A Redditor shared a post on r/MaliciousCompliance describing the aftermath of a policy change by his new manager, who forced all bartenders to measure their shots instead of using the free-pour method. The writer explained that he's a bartender at a sports bar, and he and his co-workers have used the free-pour method because it's faster and more efficient, which is what the owner of the bar cared about most. The post has garnered more than 21,000 upvotes and over 1,821 comments.
Additionally, they were all tested on their free-pouring accuracy and were within a quarter ounce of the intended measurement. So, their customers were happy because they were served quickly. However, one commenter said that, based on what was described, the pouring accuracy was off. They wrote, "Accurate within a quarter ounce is... Not good. Even for a 2oz pour, that's over 12% variance."
But all that would change once his new manager began overseeing the sports bar. The writer explained that the manager had come from a hotel bar a few months earlier and immediately started making changes. He said that, within the first week, the manager decided that the pour cost was too high. He then mandated that every single drink being prepared had to be measured with a jigger or a shot glass.
Worse yet, the manager said that this rule had no exceptions, meaning that even on the busiest days, like game days, it would remain in effect. As a matter of fact, when one of the older bartenders asked if this rule included game days, the manager replied, "Especially game days."
The New Manager Had to Change His Policy When the Owner Stepped In on Game Day
A couple of weeks later, the Redditor said that it was Ohio State game day, and they were bartending on campus. He said they were at full capacity before noon, and because he was forced to use a jigger for every drink, what usually took him six seconds when free pouring now took around 15 seconds.
This obviously meant slower service, longer lines, and more impatient customers. By early afternoon, he said the servers were practically begging for drink orders from the bar. A table of regulars who had been coming to the bar for four years even left for the bar next door because the line was moving so slowly.
The writer said it got so bad that the manager came behind the bar to "help," but all he could do was watch customers grow increasingly frustrated as the bartenders followed his jigger-measuring rule. Then, a little later that afternoon, the owner appeared. Shocked by the long line, he asked why service was so slow.
And the writer explained that he was simply following the new manager's jigger-measuring policy for every drink. Without hesitation, the owner looked at the manager and said, "Not on game days." Then, the writer said that as soon as they started free pouring their shots again, the regulars they had lost came back the following week and said, "Glad you guys fixed whatever that was."
Reactions to the post were mixed, with some commenters blaming the manager for messing up the flow of things with the new policy, while others said the writer simply wasn't a good bartender.
One commenter wrote, "Listen man, honestly. If it takes you fifteen seconds to fill a jigger you're doing it wrong. Hold it between your fingers right over the glass and dump it when it fills. It takes no additional time to use a jigger."
Another commenter echoed this sentiment, and said that it shouldn't take 15 seconds to pour a drink using a jigger. They wrote, "As someone who bartended in a country where jiggers are mandatory , if it’s taking you 15 seconds to pour a double well you’re doing something horribly wrong. Get a double jigger, hell even having to double pour a single jigger ain’t 15 seconds."
A separate commenter blamed the manager for stepping in with his new policy. They wrote, "Leave it up to a new manager to come in and 'make everything better'. Good on the owner standing up for all of you."
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the events described in the post, which are based solely on the Redditor's account on r/MaliciousCompliance.
