My desire in writing this article is to encourage bartenders to take a good hard look at their profession. I’m noticing a large number of young adults are turning to this type of job. Please take another thought before you engage in this activity. I would describe it like this; you are like an octopus. You have tentacles that reach much farther than just handing a drink across a bar to your customer.
Do you ever stop to take into consideration what you are helping this person possibly do. When someone sits down before you and they drink and drink and you see them getting drunk do you not care enough to refuse to serve them? Do your thoughts ever go to the family and friends. Have you felt the pain of people who have lost love ones because of a drunken driver? I hope and pray that after you read this message your compassion for the lives of other people will be your priority.
The affects of alcohol had a major impact on my personal family. At an early age I was very displeased with bartenders.
When I was nine years old, my dad and I were in town visiting my older sister. We lived way out in the country area. It was already dark outside when we left the house. But my dad just had to stop at the local bar. He parked the truck and told me to stay put until he returned. I waited and waited. Guys were walking by looking into the truck. After almost a hour passed, I was scared and tired of sitting. I got up enough nerve to get out of the truck, run across the street and into the bar. I saw my dad sitting at the bar. It was a sad sight. I called to him,”Daddy, let’s go home!”
As I look back on that day I realized, no one cared that a drunken, old man was about to drive his 9 yr. old daughter home, on winding country roads. It was pitch dark and very scary and I had to keep telling him not to go to sleep. Thank God we made it home safe.
I also watched my brothers destroy their lives with drinking. It’s not good for anybody! Too many people are affected by it!
I personally watched the powerful tentacles of alcoholism reach out in numerous ways and one which troubles me the most is to watch it become a generational curse. Taking hold of individuals and just not letting go.
Another drastic part of the tentacle is how it wraps itself around a person, sucks the life out his brain to the degree that he looses all hope and dignity.
Here’s another example of what happens when people drink. We talk a lot about the consequences of driving drunk, but how about what happens in a lot of families when the drunk dad or husband goes into a rage and beats everyone up? Spousal and child abuse is the fruit of a drunk man’s spirit.
My dad never abused us and we never went hungry but we worried that he might not make it home safe. That’s bad when small kids have to worry about their parents.
The problems connected with drinking are too great to mention. The worse one, is what it does to your health and
your finances. I urge you to become conscious about what you are doing, and especially if you are claiming to be a Christian. The next time you put that drink on the counter ask yourself how many lives am I affecting?