US bartenders reveal which generation has the worst behavior

Time for another pointlessly divisive article about the "evil" boomers vs "dumb" gen z. Media loves that shit while the world burns.

Not in my experience. Most Boomers just want a quickly served drink, usually a beer or old fashioned, and to be left alone, maybe chat the bartender about the good old days a bit. Maybe talk to other geriatrics at the bar about the War or whatever.

The pains in the ass I see at the bar are anyone who gets too drunk and mouthy, and this transcends race, age, sex. Period.

How dare they trash Boomers. Don't these punks know they're on The Boomer Lounge !

A number of years ago two friends of mine who were bartenders told me that people were not interacting with other patrons or the bartender but spent most of the time looking at their phones

I stopped going to bars for that very reason R4 . Age didnt matter either. Middle aged queens were doing it too . Thats when I decided my life long love affair with gay bars was OVER .

Without drinking a bar is a horrible place to be.Try going to bar and not drinking see how you like it.

That's so true, R6. I went with my friends to the local haunt. When I asked for water, the bartender asked me if I was a heroin addict.

I'm so polite to my bartenders and old man gay bars pour heavy so that's why I go

The Guardian is a tab rag. Next.

I have a staff member in my department who bartends at a local upscale bar on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights to make extra money. She's late 20s, very pretty, and great personality. She hates serving her own generation of 'Zoomers' as well as Millennials because, as she says (every Monday morning, when I ask how she did at work over the weekend), 'They are rude, and don't fvckin' tip!'. She hates when they come through the door and sit at the bar. (And yes, she's always complaining they don't know how to 'run a tab').

Sunday nights she makes her money because the Boomers / older X comes in, run a tab, and they tip generously.

Lost me at "boutique winery" I'm afraid.

"Those other generations are way worse than mine!"

“If I just perform like the bare minimum of what I’m expected to do, we’re good,” Giunchigliani said.

I am sober and I asked a bartender friend of mine if he has any problems with non-drinkers (or people who don't order alcohol) at his bar. His answer was "I never had to call the cops to remove a sober person." To him, as long as you tip, you're good.

I can appreciate when people don't open a tab. An open tab is just one more mechanism for the customer to lose sight of their expenses.

And this story isn't new. Gen Z has been identified of using credit cards in different ways for different reason. For the young generation credit cards are mostly opened to build credit while older generations want them for the perks/rewards. Gen Z is also more motivated to pay off their credit cards every month while esp. Gen Z has a more relaxed attitude about paying off. Boomers - in this regard - are more aligned with Gen Z and prefer to have no credit card debt.

Every 'gen' has different spending habits and approaches credit cards and debt differently. In terms of making payments at point of sale the credit card itself seems to be on its way out. Venmo and NMF take over that mechanism.

If you go to a bar and order water, tip. Bartenders appreciate that because most people don’t.

I only go to a couple of bars, so I am known. I will never let a credit card out of my possession. If it was required, I would pay by the drink. Fortunately, no need for that. More often than not, the bartenders ask me how many drinks I had so they are not even recording them. I tip very well, so I appreciate that accommodation and NEVER have to wait for a drink no matter how busy the bar is. There are benefits to not being an ass.

Now that we've heard from the alcoholics on how to make drinking easier, any meth heads want to advise on getting better and cheaper meth?

I was in Manhattan a few days ago. Mid-afternoon, I wanted to escape the heat and enjoy a bear before I headed home. I went to a gay bar in Hell's Kitchen where the bartenders dance on the bar. You can't set up a tab, because it's cash only. I knew a guy who was there, whom I hadn't seen in a long time. Turns out he is a regular. He knew the bartender and the other staff and introduced me to all. We caught up with each other, and because there were few patrons, we enjoyed a lively banter with all. I stayed into the early evening. As more people came in, I noticed men and a few women in groups sit down at the few tables to chat away. They constantly were at the two ATM in there. My friend commented that people just don't carry cash anymore. As the bar stools filled up, there were two 20 something guy next to me. They talked to each other but appeared more glued to their phones than anything. When the bartenders ascended the bar to do their routine, there was hooting and hollering. It was great to put some cash in the back pockets of the tight jeans-wearing and cute-butted bartenders.

The best feature of the bar? It provided a community where I could be safe to let loose as a gay man. It appeared to me that that is what the younger men in the place were also finding. The few women with them were certainly welcomed. Maybe they were lesbians, but I suspect not. The younger women certainly did not act as if this gay space were exotic and treat the gay men as objects of curiosity. That's a big difference from straight, older women, who can sometimes be (and older, straight men are often the same) "tourists" in gay bars.

But I thought Gen Z is mostly shut-ins who never go anywhere.

[Quote] I wanted to escape the heat and enjoy a bear before I headed home.

I'll just bet you did!

Seriously, those ATMs usually have extortionate rates. My former barber stopped taking cards when he was slammed with a massive penalty to resolve an error on his part, something like failing to catch adding a tip of $30 instead of $3. The only cash-only place I know of locally is the Pak and Ship contract post office for USPS transactions only; UPS and retail sales can be charged.

