It’s come to YUD’s attention over the past weeks and months that, just like not everybody is employed, not everybody is unemployed. And maybe there are a few things we can learn from each other.
Enter YUD’s new Q&A series, focusing on the—gasp!—”employed.” I think you’ll find that these interestingly jobbed folks have some inspiring (or at least intriguing) things to say.
Meet our first victim—ahem—participant, Dorian Stone, who tends bar to make money for his independent films.
© Cristiano Benedetti
I’m a bartender/”mixologist” at
Barmarché, where I make classic and specialty cocktails with all fresh ingredients. I’m also a
filmmaker.
How long have you been doing this, and why?
I’ve been a bartender for 4 years. It allows me the flexibility to pursue filmmaking.
What’s the best thing about your job?
Getting to know the customers, making sure they have a great time.
The worst?
When it gets packed and the
specialty cocktail orders pile up, it can feel like a factory.
What do you wear while working?
T-shirt, jeans, clean pair of sneakers. It used to be shirt and tie but now we’re doing what might be termed “casual chic.”
If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?
A longer bar and more stools!
Do you get paid: a) Enough b) Too much c) Too little d) Fill in your own response:_______________
Enough.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Psychotherapist, novelist, deep sea adventurer
What’s your dream job now?
Independent feature film director, screenwriter
How long until you retire? What will you do then?
As a film director I don’t ever intend to retire.
What’s the one thing about your job that you wish others knew?
Well, I think it wouldn’t hurt if everyone had worked in the service industry at least once—the way military service is required in some countries. Our country being the bastion of capitalism it proclaims to be, why not require everyone to work in a customer service job, early in their lives? It can be quite an eye-opening experience…. There’d be less douchebags, I can tell you that.
Have you noticed changes in your business related to the recession? Think we’re out of the woods yet?
There’s been a sharp drop in business this year as compared to last. It dipped pretty precipitously from late spring to summer and seems to be getting a little better now. I don’t think we’re out of the woods. I think the landscape has changed.
Have you seen changes in people’s drinking habits in the last year? How about how they’re tipping?
Overall I’d say yes. My bar tabs have been smaller. I do feel that people are drinking less at my bar. They’re more inclined to take their time with their cocktails/drinks and less likely to order multiple rounds. However, I’ve been told by the servers that people are ordering more booze and less food at the tables. They’re tipping about the same, although there are less of those extraordinary tips in which customers drop a few hundred because they loved your service.
How many times in the last 6 months has someone come into your bar and told you they just lost their job? Do you give them a free drink?
About five people. No, I won’t give them a free drink just because they lost their job. (Heck, if it was a dive bar I might.) If they’re regulars and have several drinks, then I usually do a buyback.
Restaurants are closing left and right. Are you at all concerned about job security?
Sure. It’s a very tough business. Here one day gone the next. My current employer appears to be doing okay though.
Does recession/unemployment/the economy factor into your film-making work?
Yes and no. I am directly affected in so far as I have less money from the bartending to put towards my own films. I’d say the downturn has shrunken the pool of potential investors (producers). It just makes the process of funding a film more challenging, which I welcome—it forces you to be more creative.
© James Oo
