Mom, Can I Date the Bartender?

Our staff certainly sees and hears some interesting stuff. This story is from bartender Danny.

Friday night I was bartending with Dave. It was a really fun night with
a good mix of ages, and people were loading up the jukebox with really
good dancing music all night long(rare). The two girls who had been our
mermaids for the 10:00 hurricane had decided to do an encore
performance and were back on the bar dancing. Both of these girls were
at the bar with their mothers, who were also enjoying themselves
immensely. 

The blonde one turned around to order a drink while she
was on the bar, though I typically wait until they are off the bar until I
serve them. After asking for a vodka+water, she
said, "You're really cute. Hey Mom! Can I date the bartender?!?!" Hands
down one of the funniest things I have ever heard while bartending.

A
few minutes later, she took a flying leap off of the bar into the arms
of a rather large man. My impression is that the man had perhaps
mentioned that he COULD catch her IF she were to fall, however I
believe she interpreted it as "Hey! Jump off the bar and I'll catch
you!" Luckily, disaster was narrowly averted, as he was able to catch
her without anybody suffering serious injury. Dave saw the whole thing
and then made the proclamation that she was no longer allowed back on
the bar. She tried to plead her case with me, but I very thankfully
pulled the "Boss says so" card and she went on her happy drunken way.

Danny posted a brief version of this on his Facebook page. The comments after this post were even funnier. Jenny wanted to know when the date takes place. Frank joked that the girl really fell for Danny. Heather chimed in with her own quote-of-the-night: "you're so pretty it makes me want to get a job."

And Ashley, who was a Sandbar regular a number of years ago and ended up married to Bob, a former Sandbar employee, gave some good advice:

Be careful what you say. Bob always said he'd never date one of those drunk girls on the bar. Us drunk girls can be very sneaky. 

They've been together ten years now and have a baby boy.

No word on what the barfly's mom said about the date- but as we know, moms know best. Way back in the 90's, I only met Dave because I remembered how much my mom loved him as a KU basketball player. I introduced myself and asked for a picture, for my mom. Dave likes to claim he was mom-approved before she ever met him.

I never came close to nose-diving off the bar, though.

Saturday Afternoon Dance Party

Dave and I were at the Sandbar early today before it opened, trying to get a few things done so we could search Lawrence for $5 bills, since we didn't make it to the bank before they closed.

Shortly after the Coleen, the afternoon bartender, arrived, a group of young guys piled in the door.

"Are you open yet?" they asked. To which we all replied, "Of course!"

In a flurry of activity- much like a hurricane- the group ordered Shark Attacks, requested an indoor hurricane, inquired about t-shirts for sale, and exponentially raised the energy level in the bar.

Turns out, the boys are scattered around the country, and last month they booked plane tickets and made plans to be in Lawrence this weekend- assuming that KU would be playing in the Final Four and then the National Championship game. And they wanted to be in Lawrence when KU won it all.

Lucky for us and the town of Lawrence, they continued with their plans even though KU didn't deliver.

We ran a hurricane, and a couple of the guys put on the mermaid costumes, hopped on the bar, and read the poem. They all danced and drank and even broke a glass. (They were very apologetic.)

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After the hurricane was over, we played the other popular dance-along songs- Car Wash and Shake Your Tailfeathers. And then, Dave leaned over and whispered to me:

"Should I play Party in the USA?"

"Yes! Do it! Let's see what they do!" I responded.

And holy cow, you should have seen it. After just a few beats of the song, the boys all cheered like sorority girls and threw their hands in the air and danced around the bar.

What a super fun, and unexpected, treat on a Saturday afternoon. Guys, if you're reading this, thanks for coming in. You're the kind of customers we love to see- the ones who have fun, embrace the cheesy atmosphere, and are just plain nice.

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I even managed to get a short video clip of the boys doing the Car Wash.