What’s Your Biggest Pet Peeve?
by Ryan Vlastelica
It’s a given that kleptomania, public displays of affection, people who dance on the bar to ‘Friends in Low Places’, backroom drug dealing and bathroom drug, um, doing will really foul up a shift, but what of the thousand interwoven annoyances that are the fabric of a life in customer service? Which one itches the most?
ANNA
Where she presides: Mi Nadito, Midtown
Favorite drink: Margarita
Making margaritas. That’s it for me. They’re very popular here. [Indeed, every single person in Mi Nadito had one, literally 100%.] We also have a lot of flavors, types; we make them on the rocks or frozen, and it gets tiring. But we have a blender, so it doesn’t take too long. Just one to two minutes for each.
KAREN
Where she presides: 68 Jay St. Bar, Dumbo
Favorite drink: Wine of any variety
In general? Jesus. I guess of many, the worst is when people leave peanut shells on the floor. You see, sometimes people bring in their own peanuts, and they shell them and leave them on the floor. We serve snacks here, I like to have Goldfish. [She whispers] I’d say something more obnoxious, but I don’t want to lose my clientele.
GENE
Where he presides: The Grisly Pear, Greenwich Village
Favorite drink: Johnny Walker Black
Really not much. Pet peeves? I don’t know, except for idiots, but I guess that goes without saying. That and drunk people. You know, the people who are drunk before they even come in. Those, I guess.
LESLIE
Where she presides: Edge Bar, East Village
Favorite drink: Doesn’t drink
People who order water and don’t drink it. Mojitos. If I say we don’t have mint, we don’t have mint. [Regular at the end of the bar starts to complain, “What’s the matter, can’t you get the Yuengling working?”] Guys like that, who have something to say about everything. No, the Yuengling isn’t working. Have a backup order ready. Oh, and hipsters. You’re not a hipster, are you?
ERIC
Where he presides: Brasserie, Midtown East
Favorite drink: The Manmosa (Miller High Life and orange juice)
Tourists who leave change on the bar. People who ask for an even number of olives in their martinis. It gives me a funny feeling up my spine when they do that. Or rippers, those people who rip up their napkins and beer labels and make a mess. But even though it’s the worst, I always do that.
ANNA
Where she presides: Mi Nadito, Midtown
Favorite drink: Margarita
Making margaritas. That’s it for me. They’re very popular here. [Indeed, every single person in Mi Nadito had one, literally 100%.] We also have a lot of flavors, types; we make them on the rocks or frozen, and it gets tiring. But we have a blender, so it doesn’t take too long. Just one to two minutes for each.
KAREN
Where she presides: 68 Jay St. Bar, Dumbo
Favorite drink: Wine of any variety
In general? Jesus. I guess of many, the worst is when people leave peanut shells on the floor. You see, sometimes people bring in their own peanuts, and they shell them and leave them on the floor. We serve snacks here, I like to have Goldfish. [She whispers] I’d say something more obnoxious, but I don’t want to lose my clientele.
GENE
Where he presides: The Grisly Pear, Greenwich Village
Favorite drink: Johnny Walker Black
Really not much. Pet peeves? I don’t know, except for idiots, but I guess that goes without saying. That and drunk people. You know, the people who are drunk before they even come in. Those, I guess.
LESLIE
Where she presides: Edge Bar, East Village
Favorite drink: Doesn’t drink
People who order water and don’t drink it. Mojitos. If I say we don’t have mint, we don’t have mint. [Regular at the end of the bar starts to complain, “What’s the matter, can’t you get the Yuengling working?”] Guys like that, who have something to say about everything. No, the Yuengling isn’t working. Have a backup order ready. Oh, and hipsters. You’re not a hipster, are you?
ERIC
Where he presides: Brasserie, Midtown East
Favorite drink: The Manmosa (Miller High Life and orange juice)
Tourists who leave change on the bar. People who ask for an even number of olives in their martinis. It gives me a funny feeling up my spine when they do that. Or rippers, those people who rip up their napkins and beer labels and make a mess. But even though it’s the worst, I always do that.
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