Sherri Cavan's LIQUOR LICENSE

 
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6. Rituals and Ceremonies

Although the license of the public drinking place establishes it as a setting for the sale of alcoholic beverages to be consumed on the premises, not all bar patrons do in fact drink alcohol. While the great majority may be drinking, one or more exceptions can usually be found.[92] In some establishments there are persons who regularly patronize the establishment but rarely (and sometimes never) drink. In May, 1963, in a bar on skid row, of the twelve to fifteen patrons who were considered regulars and who spent varying periods of time on the premises through the course of the day, one never drank anything other than mineral water and another drank only soft drinks or coffee during the morning hours. The following example comes from another bar in a residential neighborhood:
A man in his mid-twenties came in, stood next to me, and ordered a coke. I commented on it and he said that he had just got out of the hospital and couldn't drink, but he enjoyed coming to bars, keeping up old acquaintances and making new ones. "I don't go to church, don't belong to any clubs and dont work
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around people, so I talk to people in bars." Later he mentioned that he had been to seven,or eight different places this evening before coming here.
It appears that a patron of a public drinking place is required only to drink something (not necessarily alcoholic) or at least to have before him a glass or cup symbolic of something to drink or something drunk. There is little or no stigma attached to the abstainer in the public drinking place, and many establishments keep a coffee pot on for the benefit of the nondrinker.
But while drinking alcoholic beverages is not necessary to patronize public drinking places, the drinks themselves form an integral part of bar behavior. Treating--the presentatica of gift drinks to another--is perhaps the most general of bar rituals, although there are a variety of ceremonial forms and meanings associatedWith it.[93] Treating may serve to acknowledge the presence of patrons known to one another in other settings, or it may serve to bind together temporarily patrons m an ongoing encounter by establishing a set of mutual obligations between them. It may serve to formalize the change in relationship between two patrons from interactants to ephemeral acquaintances or to acknowledge some special occasion or situation. it may serve as well to ease potentially difficult situations, or it may be no more than one patron's largesse indiscrmainately bestowed on all others in the establishment at the moment. Whatever the ceremonial meaning may be, the ritual character of the act requires those involved to be attuned to the implications it carries, for like any rite, its meaning always lies beyond its apparent form.
114 With one exception, treating is open to all. Treating may occur between persons acquainted with one another outside the bar setting as well as among those who have just become acquainted inside the bar. Occasionally those who have no intention of becoming acquainted treat one another. Bartenders may treat patrons to drinks, and patrons may treat bartenders as well as other patrons. Men may treat women as well as other men. But while women may treat other women, there are only a few circumstances in which they can politely treat men. Thus the first important rule of treating is that it is asynanetrical when it takes place between the sexes.
The circumstances in which women may treat men are themselves notable in their implicit support of the rule. In homosexual bars that have both male and female patrons, the heterosexual dichotomy of the sexes is often vague and frequently ignored; in such establishments biological females may give drinks to biological males without also giving ground for umbrage. In some skid row bars frequented by patrons who have few if any conventional positions outside the bar, attributes such as age, sex, and race may similarly be dispensed with as well as inside the bar, and, again, women may treat men without impropriety.

