Member-only story
This Is Not My First Dive Bar
But you wouldn’t know by the way I’m treated in them.
I remember my first dive bar, when I had no clue how to navigate through the crowd, or belly up to the bar. I was in my mid-twenties and newly divorced, about as green as you can get.
It took practice and hanging out with some bar people to learn the ropes. My husband had been in Seminary, and I had been a teacher. Not exactly bar people. We got married my first year of college. There were no drunken frat parties for me. So I needed an education.
One of my first boyfriends, at that time, taught me most of what I know, and still practice forty years later. If people are buying rounds, offer to buy one. Move through the crowd with your hands close to you and held up in front. That way if someone backs up, they will feel your gentle touch, and stop. Get out of the way of the wait staff, and don’t stand in front of their station. Learn how to talk a drunk challenge down, and don’t start any altercations yourself. His exact words were, “Don’t start a bar fight that I’ll have to finish.”
Bellying up to the bar to order requires the same approach. Catching the bartenders eye is a talent you can acquire…
