Let's Help William Find a Bar
09/13/2007
I
read
your article “Give these wines a spin” about NASCAR
racing and I wanted help with a problem I’m having at
McMennamin's Tavern on Germantown Avenue and Mt Airy
Ave (in Philadelphia). It is a great bar and
restaurant with many drinks and excellent food. One
night I got drunk there and at closing time I got
into an argument with two of the regulars who were
asking me questions that were out of place. I like
going there to drink because it’s close to my
apartment. The bartender intervened, but not on my
behalf and we then began arguing. He then kicked me
out of the bar for a month because I was quite drunk.
That was in the middle of June and I haven’t been
back since. Give me advice on how I can go back or
can you talk to the bartender for me so I can go
there again?
Thanks a ton
-William
The Imbiber replies: This is a tough one, William, because pissing off a bartender at a drinking establishment that one really enjoys patronizing is a losing proposition. It simply can't end well -- either you get eighty-sixed from the joint altogether, or said bartender treats you like a Sunni cleric at a Shia Al-Mubahila celebration (look it up!). My suggestion would be, as always, to let the spirits guide you. In this case, the spirit I suggest is whisky -- a good single-malt Scotch, perhaps. Knock back a few snifters at home, then once you've mustered up enough liquid courage, head on down to McMennamin's Tavern with your head held high and your bloodshot eyes on the prize: A second chance. Tell that prickly bartender you're sorry for what happened, but that you only did what any self-respecting booze hound would have done when subjected to the sort of grief those clowns were giving you that fateful night in June ... and never mind that you were too wasted to remember what, if anything, they actually said to you. If that doesn't work, find a new bar -- last time I checked, Philly's full of good ones.
Thanks a ton
-William
The Imbiber replies: This is a tough one, William, because pissing off a bartender at a drinking establishment that one really enjoys patronizing is a losing proposition. It simply can't end well -- either you get eighty-sixed from the joint altogether, or said bartender treats you like a Sunni cleric at a Shia Al-Mubahila celebration (look it up!). My suggestion would be, as always, to let the spirits guide you. In this case, the spirit I suggest is whisky -- a good single-malt Scotch, perhaps. Knock back a few snifters at home, then once you've mustered up enough liquid courage, head on down to McMennamin's Tavern with your head held high and your bloodshot eyes on the prize: A second chance. Tell that prickly bartender you're sorry for what happened, but that you only did what any self-respecting booze hound would have done when subjected to the sort of grief those clowns were giving you that fateful night in June ... and never mind that you were too wasted to remember what, if anything, they actually said to you. If that doesn't work, find a new bar -- last time I checked, Philly's full of good ones.
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