Having been a bartender and a pub manager myself, and coming from a family that’s been in the hospitality industry for four generations, I have a special place in my heart for bartenders and restaurant servers. At various times, bartenders are amateur therapists, event planners, arbitrators, artists, bouncers and entertainers. Because you play a different role for each customer who comes in, a good bartender does it with balance and grace.
A Florida bartender, however, turned into a guardian angel for a pair of women who were trying to have a quiet drink at his bar, No Vacancy in St. Petersburg, Florida. Max Gutierrez noticed that the women seemed uncomfortable with a man who was repeatedly pushing himself on the women.
Instead of assuming he knew the situation, he slipped her a note disguised a receipt. “If this guy is bothering you, put your ponytail on your other shoulder, and I will have him removed. He’s giving me the creeps,” the note read.
The customer, who posted the note on Twitter, immediately flipped her ponytail, and Gutierrez jumped into the action, ejecting the man from the bar. The offender claimed that the ladies were enjoying his company and Gutierrez was being “a little aggressive,” but Gutierrez didn’t listen and tossed him from the restaurant. He also didn’t allow him back in when he tried returning four days later.
The woman was so grateful, she related the event on Twitter later that night, complete with a photo of the Gutierrez and the note. “This man was harassing me and my friend and the bartender passed this note to me acting like it was my receipt,” the woman wrote. “Legit the type of bartender everyone needs.”
“I honestly don’t like yelling at customers or embarrassing people, but I find it’s one of the best ways to handle creeps,” Gutierrez responded in a comment. “I just don’t need my guests feeling uncomfortable.”
This man was harrassssing me and my friend and the bartender passed this note to me acting like it was my receipt ! Legit the type of bartender everyone needs pic.twitter.com/kGTGekNFgl
— trinity👑✨ (@trinityallie) June 14, 2021