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We've all had bad days.

Your boss pissed you off. Your relationship is a mess. Your rent went up. Your car broke down. Maybe you're just in a terrible mood.

But why does the bartender end up paying for it?

In this episode of $1 Is Not Enough, Steve talks about one of the most frustrating parts of working behind the bar: customers taking their frustrations out on the person serving them.

We talk about:

• Why the bar isn't your personal therapy session
• Why drink prices aren't the bartender's fault
• The emotional roller coaster of the tip screen
• When a $1 tip becomes more than just a dollar
• The difference between bad service and an expensive drink
• Why bartenders shouldn't be the punching bag for a customer's bad day
• What bartenders actually control, and what they don't
• Remembering that there's a real person behind the bar

Because your bartender didn't cause your bad day.

They didn't set your rent.
They didn't piss off your boss.
They didn't ruin your relationship.
And they probably didn't set the price of that $16 cocktail either.

So have your bad day.

Complain about it.

Tell your bartender about it.

But don't make them pay for it.

Your bad day isn't my tip.

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If you've got a bartender story, a ridiculous customer story, or a tipping experience that needs to be heard, send it in.

$1 Is Not Enough
Real talk for the people behind the bar.

The drink might be free, but the bartender isn't.

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📲 Follow the Show

• Instagram: @1dollarisnotenough
• Facebook: 1dollarisnotenough

🛒 Merch

• merch.onedollarisnotenough.com

Send Your Stories:
Got a coworker who pulled this? We want to hear it. Email stories@onedollarisnotenough.com or DM us on Instagram. The best ones get read on a future episode.

Support the Podcast

Enjoying $1 Is Not Enough? Help keep the drinks flowing and the stories coming. If you want to support the show, you can become a monthly supporter through Buzzsprout. And if you donate $10 or more, I'll give you a shoutout in the next episode as a thank-you for helping keep this thing alive.

Support $1 Is Not Enough

Because apparently, producing a podcast costs more than a dollar.

Enjoying the show? Leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It's one of the fastest ways to help new people find us, and it genuinely makes a difference. Thanks for being here.

$1 Is Not Enough is a comedy and commentary podcast about life in the service industry. Listener discretion advised. Some stories ...

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You Tipped Me. Then I Tipped Everyone Else.

You leave your server a $20 tip. You walk out feeling like you took care of them.

But what about the bartender who made every drink for your table?

In this episode of $1 Is Not Enough, Steve digs into one of the most complicated and controversial parts of the restaurant industry: tip-outs.

In Minnesota, employees generally cannot simply be forced by their employer to hand over their tips, and there are specific rules governing tip sharing. But legality isn't the only question.

What about hospitality?

What about teamwork?

What about the bartender who helped generate the sale that produced the tip in the first place?

Steve takes a hard look at the server/bartender relationship, the arguments on both sides, tip fatigue, and the question that a lot of restaurant workers have probably argued about at one point:

If the bartender made the drinks for your table, shouldn't they get something?

In this episode:

• How tip-outs actually work
• Why servers and bartenders frequently disagree about tips
• The difference between being legally required to tip out and voluntarily recognizing someone's contribution
• Why sales-based tip-outs can be particularly controversial
• Whether bartenders should receive part of a server's tip when they make the drinks
• Why support staff compensation creates another layer of complexity
• The growing problem of tip fatigue
• Where Steve stands on voluntary tip-outs
• Real-world hospitality experiences from behind the bar
• The "$1 Test": Is one dollar enough recognition for someone who helped you earn your tip?

The question for you:

If you're a server, should you voluntarily tip out the bartender when they're making drinks for your tables?

If you're a bartender, how does your restaurant handle it?

And if you're a customer, did you ever realize what happens to your tip after you leave it?

Let's argue about it.

Support the show

📲 Follow the Show

• Instagram: @1dollarisnotenough
• Facebook: 1dollarisnotenough

🛒 Merch

• merch.onedollarisnotenough.com

Send Your Stories:
Got a coworker who pulled this? We want to hear it. Email stories@onedollarisnotenough.com or DM us on Instagram. The best ones get read on a future episode.

Support the Podcast

Enjoying $1 Is Not Enough? Help keep the drinks flowing and the stories coming. If you want to support the show, you can become a monthly supporter through Buzzsprout. And if you donate $10 or more, I'll give you a shoutout in the next episode as a thank-you for helping keep this thing alive.

Support $1 Is Not Enough

Because apparently, producing a podcast costs more than a dollar.

Enjoying the show? Leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It's one of the fastest ways to help new people find us, and it genuinely makes a difference. Thanks for being here.

$1 Is Not Enough is a comedy and commentary podcast about life in the service industry. Listener discretion advised. Some stories ...

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Twenty-five years ago, the world changed in a single morning. Not gradually, not over time. In one morning.

In this special episode, Steve steps away from the bar stories to do something a little different. A tribute to the people we lost, the people who ran toward it, and the way a country full of strangers became something else, even if just for a moment.

This one isn't funny. It isn't supposed to be.

In this episode:

• What that morning felt like and why our brains never let it go
• The question we all carry: do you remember where you were?
• What happened in the bars and the living rooms and the firehouses in the days after
• What twenty-five years really means, and what we owe the people who weren't there yet
• Why grief doesn't have an expiration date

To everyone who lost someone that day. To everyone who ran toward it. To everyone still carrying it. This one's for you.

Support the show

📲 Follow the Show

• Instagram: @1dollarisnotenough
• Facebook: 1dollarisnotenough

🛒 Merch

• merch.onedollarisnotenough.com

Send Your Stories:
Got a coworker who pulled this? We want to hear it. Email stories@onedollarisnotenough.com or DM us on Instagram. The best ones get read on a future episode.

Support the Podcast

Enjoying $1 Is Not Enough? Help keep the drinks flowing and the stories coming. If you want to support the show, you can become a monthly supporter through Buzzsprout. And if you donate $10 or more, I'll give you a shoutout in the next episode as a thank-you for helping keep this thing alive.

Support $1 Is Not Enough

Because apparently, producing a podcast costs more than a dollar.

Enjoying the show? Leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It's one of the fastest ways to help new people find us, and it genuinely makes a difference. Thanks for being here.

$1 Is Not Enough is a comedy and commentary podcast about life in the service industry. Listener discretion advised. Some stories ...