fitzface
72152
702
25
Oct 30, 2023 4:28 AM
fitzface
72152
702
25
GrandWatchmenOverAesir
If it is what you desire go for it ! Always can go back. I used to be bartender and now I am developer!
KatiePuckrik
Don’t. Customers are bellends at the best of times. But when they’re drunk…? God help you! (Source: I used to be a barman. I hated every single minute of it).
NotoriousBadassWhoLovesMusicals
Lousy hours and lousy pay - i worked at a club for 3,5 years but in the end the only friends were other nightcrawlers and i alianated myself from the rest of society. Off course i met hundreds of people but i befriended none - your always working when they are having a good time. I take value from my experience but I’ll never do it again. You rarely see nightclub bartenders over 40 for a reason.
drowscion
The talent pool in the service industry experienced a huge migration post-pandemic, so while there’s still some opportunity, there’s also a reason why so many experienced bartenders left
hotrodny
So you like loud music and drunk customers?
dbbbbs
A friend of mine quit being the production stage manager at a major regional theatre to be a bar tender: less stress and more money!
hypraktiv
I highly recommend not doing that, I run 2 restaurants. Get a different job in tech.
genevievil
I work part time as a bartender. I want to quit my day job and do it full time. My only hangup is insurance. I don't know if ACA will be enough for my family's needs. Braces, glasses, mental health meds; I'm afraid to jump ship but I'm so miserable
NLOVNI
Go for it
fitzface
Thanks! I may do!
obie5778
Keep up your skills. There is no shame in bartending, and you always have tech as an option. Both are great options
CoarseAndSalty
Not gonna lie, it's a pretty durable and good-paying profession but you're probably never going to make great money unless you own your own bar.
werrywerry
I would love to quit my tech job to sweep streets to be honest. Or mow grass.
Hellstorm99
Try it out temporarily before leaving your job. It seems fun, but it is a job. The money is never consistent. I love bartending. I miss it. Just, can’t make enough long term to support a family and have financial security
kurastwolf
Meanwhile two of my colleagues are former bartenders who left their jobs to work tech. You do you, my dude - be well!
lucidity4all
Depends on where you live and what kind of bar
binkythe900ftcarrot
now that is a venn diagram i am interested in. imho those 2 areas dont intersect THAT much but hats off to you good sir or madam and can i have 3 william gibsons on table 3
TheRealDale
You’ll probably be working afternoons, weekends and holidays if you switch to bartending. If that’s ok with you, why not try it while you keep your 9 to 5? That way, you are more sure if it’s right for you. If you’re in the U.S.A., are you giving up employer healthcare by switching?
Fackaduck25
Been a bartender for 12 years before finishing my studies. Everyone I know from the industry, including me, has some sort of PTSD related to it.
AnxiaTeaDD
I bartended for several years, it can be kinda stressful but I loved it. If you’re good at it the money is great. Most ppl are easy enough to deal with, even drunk. You do get the occasional issue with some who will cause problems or a certain regular will say “well when so-and-so works she usually gives me a double for the same price.” Well I’m not her and I’m doing what my boss instructed me to do. If you’re good at letting shit just roll off your shoulder and being friendly enough while …
AnxiaTeaDD
also setting boundaries then it’s gonna work out fine.
Calicious
As someone who did the opposite, bartending is a rough job when you get older. I still know some 40+ year old bartenders and their lives are pretty sad. Maybe save up to start a bar of your own?
Thatoneday
Was bartender +8 years. Even with healthy lifestyle and habits in place, bartending can erode it all. Constantly surrounded by the same fakes, but drunk. See all sorts of human behaviour at last call. And constantly surrounded by drugs and alcohol.
NotoriousBadassWhoLovesMusicals
As a cooping method i drank all my off days, don’t recommend it. It was fun when under 30 but then the hangovers hit you differently
swephisto
Always follow your heart, and if you make people happy doing so you hit the jackpot
TalleyZorah
I think you should go for it. You can always switch back or even find something else entirely! I know multiple people who have gone from "big tech" to bartending, and vice versa. All of them eventually ended up doing something else again at some point, but all said that that first change was the stepping stone they needed and that they were very happy throughout it.
fitzface
Thank you! I’ve been feeling stuck for so long, it’s nice to hear stories about people who’ve made some kind of change for the better!
awesalots
Hey buddy, just wrapped up 3 months of leave and I’m struggling with similar choice, just slightly different alternative career paths. Feel free to DM for camaraderie. I am ready to leave.
