Last Call

Christina Liberty-Grimm Former Bar Manager

After the publication of my recent cover story, “Coronavirus leaves restaurant workers in limbo,” I received some feedback from local bartender Christina Liberty-Grimm. She told me she wished I had focused more on the humans in the hospitality industry and less on the dollar amounts and statistics. I agreed with her wholeheartedly, but I shared that it had proved very difficult to find workers willing to speak on the record. LibertyGrimm kindly agreed to share her own story as a longtime bartender for Niche Hospitality Group.

Why do you think I found restaurant workers so guarded when it came to discussing unemployment?

We have to worry whether we are going to say the right thing or accidentally insult our employers and say something that will jeopardize our chances of going back to work. This is the scariest time for everyone who is out of work and has no idea when or to what capacity we will return to our jobs.

How long have you been a bartender?

I have been in the service industry since I was 18 years old and I’ve done every position from hostess to server to bartender. before COVID-19, I was lucky enough to be responsible for the bar program at The Fix Burger Bar. I spent 17 years trying to develop who I was in this industry and make a career for myself rather than just treating it as a job to pay the bills. One of my greatest accomplishments was creating my own cocktail menu, but now all those accomplishments mean nothing.

What was the biggest shift when dining restrictions were put in place?

I don’t know if every company is the same, but we were asked to come back and sign a waiver. If you didn’t sign right away, they couldn’t guarantee that your job was going to still be available down the line. It was a promise of, “We’re going to do our best for everyone.” I can’t work full-time right now. I have a seven-yearold who also had her life turned upside down. I have a grandmother and a father who are both immunocompromised. Even when I was able to offer my availability for a few shifts, it was difficult. I would be able to work on a Tuesday and then we wouldn’t be able to see my parents again until Monday. There are people out there who aren’t even that lucky. In my case, my priority was to keep some semblance of normalcy for my child and to protect those I love. Preference is granted to people who are able to give their all, which is exactly how it should be. I know a lot of the people who went back are really grateful for their shifts. Do I wish I could be back full time? Absolutely. I miss my job. I miss the people. What a lot of people don’t realize is how this impacted our social lives as well. Many bartenders work from four o’clock at night until two o’clock in the morning, four to five days a week. We’re spending 40 to 50 hours with the same people every week. Our coworkers and our regulars in this industry often become people we care about the most. It was all taken away. Not having the opportunity to be with these people that I care about is incredibly difficult.

What do you think the future looks like for you?

It’s the hardest question to answer. We are all kind of sitting down doing some soul searching. My husband, Derek Grimm was in charge of Still & Stir, which may not reopen its doors. We are not the only couple this has happened to. We’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what the best route for our family is. I think every single family is probably sitting around doing the exact same thing. People come into restaurants and see us as bartenders, servers, cooks, or management. They don’t realize that we are mothers and fathers. We have husbands and wives. We have bills just like everyone else. And while we’re so grateful to everyone, because guests are responsible for paying most of our salary through tips, not all of them recognize that we’re people with families at home. Our employers did absolutely everything that they could for us, but they can’t make occupancy changes and they can’t give us the shifts that we need and they cannot pay us $20 an hour to help us make ends meet. The United States Bartenders’ Guild had millions donated on our behalf. The Greg Hill Foundation provided assistance and even Guy Fieri set up a fund. But, there are too many of us. Not everyone saw some of the money. That’s my major problem with everything;

DYLAN AZARI

there are millions of us and I feel like we were forgotten. Deciding whether or not we want to stay in the hospitality industry is scary. When I go back, is it going to be the same hours and wages? Is it going to be in the same capacity? I can imagine everyone feels similarly. Now that so many places are closing, there are even more people that are out for the same jobs. Some of those candidates are bound to be more talented than you and some have more qualifications than you. There is no guarantee a bigger fish won’t get your old Friday night shift. Beyond bartenders, servers, cooks and hostesses and management, there are all the sales representatives and brand ambassadors. I know these people and they suffer too. They can’t sell product when the doors are locked and the bars are empty. We can’t disregard the number of people who have been put on the back burner. Thankfully changes are happening for restaurants after four months of waiting. To-go cocktails are a blessing. I’m interested to see whether or not that will generate a couple more shifts for people. Hopefully, to-go cocktails will be a catalyst for business at bars and restaurants and will spark a change of things for the better — much like I hope this article does for an industry struggling to survive. We are not numbers, we are people, and we deserve to be acknowledged.