How To Handle A Handle Situation
I am the manager on duty at the bar/restaurant one super busy night. We have two separate bars: one at the very entrance to the building and one at the back. I am floating between both bars to make sure all my other bartenders are doing okay.
I go to check on the back bar, and I notice that the tap handle for one of the draught beers is missing. At first, I think one of my coworkers is screwing with me since we all do silly s*** to each other frequently.
Me: “Yo, [Coworker], where is the [Beer Brand] handle?”
Coworker: “Oh, it’s gone? It wasn’t me!”
Me: “[Barback], you f****** with us again?”
Barback: “I swear, it’s not me!”
I even check with the kitchen staff, and no one has the handle. When I come back to the bar, I see some random dude reaching across my bar, attempting to unscrew a different tap handle!
Me: “You! What the f*** do you think you’re doing?!”
They all start laughing and his friends start chanting, “Busted!”
Me: “You’re all going to leave unless I get my tap handle back.”
Handle Stealer: “Anyone can reach them; it could have been anyone in this bar!”
Me: “That’s funny. I’ve been here for years, and no one else has been stupid enough to try that and think it’s okay.”
They all got kicked out because of him, and our beer rep got us a new handle within a couple of days. I sent the camera footage of the guy and all of his friends to every bar in the area (we bartenders like to keep local town networks) and made sure they couldn’t go out for a drink anywhere in town for a long while.