BioFlayerMedia
Both if these seem red to me
insertcointocontinue
I'm making much less in my current job than I did working in tech but I'm also no longer constantly on the verge of having a breakdown so that's nice.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
I used to be a teacher (middle school). Quit after 2 years, tried lots of part time jobs (they would have been full time, but they were places that would give you 7.5 hrs a day so that they didn't have to give healthcare), even tried construction thru a union. Too much stress, all of it. Now, I just stay home (husband works, so we get by). I'd rather be poor and not stressed than pretty well off and stressed. I used to grind my teeth at night when sleeping so loudly it would wake my husband up.
fitzface
100% why I want to leave. I took a 3 month medical leave last year due to “stress” and it didn’t help. I’m right back to feeling like I want to burn everything now…
transientmind
I quit a lucrative six figure job in the mid-00s without a new job lined up thanks to burnout and toxic to the point of straight-up illegal management. Ended up with a government job at half the pay, but I could sleep at night. That said, it did pretty much fuck my financial future putting me on the back foot for home ownership. Swings and roundabouts.
Hevach
"Success" is overrated. I went from IT to a safety officer in an engine factory. Because the local tech sector is overrun with game design students ruined by six months to a year at Stardock pay is in the gutter and this was hardly even a cut, but I went from doing 80 hours of hard work in 60 hours for 40 hours of pay to walking around with a clipboard for 10 hours a week for 60 hours of pay (other 50 hours spent listening to audiobooks).
mirrorz
Friend of mine sold his small tech company and became a full time bartender. Making more money and less stress.
fitzface
Right?!? Like, it’s definitely replacing one kind of stress with a different kind, but one of them might be more desirable…
Sooner70
I'm suddenly curious as to how much money bartenders make....
sauronater
Anywhere from $35k on the low end, $100k on the high end. Average is probably closer to $55k though
MisterSixer
I did it for a long time, 15 yrs+. Aside from the people, the problems that arise come from having to manage your own taxes, healthcare costs, retirement fund and PTO from an inconsistent, nearly all cash income. If you try to skim the man, it fucks with your "on paper" income, and then it's harder to get loans. And the lack of job security. Also you can be held liable. (States differ) It's a literal shit-ton of fun though, till you get too old to throw full kegs around. I miss it sometimes.
MisterSixer
Still do private parties on the weekends.
annonymouse211
Imo it's never going to be worth the abuse from drunk patrons, vomit, violence, and general Dealing With Inebriated Public.
sv1rr
I worked a rainbow nightclub for 4 years. Made north of $100k adjusted for inflation including tip for three nights of work a week. Patrons were the best crowd I've ever worked with, and they accepted my straightness within a fortnite. Bonus, when their friends of the female variety started feeling lonely, they always sent them my way, or handed me a note with a phone number and a nudge in the direction of said friend. All in all, good times! Still my favorite job 15 years later.
CraftyGiant
you'll find a lot less of that in a more upscale place.
werrywerry
That's not so bad when you are also drunk.
Arcygenical
My ex used to earn about 350$ a night in cash tips 3x a week, and 150$ the other night. She didn't need to work 4 days Busy bar, in Toronto. Plus minimum wage, mind you.
OhHaiNeonPegasus
$85,280 a year with an average of $250 a night
Arcygenical
Putting it that way, why didn't I charge her rent!
MrFancyPanzer
Do what you want to do. i had a teacher whose mom decided to stop being a house wife and became a welder in the 60s or 70s, which is pretty badass.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
I tried that. I couldn't get over how many toxic fumes you end up inhaling though-- guys that had been doing it for years had the shakes.
MrFancyPanzer
There are ways to mitigate that, I used a helmet with a filter
ThrowAwayAcct0000
I get that. I just saw so many injuries in the first 6 months that I decided not to pursue it in the end.
MrFancyPanzer
Really? i have been welding since i was 15, have only ever had minor burns.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
Well, I was on a construction site, so I saw nails go through people's boots, tools dropped from above, etc. It wasn't the welding that was dangerous, it was more the people doing the welding. :)
fitzface
Damn. Super badass. Love it!
Chawzilla
I tended bar and bounced for almost 11 years. Eventually I just longed for a job with a chair and music played at reasonable volumes.
Sangueffusor
HandoB4Javert
[PARDON]
fitzface
Same deal, different perspective… I’ve had a chair and corporate office for almost 15 years. I’m tired of the particular brand of “fake” that I get from people all day every day.
