There is not a single one of us in the food and beverage industry that has not fantasized about ripping off an apron mid shift and taking a Half-Baked inspired exit.

“You ever poach someone’s date?” I placed an Old Tom Gin & Tonic down in front Keith and waited for his answer.

"Jena, everyone is online!

I will never forget how the EMTs that frequented the first coffee shop I ever worked in took their medium hot chocolate and coffee in large cups to avoid spillage in the ambulance; that the Second Avenue subway contractor, who hadn't touched booze in eight years, preferred lemon in his water but no straw; that Janet in East Hampton liked to finish her first glass of North Fork Chardonnay before ordering the roast chicken, all the while glued to a romance novel.

Over the years, I've heard enough barback hookup stories to challenge any bodice-ripping romance novel aficionado.

For the last seven years I’ve been lucky enough to work at a neighborhood bar in Astoria, a cozy, once primarily Greek neighborhood in Queens, New York.