Bar Backing before Bartending?

Yes. It is VERY necessary to be a bar back before even thinking of becoming a bartender. 

A good bartender must always be a good bar back. Thats how it works. The work will be horrible and extremely hard, but you will gain a multitude of experience that any hot girl bartender never got and it'll put you ahead on so many levels.

One thing I can say is that that the bartenders are superrrrr dependent on you man. You have all the power and you don't even know it. You supply them with all the goods. Keep them happy, and you'll be happy.

Anyways im rambling...continue on this road, cause I did the exact same, and the experience I got and you will get from it is priceless.

Yeah. I was gonna say dude... sometimes you just gotta shut up and sack up. Like with my business and stuff... I'm 28 dude. But I've had to do some humiliating stuff. Absolutely unbelievably humiliating stuff that I don't care to share with you. You think it's all roses and "golden brick roads?" Fuck no. I'm sure guys like Manwhore have/has had to go through his just absolutely degrading experiences to get where he's at.

Initiation into a lot of fraternities involves, a "right of passage," where they degrade, dehumanize, and humiliate THE FUCK out of you. Don't be a fuckin pussy and cop out. Learn from it. A lot of my business has to do with maintaining a positive attitude at all times, even under harsh circumstances.

(btw I had my shit set on fire one time and managed to put it out, but also lit my junk on fire. I shit you not. Guess who finished the job with a hole in the crotch of his pants and his underwear hanging out? THIS GUY.)  Doing humiliating or hard shit, while maintaining bulletproof positivity... That's what we're looking for.

At the same time, is bartending what you want to do for forever? Are you just doing it for the money, to a purpose? Sometimes you have to do stuff like this to get closer to the purpose. Shit dude, I've worked quite a few dumbass jobs too, but they never keep me.

Keep that in mind too.

Do what you gotta do, pussy. 

Uh, yeah. In fact your guys' definitions of "humiliation", "grueling", etc., really don't come close lol. Dude when you posted up that blurb about sitting in jail for a few days losing some of your shit and your mom bailing you out I literally lol'd. 

All I'm saying is just dig in and keep going. Nothing great ever comes easy. And if it does you either did all the work beforehand, or it was earned in such a way where most people won't have gone through the development necessary to take their gifts to their full potential. In fact getting back on topic, a lot of people "achieve" bartender and then just STOP. That's all they do for the rest of their life. Fucking DERP 

I know, it's tough as shit. Very surprised how demanding the job could be. I worked again last night and honestly I did 100x better than the night before. 

Maybe I was just overwhelmed working my very first shift on a Friday night when it was busy and I knew where nothing was. Last night I definitely killed it. I feel like I'm gaining quite a bit of knowledge too, but I was reading articles where it says a lot of people actually learn nothing about bartending through bar backing. I have a  interview this week for actual bartending so I'll check that out. 

Some me people it know have been barbacking for over a year-two years and still haven't moved up. I gotta feel for them. 

i also am just doing it to make money while going to school. It pays well and it beats working for a set minimum wage job. 

I guess i thought it was easier than what it actually is because of all the hype everyone working in the industry tells me. I'll still stick with it, but I gotta say cleaning up puke sucks LOL

Good shit. Yeah we all know the feelz of sucking at something at first and being a bit overwhelmed lol. Be cool with it. We all have to learn not to let our sense of self or identity get tangled up in the learning process. Or the "role" we're playing at a particular job. A lot of guys get super beta'd by a job or position they have and it takes control over every other area of their life. Can't let that happen either. 

If I was worried about anybody laughing at me or talking shit about me, I wouldna shared it. The point of that was that failure was a good thing, and was what I needed right then. To learn humility.

But yeah, I've had to clean up puke, fossilized cat shit, people shit, dog shit, chicken shit... somebody get a banjo! lol.

Shazaam! Tolle will helps a ton with that.

Naw I wasn't trying to talk shit I was just sharing, lol 

To be honest, I think it was just an overwhelming feeling to be there on a busy night + not knowing where anything is + having it be my first shift. 

I think ink I have actually had it when you let your job almost beta you before. I think maybe it was because of the position itself and the work I was doing + the amount I was making. 

Wouldnt your position or occupation almost help shape your identity though? Say for example you were a doctor, wouldn't that make you more proud etc.Than say a job that isn't highly sought after or respected? Just curious about that concept. 

I have 3 job interviews this week for bartender positions, I'm hoping I can nail one of them. Money is the main motivation at the moment, plus if I score the gig beside the college at the local bar, I'd be a very happy man. Being able to work where all the girls and guys go after class. Not too shabby at all in my opinion, I feel like I could grow my social circle pretty fast with a gig like that...

To be honest, I think it was just an overwhelming feeling to be there on a busy night and not knowing where anything is and having it be my first shift. 

I think ink I have actually had it when you let your job almost beta you before. I think maybe it was because of the position itself and the work I was doing plus the amount I was making. 

Wouldnt your position or occupation almost help shape your identity though? Say for example you were a doctor, wouldn't that make you more proud etc.Than say a job that isn't highly sought after or respected? Just curious about that concept. 

I have 3 job interviews this week for bartender positions, I'm hoping I can nail one of them. Money is the main motivation at the moment, plus if I score the gig beside the college at the local bar, I'd be a very happy man. Being able to work where all the girls and guys go after class. Not too shabby at all in my opinion, I feel like I could grow my social circle pretty fast with a gig like that...

It took me quite a while to realize this superiority identity I had, based on a lot of things. I'd expend so much energy on managing what everybody else thought of me, trying to manipulate perceptions etc. Even being a shy, introverted person is an identity/role. Superiority/inferiority are both just "shells." It took some hard lessons to realize what utter bullshit I was doing.

Watch Patch Adams with Robin Williams (RIP)... That movie is all about Hunter "Patch" Adams' fight with this idea that doctors have to maintain "distance" and have this self important, superiority identity, because they are "ALMIGHTY DOCTORS!" Instead of treating the person not the disease.

I'll take a look at that sometime this week man. I think I bit off more than I can chew with the job interviews since I have so many now, but it's a good thing I guess. 

I'm sure you can easily fall into that "shell" though for many jobs, I mean it's happened to me and I've seen it happen to people. Like say you ask where they work and you can see how hesitant and almost ashamed they are to say ... Is that the same thing as a "shell"?

Reading A New Earth by Tolle really helped me out with that. He goes into depth on "roles" that we place on others and that others place on us. It's like, one can work that menial job, but  they aren't that job.

My best friend is amazing at this. He's one of those dudes that's just absolutely totally cool with himself. He recently moved to another city and started working a job. He told me, "Oh yeah. I just sweep the floors."

I was like, "Dude you are way more skilled than that. Why are you sweeping floors?!"

He goes, "Fuck it. They pay me $20/hour."

The thing about him is he's cool with who he is, he's not ashamed of sweeping floors lol. On the flipside another friend of mine is a lawyer and he's like, "Yeah, I'm just a circus clown trying to practice law." Again... dudes just cool with himself.

That's an interesting way to look at it from a point of view of valuing yourself. I find people judge you and classify you into a group based on your status at work and your initial job, you know what I mean?

I also nailed the job interview, I start my bartending gig on wednesday, no more bar backing for me :)