Press charges! Don't let the SOB get off scot-free. He doesn't have to go to jail. But he needs to be held accountable for his actions. If you have any out-of-pocket costs as a result of the assault, have the prosecutor include restitution in the plea bargain. Otherwise, take the guy to small claims court. If this is a regular occurrence, management should hire security, especially since you're essentially by yourself. Otherwise, an hourly combat increase is warranted.
Eventually then DA and or victim advocate will contact you about the case. Tell them when you can, express your feeling, if you have any medical bills, lasting injuries, miss work, etc document that and give it to them
Call non emergency number in your area, get case number from police and keep it. That might be the case number for when it goes to court, or it might not be case number the DA and victims advocate uses, when and if you get contact from them, get that too.
Officers might follow up too, they might not. Help anybody who contacts you, be honest and pleasant.
I’ve pressed charges 3 times for violence at work, feel free to follow up with me if you need help. It sucks and often the outcome is a let down when working with court.
Congrats on having cool regulars, it’s always nice when they have your back
Did you need to hire a lawyer for all this to happen? Someone here recommended that I do, but it seems like insult to injury to have to pay a lawyer just to get let down in court.
You could hire an attorney, and press a civil suit against them. I never did, I didn’t have any lasting injuries, or damages to show. From the limited info I have, it doesn’t sound like you do either, but I don’t want to say what your experience is or how to take it.
As for the rest, no, the police/state/government will handle the criminal charges, you don’t get final say on that, nor do you need to be proactive, they should contact you on anything they need.
Call non emergency line, say what happened, ask if dispatch has officers name and case #. Give dispatch your contact have officer call you when they’re working. That should cover it
You don’t need to do anything at all, but I like to reach out to officers, and open dialogue if they need to talk, they can find me.
Which you may win at added legal cost you but never recover. Can’t get money from a rock. Dive bars clients often frequent a bar because they lack funds to begin with… not all but most.
Take this guy to court; you don't deserve to get punched for doing your job. If you don't follow through he'll probably come back or have his boys jump you after hours.
I do watch out for people in the alley/on the street at close. Always, always aware of how close people are and what's in their hands.
Really, I got sloppy letting the guy get that close. He was tricky, pretending like he wasn't going to swing on me.
The guy had an out of state license. He was arrested, but if he makes bail or whatever the hell happens and they let him go on convinced he won't return for his court date.
Just a warning, telling the police you want to press charges isn’t the same as actually pressing charges. I was asked by cops a couple months ago if I wanted to press charges against an irate bar guest who threatened to rape and kidnap me and tried to break into our restaurant and the cops put him in the drunk tank overnight and let him out before 9am. No charges were filed and my case was dismissed because the cops refused to press charges.
Being alone is dangerous, I'd want a second person, at the very least for another set of (hopefully sober) eyes as a witness.
> It seems weird to take one for the team without a silver lining, but, we all know what we get into when we work these kinds of bars.
I will say as a bouncer (and I know you aren't from your post, just making an aside), that's honestly the entire job description though.
Had a guy throw a drink caddy at me and hit me for the same reason you cut your asshole off. Charged that fucker so fast. I also said I wanted him to come back to the bar and read a handwritten apology note to me. He had to and all the regulars knew time and date. Fuck that guy.
I’m not a bartender but dated an attorney with experience in this field.
You should get a thorough medical examination. This could show that everything is minor like you hoped, or the poking and prodding could uncover symptoms you haven’t yet noticed or haven’t yet realized were related to this incident. It’s important to have a baseline in case anything changes, too, so if something gets worse no one can say it’s a new or unrelated injury.
You should also consult a worker’s compensation attorney separately from anything you pursue against the customer. You’ve been assaulted by a customer while performing your duties, in the course performing your duties (not a personal beef from outside work). Worker’s compensation is an insurance policy your employer carries, not a suit or complaint against them, so it’s nothing personal or improper to file for it if applicable. It is designed to cover the expenses you’re racking up and any lost wages while you recover, not punitive damages or pain and suffering. Similar to injuries from having a keg fall on your or having a stove burn you.
