Another day in the greatest city in the world, NYC. The New Normal.
- Debbie Lefort
- Apr 22, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: May 9, 2020
The sun was shining earlier in Chelsea. Thank goodness. I've come to the point that even when it's sunny at least I have something to be happy about.
Hey, I’m grateful for the one window we have. It just shows how my reptilian brain is changing ever so slightly everyday. Trust me, that's a good thing. I was going through some old photos through my Instagram feed because what else is there to do. I noticed that I am part of a lively, colorful industry filled with so many storytellers and rich personalities. I had a friend tell me that bartenders come a dime a dozen. I didn’t know what to say in response to that because my initial reaction was, “Shit! That might be true!”. But that’s what I want to figure out, how can folks in my industry make the best of now. And how can the bartenders and/or many restaurant and hotel peeps like me, still be relevant and have passion for the craft. Ok, but I will be honest, it did strike a cord when my friend did say that. Why was that? Perhaps because after the shutdown was mandated, I realized how much our city and industry was going to suffer. I have been constantly on my phone, other than the fact that I’ve been trying to get a hold of unemployment for weeks on end, but I needed to lean in on the actual numbers.
According to some statistics from 2018,
www.restaurant.org reported that there are over fifty thousands eating and drinking locations in NYC alone and almost nine hundreds thousands restaurant and food service jobs. Yikes! So, that’s that. Also after reading an article yesterday from CNBC.net on how the hotel culture will be expected to follow these certain protocols when things do open up, it doesn’t look good for F&B. So many of us won’t be returning to work at the same time as everyone else and still there won’t be clear answers. So I have come up with some suggestions on how to keep busy during the worldwide shut down.
Take up barsmarts, perfect your craft and showcase, maybe teach. I was really pleased to have seen my hotel post up barsmarts on our companys feed to further our education.
Now is the time to take advantage of any free courses or educational opportunities that are accessible. I know I have to brush up on my knowledge as well. Now could also be a good time to go through your cocktail book library and just breeze through the books you own. I had some ah-ha moments when I picked up cocktail king Dale Degroff’s first cocktail book, The Craft of the cocktail. It was quiet inspirational because this was my very first cocktail book that I have owned and read. I was brought back to the times when I didn’t know anything and that was so humbling. I then questioned what kind of bartender I was and got a clearer picture of what I wanted to do next with it. Reach out to your contacts and show some love on IG.No matter how many followers you have on social media, networking is key. I’m sure that we have all been on social media over the last 7 weeks 24/7 and duh! of course that’s what you’ve been doing. But what I’m really trying to get at is, as a bartender out of work now, more than ever I’m going to need to build my own solid mini network because I may have to find work digitally.
But I have no idea what work is out there? Is there work out there?
Those were my questions I asked myself. Then I realized the work will come. We are all on the same playing field right now, at home like sitting ducks. So if once upon a time you pursued film and directing, do it! Make a short film with other bartenders using mini bottles as action figures and try stop motion. Be creative. Eventually everything will open up again, and things will get back to normal but it doesn’t hurt to show some love to others and see what the power in numbers can bring. So continue to show support for your friends when they go live on Instagram and give back by participating. For those of you already creating content, attending live events, showcasing recipes keep it up! There’s always going to be a need for information about our industry. Every bartender, server, chef, cook, hostess, has a story so if we come a dime a dozen, now is our chance to stand out.
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