Treating Among the Already-Acquainted

With rare exceptions, for cross-sex couples entering an establishment together, the cost of the drink is borne by the male. But in male pairs, as well as in larger male groups, a form of treating known as "rounds" frequently occurs.[94] When an order is delivered to two or more male patrons entering together, one individual will customarily signify that a series
115 of rounds is to begin by saying to the bartender or waitress, "I'am standing this one." Once the proclamation is made that rounds have begun, it is incumbent upon the members of the group to participate regardless of individual preferences. One cannot demand that he pay for his own drink and his own drink only. If one of the members of the group must leave immediately after his first drink, he will usually state that he will stand the first round, being unavailable to stand any subsequent round. Although paying for more drinks than he will be consuming during the course of his stay may be economically unfair to him~ it is required that either the other participants in the group accept his offer or that some other member volunteer to take the first round and allow the soon-to-be-departing member's drink to be defined as a gift drink. For example, if one member requests the first round because he must leave and his offer is declined, it is typically declined by someone saying, "No, let me get the first round, and IT treat you to a drink."
Once rounds have begun, each member of the group in turn is obligated to stand at least one round. Thus, if a group is composed of four members, rounds must continue for at least four drinks, after which another set of rounds may begin or the participants may begin purchasing their drinks on an individual basis. When rounds have started, the original group members typically remain together, at least until they have purchased their round, since each member of the group is obligated to purchase one round. Sometimes a member of the original group who has stood his round will move to some other part of the bar, but members of the original group who are yet to stand a round must still include him even though he is no longer physically part of the group. And he, in turn, must at least by gesture acknowledge each subsequent drink received from the group, thus maintaining social contact at least until the termination of the rounds. If the group starts a second set of rounds~ he need no longer be included and usually he is not. if he begins an encounter with some other
116 patron during the original set of rounds, there is no obligation that the new drinking partner be included. Sometimes th s v
group will be increased by new members after the round hav: begun, but if this occurs late in the round there may be no obligationfor the new member to join in the ritual.
P. C. paid for the first round, Ken for the second. Ollie joined us just before the third and final round. Ollie said he wasn't having anything more to drink, but Brian, whose round was the last one, said, "I'm paying for this one. You ought to take advantage of it." Ollie joined in on the final round and we left soon after, as did Ollie, who had not entered into the round buying.
After the original set of rounds has been completed, any member of the group can take the option of starting a second set of rounds, but unlike the first set, there is no obligation for the other members to take it up. Any or all members of the group may, if they choose, request that any subsequent drinks be purchased individually; or they may upon occasion accept the round without the obligation that they themselves stand another round. If one set of rounds has been completed and one member of the group says, "Let me stand another round," the other members are at liberty to refuse his request by making a statement such as, "No, I've just about had it," which may mean either that the individual has had enough to drink or has had enough of the round buying. But the one making the offer may insist that he buy the group another drink. If this happens, the others are at liberty to accept the drink without the obligation of standing another round.
Subsequent sets of rounds can be started after the termination of the original set. However, what frequently happens is that whether or not a new set has began is not known until a second individual in the group buys a second round. If a second member takes the option for another round, then, like
117 the first set of rounds, all members become obligated again to complete the set. If ego offers to stand a second round and does so even though the other participants decline at first, and alter subsequently buys a round after him, then the other members of the group are committed to another round as well.
Although rounds are characteristic of all male groups, upon occasion one can find rounds being stood in mixed-sex groups, where the group includes one or more cross-sex couples. When this occurs, it is always the case that the rounds are stood only by the males. For example, if two males and one couple enter an establishment and rounds begin, only the male of the couple is obligated to purchase a round, and his obligation is only for one round of drinks. Thus in such a four-person group, where one member is a female escorted by one of the males, a round set is completed with the purchase of three rounds, even though each round is composed of four drinks. Rounds rarely start in a mixed-sex group where the females present are not escorted by males, since the question of who is to take responsibility for the females is not settled beforehand and for the females to treat the males to drinks may be read as an outright insult.
While rounds among the already-acquainted are a treating ritual in which the obligation to purchase drinks is symmetrical at the outset, those who are known to one another outside the bar may purchase drinks for one another without reciprocation. If two or more individuals have an acquaintance relationship outside the bar and encounter one another inside the bar, if alter is already drinking and ego has just entered, ego may request that another drink be brought for alter at the time he orders his own drink. If alter is not leaving immediately, be is expected to accept the drink, but he is under no obligation to return a subsequent drink to ego. If the one who is already drinking is in the company of another person, and whether this third person is known to ego or not, if ego provides a drink for alter he is also expected to provide a drink for alter's
118 companion, who, like alter, is under no obhgation to make a reciprocal offer. The same situation holds in the reverse as well. If ego is present and drinking and alter (either alone or in the company of another person, known or unknown to ego) enters, ego may offer to buy alter (and his companion as well) a drink, and again, alter is under no obligation to make a reciprocal offer.
When Fred, P. C. and I arrived, Eric was sitting at the bar talking to another fellow. We greeted Fxic, and he introduced us to his companion. P. C., in turn, introduced Fred to the two of them. Eric then bought each of us a drink and returned to his conversation with the other patron.
A little while later Lloyd and Margaret (who had recently got married) came in. P. C. bought them a drink, and Eric bought them one after that.
Drinks may be purchased for outside acquaintances even when there is little more than a nod of recognition between them.
Two women were seated with a man at the far end of the bar. One of the women apparently recognized another male patron seated by himself at the center of the bar, and she went over to join him. They chatted for a moment, and then he looked up and waved to the woman who had remained at the far end of the bar. He bought a drink for the woman who had come down to join him and one for the other woman as well.
Three men had been sitting and talking together at about the middle of the bar. One of them left the
group to go over and speak with a woman seated at the far end of the bar. He bought her a drink and then said to the bartender, "Send one down to Amelia, too." (Amelia was a woman seated by herself at the opposite end of the bar.)
Often, when patrons known to one another outside the bar
119 encounter one another inside the bar setting, the purchase of a drink by one and its acceptance by the other terminates the interaction that will ensue between them. Ego, for example, entering and finding alter drinking, may stand by alter, greet him, and purchase a drink for him; then after it has been delivered and alter has offered his thanks, ego may take his drink and locate himself somewhere else in the establishment.
In a sense, then, the gift drink exchanged between acquaintances who encounter one another in the public drinking place is analogous to the gifts of flowers, candy, or current books made by acquaintances in other settings: "They involve no obligation other than polite thanks, because they can be considered as 'attentions' rather than presents." [95]

Treating Among the Newly Acquainted

Patrons in public drinking places can and frequently do engage in interaction without either participant ever offering his name as a symbolic token of the kind of relationship that could exist between them. In this sense, irrespective of the time which an encounter may extend, interactants can remain, for all practical purposes, unacquainted. And while the movement from interactant to acquaintance can be effecled quite casually by each merely introducing himself to the other, it frequently happens that this change in relationship is formalized by means of a gift drink. The gift drink between the previously unacquainted thus serves to define the relationship, at least there and then, as acquaintances.[96]
120 This generally occurs in one of two ways. Jn bar encounters that have been carried on for an extended Period without either participant offering his name or requesting the other's name, when names are, in fact, exchanged the act usually brings with it an offer to purchase the other a drink.
There were perhaps a hundred persons crowded into the bar when I entered. After I had got a drink from the bar I went to stand by the cigarette machine, but one of the girls at the end of the bar got up and offered me her seat. She, the girl she was with, and two fellows were talking about the piano player, saying how badly she played and sang. I joined in and the five of us chatted. After about ten minutes they introduced themselves to me and one of the men offered to buy me a drink.

