Photo: Twitter
He offered his support in a subtle yet effective way.
By Alexandra Blogier — Written on Apr 13, 2023
A bartender from Florida proved the value of community care by slipping two female customers a note that looked like a receipt to protect them from unwanted attention.
A young woman named Allie and her friend were at a bar in St. Petersburg, Florida when their fun night out took a turn for the worst. The two friends were trying to have a drink in peace when a man started to harass them, which led the bartender to offer up help.
The bartender sent the customers what appeared to be a receipt to save them from any future danger.
In a note disguised as a bill, the bartender told the two women that he would protect them if the stranger next to them continued to harass them.
“If this guy is bothering you, put your ponytail on your other shoulder, and I will have him removed,” read the note. “He’s giving me the creeps.”
Allie reported that the bartender “ended up having to literally yell at the guy.” The bartender approached the man bothering them, and said “you need to get the f–k away from these girls who are clearly not interested.”
The man in question responded, “That was a little aggressive,” to which the bartender said, “well, you’re aggressively hitting on them and you need to leave.”
The note that the bartender sent his customers gave them the opportunity to subtly ask for his help.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 81% of women and 43% of men in the United States have reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime.
Bartenders are in a unique position to stop harassment and attempted assault, as the nonprofit organization Women Helping Women has found. The nonprofit pairs up with bars to train staff on how to use code words to protect patrons from harassment.
Kristin Shimplin of Women Helping Women says, “Our business is not to investigate, to figure out what’s true or what’s not true, but we always want to show up and believe and support survivors.”
“We’re not recreating the wheel,” Shimplin said of the technique and training the nonprofit utilized. Implementing a code word for safety at bars protects customers and staff, as well.
Allie reported that the bartender who offered her the note, Max, saw her story on Reddit, and commented on the situation that occurred.
“It’s something you pick up from mentor bartenders,” Max stated. “Eventually you get pretty good at reading people [and] body language. This guy was giving off weird vibes for quite a while.”
Of the man in question, Max said that he “kept an eye on him, [tried] to give him a chance, [tried] to let the girls tell him no and leave it at that, but he didn’t take no for an answer.”
“I honestly don’t like yelling at customers or embarrassing people, but I find it’s one of the best ways to handle creeps.”
Max noted that calling people out for inappropriate behavior is “usually enough to get them to turn tail and walk away. I just don’t need my guests feeling uncomfortable.” Max gave an update in the comments, saying that the man he’d kicked out for harassing his customers came back for a drink later that same week, and he refused to serve him.
People on Twitter were undeniably in Max’s corner. As one person commented, “not all heroes wear capes. Some wear Hawaiian shirts.”
Another person asked if Allie tipped him well for his service, to which Allie replied, she “absolutely did.” Allie said that she also works in the service industry, so she took care of the bartender for taking care of her.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.