[Tequila (book)worm]
Adult beverage education
By Sam Ujvary
TIPS
Selling and serving alcohol anywhere is a huge
responsibility. It's not simply an exchange of money for a shot of
whiskey in the hopes that there will be a 20 percent tip attached—at
least it shouldn't be. The person on the other side of that bar where
you're sitting should be knowledgeable of their product, relatively
personable, and preferably, should have some kind of alcohol
certification.
In many establishments in most states, many
bars and insurance companies require staff members to have some sort
of certification. I used to bartend at a large hotel in Chicago, and
by Illinois state law, I had to be TIPS (Training for Intervention
Procedures) certified. In fact, TIPS alcoholic beverage server
training is now mandatory in many states. As an employee who was
serving liquor, I had to understand what to do in the event of an
alcohol-related incident, and I had to learn what was and was not
considered to be illegal, how to spot potentially illegal activity or
questionable behavior, and how to prevent it if possible. While I was
sitting through the three-hour training seminar, I looked around at
my new co-workers. Most of them seemed extremely bored, which didn't
particularly sit well with me. Sure, this stuff seemed monotonous,
but when it was time to take the test at the end of the session, most
of them didn't know that serving a Jack & Coke to a pregnant
woman wasn't illegal. I started looking at this from my future
patrons' perspective. I wouldn't want to be sitting at a bar and have
someone serving me who didn't know how to tell the guy next to me
that he's had enough and to take away his car keys. I like that now I
know how to spot a 20-year-old who entered the bar through false
pretenses, and I like that I learned how to develop some fundamental
social skills to prevent potential trageties.
The point of these programs is to prevent over
consumption, underage drinking and drunk driving. As an added bonus,
it's a good certification to include on resumes. With TIPS, your
certification is only valid for three years, but I've walked away
with some know-hows that I'll always remember. TIPS training is
currently accepted in the following states:
Arkansas,
California, Colorado (not RVP approved), Connecticut, Florida,
Georgia, Idaho, Illinois Basset Approved, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,
Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah Beverage Server, Virginia,
Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin (Bartenders License) and
Wyoming.
Here's
to you.
TIPS
Selling and serving alcohol anywhere is a huge
responsibility. It's not simply an exchange of money for a shot of
whiskey in the hopes that there will be a 20 percent tip attached—at
least it shouldn't be. The person on the other side of that bar where
you're sitting should be knowledgeable of their product, relatively
personable, and preferably, should have some kind of alcohol
certification.
In many establishments in most states, many
bars and insurance companies require staff members to have some sort
of certification. I used to bartend at a large hotel in Chicago, and
by Illinois state law, I had to be TIPS (Training for Intervention
Procedures) certified. In fact, TIPS alcoholic beverage server
training is now mandatory in many states. As an employee who was
serving liquor, I had to understand what to do in the event of an
alcohol-related incident, and I had to learn what was and was not
considered to be illegal, how to spot potentially illegal activity or
questionable behavior, and how to prevent it if possible. While I was
sitting through the three-hour training seminar, I looked around at
my new co-workers. Most of them seemed extremely bored, which didn't
particularly sit well with me. Sure, this stuff seemed monotonous,
but when it was time to take the test at the end of the session, most
of them didn't know that serving a Jack & Coke to a pregnant
woman wasn't illegal. I started looking at this from my future
patrons' perspective. I wouldn't want to be sitting at a bar and have
someone serving me who didn't know how to tell the guy next to me
that he's had enough and to take away his car keys. I like that now I
know how to spot a 20-year-old who entered the bar through false
pretenses, and I like that I learned how to develop some fundamental
social skills to prevent potential trageties.
The point of these programs is to prevent over
consumption, underage drinking and drunk driving. As an added bonus,
it's a good certification to include on resumes. With TIPS, your
certification is only valid for three years, but I've walked away
with some know-hows that I'll always remember. TIPS training is
currently accepted in the following states:
Arkansas,
California, Colorado (not RVP approved), Connecticut, Florida,
Georgia, Idaho, Illinois Basset Approved, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,
Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah Beverage Server, Virginia,
Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin (Bartenders License) and
Wyoming.
Here's
to you.