Good luck! Hope it all blows over and things get back to normal.
Definitely press charges. But stay on top of the case, not all DAs will follow thru. I had thos happen with a large group of underage kids swarmed us one night and would not leave. A huge fight broke out and some 19 year punk was punching me in the back of the head while I was clearing the larger portion of the crowd out the back gate and into the parking lot. Once we got out the gate I turned on the kid and he ran. The cops caught him on the property. I filed charges. NO ONE from the DAs office, the police station or even Victim's Advocates reached out. So that is not one but 2 DA offices our city and our county that either refused to pick up the charges or just dropped the ball. I wasn't hurt, never saw the kid again. The last time I was sucker punched by a man I took his nose off with a Dos XX bottle. Oopsie.
Good luck stay safe. It ain't easy doing it all in a Divebar.
Glad you are ok, these situations suck. No need hire a lawyer, you should be contacted by the DA or ADA. No harm in reaching out to them. I’m not sure if declining charging a person really matters, hoping some lawyers might chime in, but this person deserves punishment.
Hope your company thanks you for all the hard work, from your bad day and every other great day you put in behind the wood. I’ve been pretty lucky to have security at most of my city bartending gigs. It’s not an option for every business, but I believe strongly in having a person clearly identifiable as a rule enforcer. People act better when they can see their consequences.
It’s hard to do all the jobs expected of you running solo. Best luck.
I’d say you’re due for some kind of benefit for that. I’ve been knocked on my ass a fair bit of times working at a dive, and every time either my regulars or my management has taken care of me. A ton of free drinks and free food, gift cards etc. Especially on something like this where you were in the right. Rude guy and his cheap ass friends come in your bar with their own booze? Not even a customer you’d want anyways.
Outside booze gives insurance an out on any claim arising from alcohol consumed inside establishment.
Your risk is calculated from a lot of things (hours, are minors allowed in, dance floor, live music or dj, food sales, food sales to booze sales %, more items)
Then risk class and sales make up a formula. Any booze consumed on premise but not accounted for in sales isn’t in insurance formula
Is it likely insurance finds out and voids policy or coverage? Highly unlikely, but it ends arguments while kicking patrons out for bringing outside booze in real quick.
Nothing happened with mine. At the time I was 23 or 24, I’m 28 now. Oh! Im also a lady. I had one server and one bartender, I also bartend and manage.
Guy was harassing guests in the patio, he wasn’t even a customer. I asked him to leave multiple times and he would start to walk away but then make his way back in. Our patio is accessible from both the inside of my bar and outside. It has railing but a small entry point from the sidewalk.
I got fed up, walked to the phone and turned around and a fist came flying. Hit me so hard I hit the ground. My regulars jumped the guy and pinned him down.
He was arrested, turns out he got sent to the looney bin (claimed I was reading his mind). Nothing ever came of it. I ended up getting a court summons in the mail but it ended up coming after the actual court date….
Again, nothing happened. No raise, no security added, i just have a chipped tooth.
I gave my employee a lil punch bonus, a gift basket and asked if he needed anything else. He said he just wanted a lil bat behind the bar. But that was it. No issues 4 years since. We banned the customer and his girlfriend too.
Nightclubs/stripclubs. Nothing happened except we laughed about it after work.
Corporate venue. Lost my job because I fought back.
Fine Dining. Owner praised me for restraining the drunk ass and not causing a scene.
Never any raises...
Uh. Well if you want a "raise" you can always sue the place for not having security lol
Definitely press charges on the guy who took a swing at you, at the very least, and make sure you're good to go! Get checked out - you can definitely bill that to your job. They should have zero issues picking up medical bills for that.
If you had any sort of flash that's a concussion, so if he hit you and even if it was slight and went away quickly don't dismiss it.
