Part of the job description

I'm a bartender in a family-oriented Mexican restaurant in the St. Louis Metro East.  Now, a bartender's job involves more than just mixing drinks and pouring beer.  I also have to be an entertainment provider, as needed.  Some people just want to drink, eat, watch TV and be left alone.  But others will talk the bartender's ear off if given half a chance.  This gives me a lot of opportunities to listen to people and think about what they say.

If you have some romantic notion about people pouring their souls out to the one pouring their drinks, and if you want to keep that romantic notion intact, you might want to stop reading now.

Seriously.  It's cool, I promise I'll be on about something else next time.

Alright, then.  Big shocker here:  The overwhelming majority of conversations I have with people are about one of two things:  Weather or sports.  In that order of frequency.  Sometimes I get lucky and the two come together in one conversation into a sort of Voltron of banality that I don't care about.  Luckily, my job isn't really to expound on topics, it usually works better if I'm a sounding board for the guest.  So I listen to them talk and express interest whether I'm interested or not.  And my tips go up.  yay.

One topic that comes up pretty frequently (although not as much as the weather or sports) is drinks.  This usually starts up when the guest has no idea what they want to drink, and he/she/zie asks me for a recommendation.  Or asks me what's in a particular drink, or how it's made.  These conversations are fun, but usually short.  The guest is thirsty, and generally not looking for a lecture.

The restaurant I work at has a pretty sweet deal going on with the hotel next door.  Bring in your key card, get a 20% discount.  So I meet a lot of business travelers.  Some of whom are more than happy to tell you about where they're from and what they're up to in the St. Louis area if you give them the opportunity.  Some don't, though, so you don't want to pry.  These are probably my favorite conversations, just for varieties sake.

Rounding out the list are guests who think they're comedians.  These guests are entertaining (often unintentionally), but have to be handled with caution.  Here's why:  When a big part of your job is making small talk, you tend to hear a lot of the same material over and over again.  If a guest comes up with some clever quip that they think is totally new and original, chances are they are wrong.  Now, since most of my income relies on guests giving me money on top of the price of their drinks (aka; tips), it's generally not a good idea to shoot down or deflate the would-be comedians around the bar.

Sometimes repetitive, sometimes banal, sometimes funny, sometimes interesting, sometimes absurd (these are the most fun).  Not really profound, deep or dramatic.  It's small talk, and it's something that I hated when I was younger.  Now it's part of my job.  And it's starting to grow on me.