I have worked as a bartender for a while, I'm good at it. I'm not good at keeping up on the latest drink's, I could really give a fuck about stupid shots. But I am good at glad-handing, management and running a business efficiently. So I have decided to buy a bar. I have a partner (who has a complementary set of skills) and we have enough funding to buy a low budget bar that is on the ropes and nurse it back to health. While I'm good at "bars" I don't really like them all that much, and to tell you the truth not liking bars a lot is a great quality in a bar owner. I don't want to have a personal party zone, I know that it's more work then fun, I am not a drunk or a coke head (these are pretty much the core values of the average person who wants to open a bar, and it's not a winning formula). While owning a bar isn't something especially laudable, I don't think I really mind. After about five years of hard work I hope to own two bars with my partner and have a pretty decent income and some management in place so that my work consists of problem solving for my staff, not running myself ragged with late nights. This will hopefully allow me to do the stuff that really matters, spend time with and provide for my family. I could write and essay about qualities that I would like to see in a bar, but I won't. I'll just say that my model is of a neighborhood place, good visibility from the outside, so people see that it's an open and friendly space. No TV's or screens of any type visible from the street or the main seating area, TV's kill socialization. A staff that honors all patrons regardless of class or race. Hopefully I can remember what it's like be in a workers shoes and not become bourgeois filth, unable or willing to relate or respond to the concerns and valuable observations of my staff (this would be the big downside of my current job, it's not that the people who own it are bastards, they just don't relate to the actual work going on and are missing out on a number of efficiencies and comforts that could make their bar a happier more profitable place). I know so many people with larger life goals then "to own a bar," and owning a bar isn't really the goal, it's just a means. I'll never help push forward the goals of human understanding, be a captain of industry or help shape public policy and I feel like I should feel guilty for this. I will be able to send my kid to a good school, let my wife do work that she finds more meaningful then what she is doing now, provide decent jobs in an environment that appreciates the value of hard work and dedication to customer service, provide a comfortable environment for people to socialize in and also to give back a fixed percentage of the profits to pro-social community causes. I wrestle with the fear of putting my financial ass on the line (this is my families ass as well) and not doing work of significant perceived social value but it's where I am right now, I hope it works out. I think I'll have a space by the end of the year, I'll keep you all updated, and buy you a drink someday if you ever make it here.
- While owning a bar isn't something especially laudable, I don't think I really mind
You're going to be a part of something special. People are going to meet at your place for the first time. They're going to fall in love and spend a lifetime together. People are going to gather there and talk about the big ideas they have. People are going to breakup with their girlfriends, write bad poetry, write good poetry. People are going to celebrate birthdays, reunite with old college friends. They're going to get shit-faced after losing their job, they're going to drown their sorrows after burying loved ones. They are going to pony up to your bar to seek comfort after life hands them a rejection and they're going to come back in to celebrate when it doesn't. All of this at your place. -There is a lot of social value in opening a bar, if it's done right.... and it sounds like you will do it right. I for one applaud you and think what you are doing takes a lot of courage. My hats off to you cgod, I look forward to visiting your establishment one day. Congrats.
If you plan on, say, opening a new dance club style bar (which, based on your taste in music and general thinking skills that appear evident from your posts, I would suppose is highly unlikely), then yes, feel free to be ashamed of your aspiration. But a great bar that attracts groups of friends, or just the lonely guy who wants to sit in the corner and surf the net, is the closest thing to heaven on Earth I've yet discovered. Sure, there are always the regular drunks that are helpless and sad, but at the core of a good bar experience (for, I believe, the vast majority of patrons) is happiness and friendship. Not to get too Cheers, but I have a bar a block south and one two blocks north of my house, each of which I frequent, and each feels like stepping out while going home. Its a thing of beauty. Good luck to you. Don't be too cynical because you've worked in bars too long; the bar is a special place to lots of people, and you will bring happiness to many of them.
- I wrestle with the fear of putting my financial ass on the line (this is my families ass as well) and not doing work of significant perceived social value but it's where I am right now, I hope it works out. I think I'll have a space by the end of the year, I'll keep you all updated, and buy you a drink someday if you ever make it here.
I'm confident that whether or not this first endeavor is profitable, you will be in a better place for doing it. But, if anyone can make this bar work, you can.
- What should I do with my life? isn't just a productivity issue: It's a moral imperative.
I agree. When I was an undergrad it was my intention to double major in math and physics, my two first loves. My mom and the girl I was dating at the time convinced me that I would never make a dime off that choice and that I should switch to engineering. So I got my degree in ME...and I hated engineering. One the upside, I came out of school with a $53k starting salary, which was awesome, but I loathed the job. So I quit and went back to school to become a scientist, which is what I dreamed about since I was a little kid (my Grandpa was a rocket scientist in the early days of rocketry, working on Vanguard and later Mercury and and I always looked up to him). In the grad years I made shit cash, and I still don't make that much, but I love going to work every day. I don't really see it as a job so much as just going and playing in the sandbox day in and day out. The point is that what anyone should do with their life is find something that makes them happy and figure out a way to monetize it, even just enough to eat. If you love going to work, you will always be happy, even with debt, or relationship troubles, or whatever else life hurls at you.
What is the value-system and culture of your profession/wokplace? This question really sunk its teeth into me, perhaps because the answer has the potential to be soo fundamentally at odds with who I am. We all know the cliche aphorism "You are not defined by what you do". While this may ring some truth, I must admit I am a little reluctant to accept that what you do for a living and your character or personhood operate independently.