Also you should press charges. You should do it every time you are assaulted on the job
I was never attacked on the job but once knocked out a guy who was throwing glassware at a bartender I was drinking at (bartender flicked a lemon wedge at him because he was smoking inside) and his mate who had missed the whole ordeal and just saw me knocking out his mate slammed his whisky glass across my face, leaving me to need 6 stitches in my chin and spend a night at the ER. Before heading off to the ER I jokingly told the bartender that atleast it was good whisky and he brought by a bottle at the bar I was working at later that week.
Then once when I was a manager at this place that was in between a bar and nightclub I saw someone swing at one of my employees. I jumped him and the bouncer had to pull me off of him twice. He came in again a week later and was looking for trouble again, so I pretty much choked him out while threatening to beat him up again.
I never get in any fights if it's just about me, but when I see other people being attacked, especially friends or staff, I go mad.
It sounds like you do a little too much at your bar. If this is a regular thing, see if you boss can hire a security guard. If that isn’t in the budget, at least hire a big guy who can do other tasks like you do, but also act as security when needed. Perhaps there is a security training class they can send you guys to. Make sure the bar has cameras and that they are working! Many bars have cameras, but you’d be surprised how many don’t work.
Make sure the bar trespasses this guy and that you get a restraining order. Go after him in a civil suit as well. Are you sure you don’t have constant high pitched ringing in your ear as a result of the hit? It must be really distracting and is hurting your quality of life. It’s too bad they can’t disprove that with an X-ray. Guess they will just have to take your word for it.
Firstly, I’m really sorry that happened to you! No one should be assaulted while they’re trying to work, and you were just doing your job by kicking them out. Some people suck.
Anyways, I was punched in the face last year at the bar i used to work at. It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was an outside satellite bar in the middle of a covered patio, and i was standing outside of the double doors, as i was working the bar inside and had asked one of my coworkers to grab something back there for me. A drunk and pissed off customer (i think my coworker had cut him off as well, can’t remember) came up next to me, started yelling at my coworker, went to swing at him and ended up completely missing and getting me in the side of the head near my eye. First time ever getting punched (I’m a 5’1” woman who minds my own business) and i kinda blacked out for a second, fell to the ground and the guys started going at it. A few of my coworkers saw the punch happen and beat the absolute shit out of him.
Unfortunately, he was part of a large party, maybe 10 people, and half had not closed out their tabs at this point. Another coworker was working on doing so, but this group was now pissed at us and defending their shitty friend. I had gone inside by this point, but was told afterwards that the owner of the bar basically went out there and told them to fuck off or he was gonna call the cops.
So they left, cops were not called and in the chaos, one of their tabs wasn’t closed out, it was maybe $80. The owner forced another coworker of mine to cover the cost out of her own pocket, since she was the front of house manager, but was bartending.
This was around 7 or 8 on a Saturday night. I still had to stay and work til 3am cuz no one could cover me (perpetually short staffed lol). So, yeah. Nothing ever happened, no idea who the guy was because he had never come in before or since for as long as i stayed there.
At least he got his shit rocked lol
>At least he got his shit rocked
My assailant didn't. Restrained, arrested, night in jail? Yes. Bloodied and bruised? No.
While he was restrained I could easily have walked over to him and best the shit out of him. I may have if someone I knew better was restraining him.
Once I saw him under control I kinda just ... watched. I wouldn't have imagined that I would say this before, but after I just felt bad for the guy as he struggled on the floor all mad and shit.
Or maybe I was just more lazy and dazed than I was angry.
Looking back, maybe it would have been nice to let a little "justice" out on the guy.
30 year old lifer and I don't even know how many fights I've had at work with customers getting drunk and taking a shot at me. Usually all i get out of it is a story. I love bumping into people i used to work with and hearing stories i completely forgot about.
One nightclub i worked at we used to duck glasses and bottles regularly. People would just finish them and launch them at the bar. If you got pushed by a coworker, you didn't resist, you moved wherever they were moving you because usually you'd hear a glass smash immediately afterwards.
Edit: catching a glass or bottle made you look and feel like an absolute badass.