Not saying people are more or less “real” at bars, but it’s at least different.
UlrichMorgan
I mean you can certainly say their filter is lowered. And you'd get to watch all the failed attempts at courtship front row seat style.
bwatne97
Currently doing both, working tech and every other weekend at the bar. Been with that bar for over 16 years now and it and it's owners are like a 2nd home. Also a great way to go out and be social without spending money. Good luck with whatever you decide, just know that it doesn't have to be all or nothing.
ElChupaNuggra
As a 40 year old Cook, let me just say, being on your feet all day to 'look busy' will fuck up your feet, knees, and back. INVEST in good footwear. Not going to foot locker and seeing what 'fits' I mean go to a foot doctor, have your feet measured, arch and instep, everything, get full support insoles, well padded and change them every six months, and honestly, it still isn't worth it. Find a place that let's you sit down if not currently occupied, if the words 'look busy' are uttered, leave.
deaddingo
Why not do it at evenings and weekends? That is what I did when I moved towns. Great way to meet people. It does get old quite quickly though.
ChocolateCookieAndFudge
Is it the part about having 2 jobs and no time off that gets old quickly?
sparklyladybits
flacoloco
well,...... you are gonna get the "fake" everywhere (also in bartending), the difference is the number of digits your check has. I get ya.
flacoloco
i gat contemplating in doing a similar career move, in the long run I took up a couple of hobbies...
flacoloco
and work with my leadership to minimize the number of +45 hours per week i work so that I can enjoy my hobby.
Hotsauceman
I’m a math teacher and do private tutoring. Part of me wants to quit teaching and do private tutoring full time as I could easily make 130k/year
WinstonSmith101
XRay0976
Well shit, you'd still be doing what you love. Teaching a class or teaching one on one, it's still teaching.
alwaysupvotebeagles
I’d never tell you what to do. Those situations worry me. It can lead to only the wealthy being educated. Which is kind of the problem now (wealth = advantages)
Thecheesymemelord
My dads friend from work did a similar thing, he was a young high school teacher and within one year quit to be an accountant because more opportunity, more money, and he told me 'you havent attempted to teach high school students' when I asked why he did it. (I study accountancy and i asked him what made him do it considering I find it boring and I plan to move into something different after college)
UlrichMorgan
Being a teacher in general sucks about as much balls as humanly possible right now. Might not be the worst move.
OhIfIMust
Why doesn't the *rest* of you want to do this?
arewenotkingsandqueenstogether
No benefits, unpredictable schedule, only helping one rich kid at a time, much less stability
FuryFuryMon
Its easier to just show up to work and do your duties than search for clients and run things yourself its quite a bit of pressure
Hotsauceman
Benefits mainly. Also, I have a job that guarantees me a paycheck. The other can fluctuate.
jlr1555
Don't forget pension and better health insurance after retirement.
livinglife9009
That, is why I don’t quit my warehouse job and do freelancing graphic design jobs.
ReconditeEidolon
Is this accounting for the value of your benefits package and retirement package (some districts are MUCH better than others) ? Also, through your school, you have a built in client list currently. What would you do in 4 years to continue to have students/parents know you were as, if not more reliable tutor as the national chain tutor centers that you would be competing against?
Hotsauceman
Not accounting for benefits. Even though premiums are about to go up for me and the service is about to go down. WA state supplies medical, dental, and vision through the state now instead of individual districts.
lackadaisycull
Goddamn—how much math do you need to know to pull down that kind of salary?
Kalamburas
There are roughly 220 working days per year. (very generously) 130k/220 -> 590 bucks per day. Assuming 75 hourly rate, it's 8 hours a day. If assumed 250 working days -> 7 hours a day
Hotsauceman
Less than what I do currently. Good use of math btw
Kalamburas
What do you do for a living? These sums looks astronomical from across the pond xD
Hotsauceman
I’m a maths teacher. Specifically high school.
Hotsauceman
It depends on the area. Research first. I did work on zoom and could do $80/hr because the area the student was in was quite affluent. Next door is amazing and Facebook too. Knowledge of math? Mostly algebra 1, 2 and geometry. Many times the kid needs someone to sit and watch them do work and make sure they don’t make a minor mistake.
Chawzilla
So, like, how many maths is that? Like per hour? Weekends excluded.
Hotsauceman
How many maths? Im a little lost on the question.
Whatdoyousaytoanicecupoftea
12
Totallyscrewedinaustin
I think you're supposed to say something witty, like "3.50" or.....something