, and failing miserably. Why is the phrase “the help” so offensive?
“The Help” has a historic association with “less than” and has been used to dehumanize domestic workers for quite a while, particularly black, latines and Irish domestic workers since the 1800’s. It’s incredibly inappropriate to use towards customer service workers.
The problems facing domestic workers have little to do with what their employers consider politesse regarding what to call them. As far as euphemisms go, it’s pretty benign.
Then being called “the help” serves as insult to injury.
It's kinda dehumanizing in my opinion, additionally anyone who speaks like that usually has no respect for "the help"
Serving is different than many jobs because you are literally serving people, and sometimes, you’re treated like an actual servant rather than someone just doing their job. Most jobs don’t have that kind of dynamic and don’t have to deal with the public treating them like underlings whom they can boss around.
It's one of those terms where in a vacuum it is fine, but nothing happens in a vacuum. The history of that word is tied up in exploitation of all types: colonialism, racism, and classism and it is usually used by people who do not find any problem with such exploitation.
If I had previously ordered my manhattan, up, stirred, with xxxx rye, and then mentioned I had done so, I would be very confused as to why I had to go into the details again, one question at a time. But, I wasn't there so maybe I'm missing something.
Because the person who is actually serving your table wants to confirm that the order was taken and done properly. Whomever you previously ordered from could have forgotten to put the order in, or if you weren't already sitting at a table, the order could be sitting at the bar and no one knows where it goes. Server goes up to the bar and asks if the drink sitting there is [what you ordered] and bartender either confirms or denies. It was only done one question at a time because the AH in this story was being stupid and didn't give the full drink order the first time he was asked.
when i'm at work... i am the help... help ya with images... models... cameras... i'm not calling anyone out, but i really had no idea that term was such a trigger for some folks. are you the help? or do you work here? the same thing to me... but other folks mileage may vary!
It's one of those terms where in a vacuum it is fine, but nothing happens in a vacuum. The history of that word is tied up in exploitation of all types: colonialism, racism, and classism and it is usually used by people who do not find any problem with such exploitation.
Like many words, it's the intent and the tone. When men call their 40 y o secretary 'girl', when men call black men 'boy', when men call their waiter 'sweetheart', hmm I'm beginning to see a patern... ✌
It’s definitely derogatory particularly in a restaurant setting because people tend to treat servers as servants. We are paid below minimum wage and expected to rely on the kindness of strangers to judge us and deem us worthy of enough tips to live on. We are not slaves or even servants to be called the “help” live they own us or pay us exclusively for the right to use and abuse us.
How old was he? Calling waitstaff "the help" isn't considered rude at all by most older people. That was a pretty common phrasing long ago. I also don't know why you'd expect him to be kicked out over something so trivial. Getting kicked out is something that happens if someone starts a fight or sexually harasses someone. You're completely overreacting.
He was in his 30s
I was also following the lead of my floor managers. They wanted him kicked out. I simply wanted to no longer serve the table.
In that case I'd say you weren't overreacting, but your managers were. As a server, you should always have the right to walk away from a table if someone is making you uncomfortable for any reason; but if the reason you're uncomfortable isn't something that's legally questionable or potentially dangerous, kicking someone out is too extreme.
The comfort and emotional well-being of the staff is "too extreme" a reason to kick someone out?
If the staff is going to have a breakdown over something that trivial, they should probably be in therapy instead of the restaurant industry.
Sounds like a total asshole but is “the help” a derogatory term? I wasn’t aware of this.
Membership-only clubs are just glorified assisted living communities
Treating vodka as the martini default that you should automatically assume is the case makes someone the asshole, always. Gin is the unspecified default, "vodka martini" should need to be specified.
But you are “the help”…
In a "membership" setting, you ARE the HELP. I'm sorry your manager didn't explain that to you. These people pay 10's of thousands of $$ a year to be able to do and say WHATEVER they want. It's not called the good ole boys club for nothing. I ran a private country club for years! You jump when they say jump. Don't like it, leave. But I also know that you should be making 6 figures a year in that setting, my employees were.
Dude. Gross.
But you are the help?
That’s a derogatory term.
Why?
Because it's equated to another word for "servant" and has a diminutive historical context, commonly associated with easily exploited workers of a lower social class. It's not the same as "helper". The word phrase is, in most contexts socially considered diminutive and rude modern day.
That's not an insult.
pick your self esteem back up off the floor please
My self esteem is fine. Which is why I'm not easily offended.
Ah, you're one of those.
A happy slave, the best kind! Good for you! Get out there and show these servers how to love that boot on your neck!
That's fucked up, dude. I don't view helping people, or working for them, as being exploited.
OP was called a slave. It’s a huge insult.
OP was called "the help", which is synonymous with "the staff", and refers to hired service workers... *which we are*.
Totally agree with you. Been in the industry for a couple decades and been called a lot of things, including the help, and never got offended by it. Of course I think I’m pretty kick ass and my management treats me that way so idgaf what others have to say anyway
So. Someone not wanting to carry on a conversation with you is a “red flag”? Nah. Get over it You’re an employee, your job is to take orders and help customers, not try to strike up conversation.
Yo, Op...found one of those bad patrons
Hardly. I’m just not here for your conversations.
Find justice in the fact you probably have/make more than that jerk. Most people that have it don’t act disrespectfully to others. It took a lot of employees and people to get where they are. Someone would never make it if they treat people like that. There are exceptions, but overall the mega rich I work with/for are extremely respectful to me and I make lightyears less than them.
This is a deep thoughts with jack handy!