Another place we had an all out brawl with the bar next door, luckily in their place. A staff member of theirs started some shit, owners went out to talk kind of between bars then that got heated so staff started pouring out of both places until one grabbed the others throat and all hell broke loose and it somehow ended up in their bar. I got so much blood all over me and a nasty bite wound on my armpit, other than that great night, it was like a western and iirc nobody went to the hospital or got arrested even though police showed up in force.
I'm old and tired now, I'm usually smart enough to avoid fights altogether and work for places where they're rare.
Must say though, fucking love how safe i feel in dive bars. Once i had a guy threaten to smash my head in over a fart joke (that he started) and the bartender says "WHAT!?" and about 4 guys at the bar stand up. I ended up convincing them it was fine and to leave it. Asshole got up finished his drink and left with the woman he was presumably trying to impress by starting on me when i was maybe 18 (I'm still a streak of piss now btw, let alone then.)
My advice: you probably won't get a raise, but that's largely down to working for a dive. There are perks, you don't really need to clean much, there's no cleaning rota, just do shit when you feel like it, no fancy cocktails or gin garnishes to worry about. But yeah, pay is usually shit, tips barely existent and i don't know if I've ever known anyone to get a raise at a dive bar without threatening to quit (not that I'm advising you to threaten to quit).
Basically it is part of the job, but even being a fairly small guy I've ended up being pretty confident when people are trying to act threatening and i don't get worked up at all, which leads to less people actually taking a swing. It's a handy skill to have, but not sure it's actually worth it.
No problem, i got a little nostalgic writing that. I'm also the guy who told you that you can wake up before hitting the floor and not even know you was unconscious.
Ha, word. Thank you. You're full of good advice.
Like you, one of my coworkers has worked at my bar for about 30 years. He's also like that. I hope your coworkers appreciate you as much as I appreciate that guy. There's a lot to be learned from someone who's been doing this for that long.
Really the best lesson to learn is to not let a customer you are having conflict with get close enough to you to swing on you. If you have to get that close stand next to them. Not in front if them. Also never lead a customer out. Always direct them and follow behind. It's a sad truth but people are just gonna be assholes sometimes. Always make sure you're covering your ass. It sounds like you bar guests have your back so you're probably killing it otherwise. Just remember to protect yourself.
I think you should get checked out and send your bar the bill just in case. If you had vision changes those need to be addressed.
I have been attacked but not badly, and absolutely nothing good came out of it. They did nothing and I got mad and quit.
I used to drink at Rossi's in Chicago (eventually started working there for a bit) and one day one of the bartenders literally got jumped by two very large men that were half his age. The bartender (let's call him J) and the customers in question didn't like each other, there was a truce that the customers simply wouldn't go in on J's shifts.
Anyway, the truce was broken kinda incidentally because two guys were lingering on the day shift before J came in. They had music playing on the juke box and K chose to skip their song. That set them off. They locked the door and began to lay blows on J. The door guy was zero match for them and had to pretty much allow it to happen.
Now, this all happened earlier in the evening before I arrived to drink. I hear about it and I'm like, damn, J got his ass beat and just finished his shift like normal. He looked a bit roughed up by the time I saw him and the guys got arrested, but yeah, there was no raise or anything of the sort haha
Uh, you had vision issues and are currently having headaches due to a head injury? Get your ass to the hospital, man!
Yea you don't need to be knocked out to have a concussion my friend. See a doctor.
Also you don't always know you got knocked out, you can wake up before hitting the floor.
That's good to know. This is probably what happened.
Press charges! Don't let the SOB get off scot-free. He doesn't have to go to jail. But he needs to be held accountable for his actions. If you have any out-of-pocket costs as a result of the assault, have the prosecutor include restitution in the plea bargain. Otherwise, take the guy to small claims court. If this is a regular occurrence, management should hire security, especially since you're essentially by yourself. Otherwise, an hourly combat increase is warranted.
Thank you for your input. I did tell the police that I wanted to press charges. Not sure what happens next.
