18-07-2025
Bell: Stampede bartender's sob story of drunks and long hours — oh please!
It's not often I take on one of our own stories.
But this latest doozy takes the cake and it was front-page news.
In the Woe Is Me file this one goes right to the top of the pathetic pile.
A bartender signs up to work during the Calgary Stampede, at one of the tents that pop up around town.
She works long hours. She encounters drunks, some of them acting like idiots. Like that's never happened to a bartender before.
She goes on TikTok. She scores lots of views. Lots. I'm sure they feel her pain.
Her story is retold on this news site.
It attracts many eyeballs. Many. Could well be the top-read story of the month.
Now, folks, there are injustices in the world. Big injustices, smaller injustices. They often becomes stories. Some become headlines.
You see, there are stories to tell. Stories where wrongs need to be made right.
There are also stories that are just interesting or entertaining. They might make you laugh or make you cry or make you laugh and cry.
Or think. Or feel.
There are other stories providing you with news you can use.
This is not one of any of these stories.
This bartender story is what was once called a sob story. It is an open invitation to a pity party.
It is self-indulgent crap in an age of self-indulgent crap.
Here goes.
This story tells us this bartender believes drinking around Stampede contributes to deteriorating mental health.
Quite the statement to make when she is the one serving the drinks and no doubt getting a pretty penny for doing so, driving all the way from Edmonton to take the job.
As the days go on she says people get more aggressive and demanding, even hostile.
What she means by this is not explained.
Is it beyond what bartenders face at Stampede time or at any other time?
Having hit the bottle hard in my day and patronized far too many watering holes there isn't much you don't see with alcohol in the mix.
Is it getting worse?
'Any environment where people are drinking copious amounts for 10 days straight is not healthy for anyone,' observes the bartender.
Thank you, Captain Obvious.
Enter a scientific study in a medical journal. It shows a spike in emergency visits during Stampede time by men and an increase in substance misuse cases.
The study was from about 10 years ago and was done so emergency rooms could know how much they should staff up during Stampede.
Nothing new to see here.
Enter a counsellor who advises bartenders, I'm assuming it's bartenders. They should find others who can help out in difficult situations. Is there a bouncer in the house?
Just when you wonder where this story is going it picks up steam.
We are headed for the valley of tears. Cry me a river.
The bartender says those working at Stampede time work long hours.
Long hours and drunks! Who would have thunk it? Oh no! Say it ain't so.
The hits just keep on coming.
The bartender observes many people work around the clock 'pushed by an ambiguity around the gratuity they were owed at the end of the night.
'It was impossible to know if you were equally compensated.'
So cut to the chase. Is the complaint you didn't like the bozo drunks or you didn't like the money you got?
How much did you make in tips during Stampede time?
To all those who bartend at Stampede, a question. Do you make good money?
Riddle me this one. Were these bartenders drafted into their jobs, were they taken off the streets and forced to work in tents during Stampede?
Is there a shortage of bartenders because of the horrors they endure?
There are more holes in this story than in a mountain of Swiss cheese.
Don't know if this is the bartender or the counsellor but if you work unusual hours we find out you could have sleep issues.
Sleep issues? WE ARE TALKING ABOUT 10 DAYS!!!
What about all those individuals who work shifts all the time?
While we're at it, what about all those individuals who tough it out in jobs tougher than 10 days of bartending and earn lower pay?
What about all those folks, maybe you dear reader, who worked crap jobs and sucked it up until you could find something else?
Mercifully, the end of the sob story is near.
The bartender says she has been in the hospitality industry for more than 10 years and expected 'many of the stress factors.'
So then, what's the problem?
Other people who never bartended at Stampede before couldn't cut it and fell apart.
That's life. I worked in jobs where some guys quit Day One. Walked off the site. They couldn't hack it so they packed it.
The bartender concludes she'll never serve up drinks at Stampede time again.
Remind me, why do we care?
rbell@
