Mobisode; Gold Collar; Bartendresses

[bapopik at AOL.COM]

Greetings from my lunch hour. The guard approached me and said that he needed $1,000 or he might be gone from this earth by Monday. So then another person said that I could afford it, it's the guy's life, what am I, cheap?

Life is working out great. Did I commit some crime that I have to do this for twenty years?

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MOBISODE

It's in today's Wall Street Journal, page B3. It's a "mobile episode." It should be researched and recorded.

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GOLD COLLAR

17 March 2005, New York Daily News, pg. 38, col. 1:
_SHE'S GOLD, HE'S BLUE_
_Blue-collars holdon to green--gold-collars spend big
(...)
The first is your old-fashioned, blue-collar kind of folk. The other has now officially been dubbed "gold collar."

A new study by Chicago-based research firm Synovate has carved out a niche for these new gold collars--working-class kids who blow huge portions of their income on high-end luxuries.

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BARTENDRESSES

>From the "Ardent Spirits" newletter by Gary Regan:


Barmaids, Bartendresses, and Bar Bitches

Our friend, Claudia C. F. Craig caused some controversy when, as we reported in
the last issue of Ardent Spirits, she wrote to say that she was in favor of
calling females who work behind the stick "barmaids," as opposed to bartenders.
Not one of our readers who wrote in to comment agreed with Claudia.  Mind you,
Claudia's used to that . . .

First off we should explain the Bar Bitch term lest you're getting irate:  Gary
was tending bar at a charity function at Painter's Tavern in Cornwall-on-Hudson
recently when he found himself in the weeds in a big way.  He looked to Pete
Buttiglieri, his buddy, and one of the owners of Painter's, for help, and Pete
dutifully went to work, grabbing a tray full of clean glasses from the kitchen,
and re-stocking the glass shelves.  He rolled his eyes at Gary, and muttered,
"Now that I'm officially your bar bitch . . . "  So, we don't think that Bar
Bitch is a suitable term to use when referring to a female bartender, but we do
believe that it suits Peter to a T.

Here's a look at what some of you wrote on the subject of barmaids:

>From Philip Duff, Holland:

"I'd go for bartender to describe a, er, bartender of either gender.  As well as
being unisex, it also fits well with the profession of "tending bar", and is
universally understood, something that can't be said for "barkeeper"(most
Germanic countries).  To me personally, having lived in the UK, "barman" or
"barmaid" tends to be used to describe a fairly untrained pub-standard bar
worker, whereas "bartender" always seemed to indicate a trained professional."

Any bartenders in the U.K. care to comment?

Nancy A. Breslow had pretty strong views on this subject, too.  Here's what she
had to say:

"Gary and Mardee:  The idea of a female bartender being called anything but a
BARTENDER gives me the dry-heaves.  If I tend bar, I do the same job whether
I've got the inny or outy equipment between my legs.  I don't care if some men
pine for the "Fly me" days; that's their problem.  Would Claudia want a woman
flying the plane to be called a pilotess?  Ugh.  From "maid" it's only a step or
two to "wench" and anyone calls me that is begging for a black eye.  -Nancy-

And speaking of wenches, Deven Black, an old friend, and former manager of the
North Star Pub in Manhattan wrote, "Personally, I prefer serving wench."  Don't
get too upset at Deven, we know him well enough to tell you for sure that Deven
had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he wrote that one.  If he was even
half-way serious we're also sure that Jill, his ever patient wife, would whip
him soundly.

A certain woman by the name of Brenda wrote to say that she didn't mind being
called a bartender, a barmaid, or even "sweety hon," but she added that her
customers seldom had to call her anything at all since she gets the drinks out
before they have to ask.  And finally, a reader who signed his e-mail "Jeffrey"
suggested that we start using the word "bartendress" when referring to female
bartenders.

The vast majority of you, though, think that "bartender" is a good unisex term
that should be employed when referring to bartenders of either sex.  Sorry,
Claudia.