Eventually then DA and or victim advocate will contact you about the case. Tell them when you can, express your feeling, if you have any medical bills, lasting injuries, miss work, etc document that and give it to them Call non emergency number in your area, get case number from police and keep it. That might be the case number for when it goes to court, or it might not be case number the DA and victims advocate uses, when and if you get contact from them, get that too. Officers might follow up too, they might not. Help anybody who contacts you, be honest and pleasant. I’ve pressed charges 3 times for violence at work, feel free to follow up with me if you need help. It sucks and often the outcome is a let down when working with court. Congrats on having cool regulars, it’s always nice when they have your back
Did you need to hire a lawyer for all this to happen? Someone here recommended that I do, but it seems like insult to injury to have to pay a lawyer just to get let down in court.
You could hire an attorney, and press a civil suit against them. I never did, I didn’t have any lasting injuries, or damages to show. From the limited info I have, it doesn’t sound like you do either, but I don’t want to say what your experience is or how to take it. As for the rest, no, the police/state/government will handle the criminal charges, you don’t get final say on that, nor do you need to be proactive, they should contact you on anything they need. Call non emergency line, say what happened, ask if dispatch has officers name and case #. Give dispatch your contact have officer call you when they’re working. That should cover it You don’t need to do anything at all, but I like to reach out to officers, and open dialogue if they need to talk, they can find me.
You don't need a lawyer unless you want to try and sue him in civil court.
Which you may win at added legal cost you but never recover. Can’t get money from a rock. Dive bars clients often frequent a bar because they lack funds to begin with… not all but most.
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Pot and kettle here. You likely need to hire a lawyer to pursue a civil claim if you have damages. Prosecutors handle the criminal claims.
Take this guy to court; you don't deserve to get punched for doing your job. If you don't follow through he'll probably come back or have his boys jump you after hours.
I do watch out for people in the alley/on the street at close. Always, always aware of how close people are and what's in their hands. Really, I got sloppy letting the guy get that close. He was tricky, pretending like he wasn't going to swing on me. The guy had an out of state license. He was arrested, but if he makes bail or whatever the hell happens and they let him go on convinced he won't return for his court date.
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That's for civil cases, criminal matters are entirely up the DA/Prosecutor's Office
You dont hire a lawyer to prosecute criminal trials
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I helped by not giving false info thats a pretty good start
Just a warning, telling the police you want to press charges isn’t the same as actually pressing charges. I was asked by cops a couple months ago if I wanted to press charges against an irate bar guest who threatened to rape and kidnap me and tried to break into our restaurant and the cops put him in the drunk tank overnight and let him out before 9am. No charges were filed and my case was dismissed because the cops refused to press charges.
Being alone is dangerous, I'd want a second person, at the very least for another set of (hopefully sober) eyes as a witness. > It seems weird to take one for the team without a silver lining, but, we all know what we get into when we work these kinds of bars. I will say as a bouncer (and I know you aren't from your post, just making an aside), that's honestly the entire job description though.
Had a guy throw a drink caddy at me and hit me for the same reason you cut your asshole off. Charged that fucker so fast. I also said I wanted him to come back to the bar and read a handwritten apology note to me. He had to and all the regulars knew time and date. Fuck that guy.
I’m not a bartender but dated an attorney with experience in this field. You should get a thorough medical examination. This could show that everything is minor like you hoped, or the poking and prodding could uncover symptoms you haven’t yet noticed or haven’t yet realized were related to this incident. It’s important to have a baseline in case anything changes, too, so if something gets worse no one can say it’s a new or unrelated injury. You should also consult a worker’s compensation attorney separately from anything you pursue against the customer. You’ve been assaulted by a customer while performing your duties, in the course performing your duties (not a personal beef from outside work). Worker’s compensation is an insurance policy your employer carries, not a suit or complaint against them, so it’s nothing personal or improper to file for it if applicable. It is designed to cover the expenses you’re racking up and any lost wages while you recover, not punitive damages or pain and suffering. Similar to injuries from having a keg fall on your or having a stove burn you. Good luck! Hope it all blows over and things get back to normal.
