Typical guests

When you’ve been working in hospitality for a while, you know what this is about. The typical ‘characters‘ we all encounter, and that is not always a good thing.
It doesn’t really matter if you are in a bar, cafe, nightclub, coffeehouse or restaurant. You recognize them quite easily. The main characters in this weird fairy-tale:

• The person who needs to be the center of attention

• The person who is misbehaving to the staff

• The person who seems to have lost his dog

• The person who has no reason to go home

• The person who has nothing to say at home

• The person who thinks people in hospitality are con-artists

• The person who comes baring gifts

• The person who always has the same order

• The person who wants the world but does not tip

• The person who works in hospitality themselves

We will have a quick rundown through all of them. How to recognize them and how to handle them.
Handling these characters coming into your bar can be challenging. You have to remain respectful and polite, but there is a limit obviously.

Personal note:

The bigger question to me is: “Why?“ Why are some people the way they are. Do they just have a shitty life and blame that on the rest of the world? Meaning everywhere they go, everyone else has to deal with their problems as well.
We are not psychologists, leave your problems at home please.
I like to respond in an equally awkward way. Witty responses to the common things they do or say is a good idea. We deserve more respect than to be just run down by some random person. To me that is not acceptable. If you have a workplace which does not support staff standing their ground against these typical guest… Well, godspeed.

Sincerely,

Den The Man