Lots of people, including me, rarely carry physical cards anymore. I just use Apple Pay on my phone… which makes it hard to start a tab but I’ll survive.

R21, Why else would I go into a gay bar?? lol

Seriously, those ATM charge heavy rates. That's why I still carry cash on me.

Gee, it's almost as if different generations can be good and bad. What a fucking concept. We really need more in-depth articles about this.

Patrons really leave their credit card to run a tab? That just sounds so risky.

R25 - I've done it a 1000 times. Unless you're in some skivvy place, they're not going to swipe it - you know who you gave it to and you can see where they put it.

It's a baseless fear - akin to 'buying things on the internet with your credit card" from the early 2000s.

It's annoying to pay with your card for each drink round and it wastes the bartender's time and creates long lines.

R25 Yes, but it’s becoming more rare these days. More often, they swipe your card to open the tab and hand it back to you immediately. Most places then have a policy that if you don’t close out your tab, they will do so at the end of the night and add 20%. Sometimes it’s easier to just leave than fight your way through a crowd at the bar to close out.

R26 It's annoying to pay with your card for each drink round and it wastes the bartender's time and creates long lines.

In the US that is absolutely true. Though in the UK I kind of like the quick and easy tap with Apple Pay for each drink at a pub.

[quote] Sunday nights she makes her money because the Boomers / older X comes in, run a tab, and they tip generously.

Because they are old perverts. The younger generations will grow older and become desperate to see hot young titties and start tipping well too. Or maybe they are numb to it due to all the porn they were raised on.

R29 - well Gen X and Boomers have a lot more disposable income and younger generations are drinking a lot less for various reasons: drinking less for health, other 'options' like gummies and microdoses, and simply the drinks are too fucking expensive at most places to have multiples.

Cheap bars and drink specials just do not exist in big cities anywhere.

I'm a boomer and I've never ordered (or had) and old fashioned in my life.

R19: All the Hell's Kitchen imps and impettes were more than a tad wary frequenting that bar after a woman patron was assaulted in a restroom there ten or so years ago. The would-be rapist escaped and was later apprehended.

[quote]“If I just perform like the bare minimum of what I’m expected to do, we’re good,” Giunchigliani said.

That's the trouble with every service industry today. Everyone offers the 'bare minimum' and expect to be financially rewarded either through tipping or an hourly wage.

For those of you who uses those ATMs set up in bars and smaller businesses - be very careful. Those are prime targets for credit card thieves to engage in 'skimming' since they are not monitored like ATMs in Financial Institutions. It happened in a friend's business (a small wine bar) so many times, she had to go back to accepting CCs and get rid of the ATM.

That’s actually understandable. They grew up in a privacy free world. Hackers, data leaks, sociopaths. I don’t blame them.

Eldergays in the 80s, did people make bar tabs on cash alone and therefore good faith?

We go out a bit and here's my take on running a tab. If you trust your bartender/bar staff - fine. But, if you're there for a while and are ubering/cabbing back and getting a little tipsy, THERE ARE bartenders, servers etc who are unscrupulous who will pad the bill. It pays to keep a note on your phone of how many rounds you've had. I've been at a table at a well known restaurant having huge margaritas and a meal after being out and the bartender automatically put in a 20% tip for a party of 3! thinking we wouldn't notice. Then my friend was about to tip on top of that. You have to be careful if you get a little buzzed. That's why it's easy to keep closing out. Also, if the bar is busy it can be a royal PITA trying to get service to close out at the end.

If you're going bar hopping bring cash. Bunch of 10s, 5s and plenty of 1s. Fast and efficient. All this back and forth for every drink is silly. Throw down some bills including plenty of tip and move along. I remember for a while one of the fun bars in Chicago was Cash Only. They had several no fee ATMS on site. Always made sense and kept things moving. Might have been Sidetrack.

R31 - right? An old fashioned? Why buy something you already possess?

(sorry - but it was too easy of a joke)

R37 - exactly - the whole take the card, swipe it, wait for the receipt, put the receipt into a folded leather container to deliver for signature and tip with the card in it. Too much.

I think most gay bars in Chicago were cash only - only until recently, like the last 5-10 years?

Pre-credit card, you'd put and leave money on the bar as you were drinking and the bartender would take from the money pile as drinks were ordered.

R40 - I've heard of that, but it depends on the city and the crowd. In a big city crowded bar, you sure as hell wouldn't do that.

Most gay bars I've ever been to in my life, there's no way I'd do that unless it was 4 o'clock on a Tue afternoon. Never on a Friday or Sat night or any night after 9pm.

Of course, r41 but there was also a thing called a wallet, which most people carried.

[quote] Of course, [R41] but there was also a thing called a wallet, which most people carried.

Unless you’re a gay man with tight jeans who doesn’t want to spoil the line.

R40 I've actually seen that in old movies from the 40s, 50s and 60s (and probably even earlier). I always wondered what that was about - why did the guy at the bar put a wad of cash in front of him like that (with the ashtray next to it), and why was the bartender helping himself to it so easily ?

Thanks for the explanation !

R32, that's horrible. I know it happened there a decade or so, but unfortunately assaults still occur. Thank God they found the guy who assaulted the woman.