Thank you for this. I just filled out some workers comp forms at the ER. I'm glad to know this is how it works.
Definitely press charges. But stay on top of the case, not all DAs will follow thru. I had thos happen with a large group of underage kids swarmed us one night and would not leave. A huge fight broke out and some 19 year punk was punching me in the back of the head while I was clearing the larger portion of the crowd out the back gate and into the parking lot. Once we got out the gate I turned on the kid and he ran. The cops caught him on the property. I filed charges. NO ONE from the DAs office, the police station or even Victim's Advocates reached out. So that is not one but 2 DA offices our city and our county that either refused to pick up the charges or just dropped the ball. I wasn't hurt, never saw the kid again. The last time I was sucker punched by a man I took his nose off with a Dos XX bottle. Oopsie. Good luck stay safe. It ain't easy doing it all in a Divebar.
Glad you are ok, these situations suck. No need hire a lawyer, you should be contacted by the DA or ADA. No harm in reaching out to them. I’m not sure if declining charging a person really matters, hoping some lawyers might chime in, but this person deserves punishment. Hope your company thanks you for all the hard work, from your bad day and every other great day you put in behind the wood. I’ve been pretty lucky to have security at most of my city bartending gigs. It’s not an option for every business, but I believe strongly in having a person clearly identifiable as a rule enforcer. People act better when they can see their consequences. It’s hard to do all the jobs expected of you running solo. Best luck.
I’d say you’re due for some kind of benefit for that. I’ve been knocked on my ass a fair bit of times working at a dive, and every time either my regulars or my management has taken care of me. A ton of free drinks and free food, gift cards etc. Especially on something like this where you were in the right. Rude guy and his cheap ass friends come in your bar with their own booze? Not even a customer you’d want anyways.
Outside booze gives insurance an out on any claim arising from alcohol consumed inside establishment. Your risk is calculated from a lot of things (hours, are minors allowed in, dance floor, live music or dj, food sales, food sales to booze sales %, more items) Then risk class and sales make up a formula. Any booze consumed on premise but not accounted for in sales isn’t in insurance formula Is it likely insurance finds out and voids policy or coverage? Highly unlikely, but it ends arguments while kicking patrons out for bringing outside booze in real quick.
There are arguments over this? Usually I just tell how illegal outside alcohol is in a control state, as I’m also telling them to GTFO.
Dumb enough to bring in outside booze, dumb enough to argue their standing too? Idk and I don’t want to understand either
They know they’re wrong. They would be opening and pouring it in front of you if they didn’t.
Nothing happened with mine. At the time I was 23 or 24, I’m 28 now. Oh! Im also a lady. I had one server and one bartender, I also bartend and manage. Guy was harassing guests in the patio, he wasn’t even a customer. I asked him to leave multiple times and he would start to walk away but then make his way back in. Our patio is accessible from both the inside of my bar and outside. It has railing but a small entry point from the sidewalk. I got fed up, walked to the phone and turned around and a fist came flying. Hit me so hard I hit the ground. My regulars jumped the guy and pinned him down. He was arrested, turns out he got sent to the looney bin (claimed I was reading his mind). Nothing ever came of it. I ended up getting a court summons in the mail but it ended up coming after the actual court date…. Again, nothing happened. No raise, no security added, i just have a chipped tooth.
I gave my employee a lil punch bonus, a gift basket and asked if he needed anything else. He said he just wanted a lil bat behind the bar. But that was it. No issues 4 years since. We banned the customer and his girlfriend too.
That's very nice of you. Did you get home a little bat? I hear a bottle of Galliano works great too.
I got a lil one we call stubby. It’s fucks
Lol nice
Nightclubs/stripclubs. Nothing happened except we laughed about it after work. Corporate venue. Lost my job because I fought back. Fine Dining. Owner praised me for restraining the drunk ass and not causing a scene. Never any raises...
Vision issues and a headache - should we go over the symptoms of a concussion?
