Things you’ll learn if you work in a Liverpool bar

Liverpool is one of the best cities in the UK for a night out. If you haven’t been on a night out in Level, drunkenly stumbled around concert square and ended up in a questionable takeaway you’re not really living.

Some of us on the other hand spend Friday and Saturday nights behind the bar, sweeping up broken glass or standing outside the club handing out cards for free shots. If you’re one of us you’ll know there are certain things you learn along the way.

Scouse girls are the most dedicated to the sesh:

The Northern gal just doesn’t give up. She may have already thrown up twice, she may have lost a shoe and her phone is probably dead and/or broken, but she’ll keep dancing all night long. There is glass on the floor and she has no shoes on but does she give a fuck? Absolutely not.

You’ll get called ‘girl’ every 10 minutes:

Why? Who knows. Evenings consist of “can I have a pint girl?”, “thanks girl”, “you alright girl?”. Even if you’re not a girl the chances of you being called girl are pretty high. See it as endearing and you’ll feel full of love by the end of the night.

“Can I have an extra shot for free girl?”

Clubbers simply do not feel the cold

It’s the middle of winter and the temperature at 3am is as low as 5°C, but everywhere you turn you’ll be faced with girls in sparkly skimpy dresses and men in thin tees. Who has time to feel the cold when there are quad vods to be drunk and regrets to be made? By the end of the night, despite the temperature, everyone seems to be covered in sweat – or alcohol – anyway.

People will always ask if you sell vodka & coke

Interesting question. Well actually… Of course we fucking do. When have you ever been to a bar that doesn’t? It’s tempting to say “no, sorry, haven’t actually heard of that one” but since students are automatically poor and don’t want to lose their jobs you’ll be greeted with a smile and a simple “yes.”

Toilet cubicles are a meeting place

If you’re floor staff you’ll be especially familiar with this struggle. Attempting to get excitable, drunken girls out of a toilet cubicle in order to clean it is about as easy as budgeting your student loan; impossible. Emily, we know you need to sit down and share the fact he hasn’t text you back yet and you’re not sure about men anymore but for the love of god get out of the toilet.

How to drink more

We get taught how to make the best cocktails, but after a training session someone needs to drink them all. Your alcohol tolerance will go up considerably.

Why have one when you can have two?

Everyone thinks you sell flip flops

If you don’t work behind a bar you’ll be surprised at the amount of people who ask if you have or sell any flip flops. It happens. It turns out we don’t actually have a box of flip flops hidden behind the bar, who would’ve guessed it?

Cocktails are pretty easy to make

To the untrained eye it looks hard, or maybe it’s just the world spinning because you’ve had too many shots, but how is that bartender doing everything so fast!? Cocktail making is actually pretty straightforward, you just need to get your head around all the measurements.

How to survive on essentially no sleep

Working 9pm-5am and have an essay due Monday? Red Bull is now your new best friend. The SJ is your retreat straight after work and those who notice you drifting off every now and then will hopefully leave you in peace.

But at the end of the day when you’ve gained experience and have a purse full of tips, it’s all worth it.