REAL STORIES FROM REAL BARTENDERS >>>

I've been a bartender for a long time. I have met countless freaks, jerks, pervs, sweethearts, rockstars and crazies. Even though it's a physically and mentally exhausting job, these are the colorful people that make it all worthwhile. Well, that and the tips.

I'd like to share with you some of my personal experiences behind the bar, along with the stories from some of my fellow bartenders. Each week - under the clever heading of "Behind Bars" - I will dig into my memory bank - and the incident log books that all bars keep - to bring you some of my favorite stories.

Names of bars, bartenders and patrons have been changed or withheld to protect the innocent.

And the not so innocent.

Cheers!

This week...

The good stuff

Normally, Behind Bars reports on crazy and disgusting stuff, like the guy who pooped in the bar, or the jar of piss left in a backpack, or exposed body parts, or bloody fights or thieves or urinal pucks. It goes on and on.

So, this week I'd like to take a step back and talk about the good stuff. Because it does exist. There is a damn tight community in the bar scene. Someone's always got your back, whether you need to bum a smoke or drink, or need a ride or a slice of pizza or whatever, there is continuous barter system of goodwill and fellowship.

Heck, people even find love at the bar. I met my husband eight years ago in a bar; I've watched the evolution of relationships, from that first game of pool all the way to the altar. We even had a guy include us in his girlfriend's wedding proposal scavenger hunt. It was one of the first places they'd hung out together, so he caught us before we opened, all giddy to set up a love note for his soon to be fiancé to find.

We have stacks of incident log books, chock full of disturbing things, so I decided it's time to start documenting the good stuff, too.

And there's no better way to get started then with photo booth pictures of people that are happy, nice, and having fun. Because that's why we go to bars. Enjoy.

What are your positive bar stories?

LINK: Past Behind Bars columns