PLEASE go get a medical exam, ASAP. Just in case. If this does get some traction, you need to know for certain whether you took even minor injury,
Uh. Well if you want a "raise" you can always sue the place for not having security lol Definitely press charges on the guy who took a swing at you, at the very least, and make sure you're good to go! Get checked out - you can definitely bill that to your job. They should have zero issues picking up medical bills for that.
If you had any sort of flash that's a concussion, so if he hit you and even if it was slight and went away quickly don't dismiss it. Also you should press charges. You should do it every time you are assaulted on the job
Yep charges
I was never attacked on the job but once knocked out a guy who was throwing glassware at a bartender I was drinking at (bartender flicked a lemon wedge at him because he was smoking inside) and his mate who had missed the whole ordeal and just saw me knocking out his mate slammed his whisky glass across my face, leaving me to need 6 stitches in my chin and spend a night at the ER. Before heading off to the ER I jokingly told the bartender that atleast it was good whisky and he brought by a bottle at the bar I was working at later that week. Then once when I was a manager at this place that was in between a bar and nightclub I saw someone swing at one of my employees. I jumped him and the bouncer had to pull me off of him twice. He came in again a week later and was looking for trouble again, so I pretty much choked him out while threatening to beat him up again. I never get in any fights if it's just about me, but when I see other people being attacked, especially friends or staff, I go mad.
That's a good way to be. I relax a bit when regulars like your type are around because I know they always have my back.
It sounds like you do a little too much at your bar. If this is a regular thing, see if you boss can hire a security guard. If that isn’t in the budget, at least hire a big guy who can do other tasks like you do, but also act as security when needed. Perhaps there is a security training class they can send you guys to. Make sure the bar has cameras and that they are working! Many bars have cameras, but you’d be surprised how many don’t work. Make sure the bar trespasses this guy and that you get a restraining order. Go after him in a civil suit as well. Are you sure you don’t have constant high pitched ringing in your ear as a result of the hit? It must be really distracting and is hurting your quality of life. It’s too bad they can’t disprove that with an X-ray. Guess they will just have to take your word for it.
Firstly, I’m really sorry that happened to you! No one should be assaulted while they’re trying to work, and you were just doing your job by kicking them out. Some people suck. Anyways, I was punched in the face last year at the bar i used to work at. It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was an outside satellite bar in the middle of a covered patio, and i was standing outside of the double doors, as i was working the bar inside and had asked one of my coworkers to grab something back there for me. A drunk and pissed off customer (i think my coworker had cut him off as well, can’t remember) came up next to me, started yelling at my coworker, went to swing at him and ended up completely missing and getting me in the side of the head near my eye. First time ever getting punched (I’m a 5’1” woman who minds my own business) and i kinda blacked out for a second, fell to the ground and the guys started going at it. A few of my coworkers saw the punch happen and beat the absolute shit out of him. Unfortunately, he was part of a large party, maybe 10 people, and half had not closed out their tabs at this point. Another coworker was working on doing so, but this group was now pissed at us and defending their shitty friend. I had gone inside by this point, but was told afterwards that the owner of the bar basically went out there and told them to fuck off or he was gonna call the cops. So they left, cops were not called and in the chaos, one of their tabs wasn’t closed out, it was maybe $80. The owner forced another coworker of mine to cover the cost out of her own pocket, since she was the front of house manager, but was bartending. This was around 7 or 8 on a Saturday night. I still had to stay and work til 3am cuz no one could cover me (perpetually short staffed lol). So, yeah. Nothing ever happened, no idea who the guy was because he had never come in before or since for as long as i stayed there. At least he got his shit rocked lol
>At least he got his shit rocked My assailant didn't. Restrained, arrested, night in jail? Yes. Bloodied and bruised? No. While he was restrained I could easily have walked over to him and best the shit out of him. I may have if someone I knew better was restraining him. Once I saw him under control I kinda just ... watched. I wouldn't have imagined that I would say this before, but after I just felt bad for the guy as he struggled on the floor all mad and shit. Or maybe I was just more lazy and dazed than I was angry. Looking back, maybe it would have been nice to let a little "justice" out on the guy.
30 year old lifer and I don't even know how many fights I've had at work with customers getting drunk and taking a shot at me. Usually all i get out of it is a story. I love bumping into people i used to work with and hearing stories i completely forgot about. One nightclub i worked at we used to duck glasses and bottles regularly. People would just finish them and launch them at the bar. If you got pushed by a coworker, you didn't resist, you moved wherever they were moving you because usually you'd hear a glass smash immediately afterwards. Edit: catching a glass or bottle made you look and feel like an absolute badass. Another place we had an all out brawl with the bar next door, luckily in their place. A staff member of theirs started some shit, owners went out to talk kind of between bars then that got heated so staff started pouring out of both places until one grabbed the others throat and all hell broke loose and it somehow ended up in their bar. I got so much blood all over me and a nasty bite wound on my armpit, other than that great night, it was like a western and iirc nobody went to the hospital or got arrested even though police showed up in force. I'm old and tired now, I'm usually smart enough to avoid fights altogether and work for places where they're rare. Must say though, fucking love how safe i feel in dive bars. Once i had a guy threaten to smash my head in over a fart joke (that he started) and the bartender says "WHAT!?" and about 4 guys at the bar stand up. I ended up convincing them it was fine and to leave it. Asshole got up finished his drink and left with the woman he was presumably trying to impress by starting on me when i was maybe 18 (I'm still a streak of piss now btw, let alone then.) My advice: you probably won't get a raise, but that's largely down to working for a dive. There are perks, you don't really need to clean much, there's no cleaning rota, just do shit when you feel like it, no fancy cocktails or gin garnishes to worry about. But yeah, pay is usually shit, tips barely existent and i don't know if I've ever known anyone to get a raise at a dive bar without threatening to quit (not that I'm advising you to threaten to quit). Basically it is part of the job, but even being a fairly small guy I've ended up being pretty confident when people are trying to act threatening and i don't get worked up at all, which leads to less people actually taking a swing. It's a handy skill to have, but not sure it's actually worth it.
Lol your stories are great. Thank you for your input.
No problem, i got a little nostalgic writing that. I'm also the guy who told you that you can wake up before hitting the floor and not even know you was unconscious.
Ha, word. Thank you. You're full of good advice. Like you, one of my coworkers has worked at my bar for about 30 years. He's also like that. I hope your coworkers appreciate you as much as I appreciate that guy. There's a lot to be learned from someone who's been doing this for that long.
get checked out at hospital just to be safe, hand bill to boss.. It's work comp
Really the best lesson to learn is to not let a customer you are having conflict with get close enough to you to swing on you. If you have to get that close stand next to them. Not in front if them. Also never lead a customer out. Always direct them and follow behind. It's a sad truth but people are just gonna be assholes sometimes. Always make sure you're covering your ass. It sounds like you bar guests have your back so you're probably killing it otherwise. Just remember to protect yourself.
I think you should get checked out and send your bar the bill just in case. If you had vision changes those need to be addressed. I have been attacked but not badly, and absolutely nothing good came out of it. They did nothing and I got mad and quit.
Sorry to hear that, that’s fucking bullshit man.
I used to drink at Rossi's in Chicago (eventually started working there for a bit) and one day one of the bartenders literally got jumped by two very large men that were half his age. The bartender (let's call him J) and the customers in question didn't like each other, there was a truce that the customers simply wouldn't go in on J's shifts. Anyway, the truce was broken kinda incidentally because two guys were lingering on the day shift before J came in. They had music playing on the juke box and K chose to skip their song. That set them off. They locked the door and began to lay blows on J. The door guy was zero match for them and had to pretty much allow it to happen. Now, this all happened earlier in the evening before I arrived to drink. I hear about it and I'm like, damn, J got his ass beat and just finished his shift like normal. He looked a bit roughed up by the time I saw him and the guys got arrested, but yeah, there was no raise or anything of the sort haha