I had been talking to the fellow on my left for about fifteen minutes. Just before the last call for drin I introduced myself and P. C. (who had been talking with someone else) to him, and he, in turn, introduced himself. The three of us talked for a couple of minutes more, and when the bartender made the last call for drinks, he purchased one for each of us, even though our glasses were still half full.

I had been talking with one of the women on and off for more than an hour. A friend came in and joined her, and the three of us chatted for five or ten minutes more. Then she asked my name and introduced herself and her friend, Jack, and Jack bought a drink for the three of us. When the bartender brought the drink he said to me, "You're drinking with Jack."

But sometimes in encounters that have been going on for some time, gift drinks are purchased prior to introductions, and in this case names are typically exchanged when the drink
121 is delivered. Generally. when the drink arrive the donor will lift his glass to the other, nod his head, and then state his first name; the recipient, in turn, will then lift his glass, nod his head, and state his first name. In such a situation, if the donor is known by name to the bartender, when the bartender brings the gift drink he will say to the recipient, "You're drinking with so-and-so," although names may have already been exchanged between them (cf. the example above).
Ben had been playing poker dice with an old man for a while. The man left and a little while later a second old man, Will, entered, sitting down one stool over from Ben. Will ordered his drink and when it came, Ben said to him, "Boy, that bartender--he sure pours those drinks careful-like." The two men then started talking, first about drinking, then about baseball, and then about football. By this time both of them had almost finished their drinks and Will offered to buy another. When the new drinks arrived, Will introduced himself and Ben, in turn, offered his first name.
P. C. and I had been talking with Ben earlier in the evening, and after a while we joined the new conversation with Will. Toward the end of the evening Ben bought a drink for himself, Will, P. C., and me. When the bartender brought us our drinks he said, "You're drinking with Ben," although he said nothing to Will at this time.
As in the case of altering spatial distances, once gift drinks have been accepted, the recipient is bound to remain in the encounter as long as the donor desires, unless he (the recipient) completely leaves the premises. Just as the one who changes his seat in order to maintain or instigate an encounter surrenders control over the point of termination to the other, so too does the recipient of a gift drink concede control of the encounter to the donor.[97]
122 While the original recipient of a gift drink may purchase a drink for the original donor in return, and by this signify his desire to remain in conversation with the other, the original recipient may subsequently gain control of the interaction by his own purchase of a drink for the other. Thus mutual treating between previously unacquainted bar patrons may signify either mutual satisfaction with the encounter or a jockeying for the reins of control over the encounter.
P. C. and I had been talking with another man for at least half an hour. P. C. offered to buy him a drink, which he accepted. When he finished it, he offered to buy us a drink and we declined, saying we were leaving soon. He seemed visibly annoyed and kept insisting. Finally he said, "Look, I'm indebted to you." P. C. suggested that the next time we ran into him he could buy us a drink. He finally shrugged his shoulders and stopped insisting. When we actually did start to leave a few minutes later, he seemed quite relieved.
The bartender who had just come off duty came around and sat at the bar. A group of three men were seated about three stools away from him. One of them made some remark to the bartender, and the four entered into a conversation. When the other bartender came down to get an order from one of the patrons, the patron said, "Bring one for my friend, too," nodding toward the off-duty bartender. The latter said, "I don't want to be obligated to you," and the three patrons laughed.
Unlike subsequent offers, the proposal of the first gift drink has an obligatory character, and to refuse it is an impropriety.[98] Sometimes, as a solution to the dilemma of either losing the
123 equitable distribution of control over the encounter or offending the one making the proposal, he who has been offered the first drink in an encounter between the unacquainted will suggest that the two dice for it instead. If the potential donor agrees, and even if he loses and hence pays for the other's drink as he would have done in the first place, the indeterminancy of the outcome apparently negates the obligation entailed in the gift drink. Although the recipient may proffer his thanks to the donor and the two then go on to exchange names, the recipient of the gambling gift drink is still at liberty to terminate the encounter at will.
The patron seated on my right (Steve) and I had been talking, while Steve's friend, Ray, who was seated on Steve's right, entered into the conversation occasionally. A third male (Al) came in and sat on the other side of Ray.
Ray said something to me about cars, and Al made a subsequent remark to Ray about the statement Ray had made to me. A] and Ray then began a conversation of their own.
After about ten minutes, Al offered to buy Ray a drink and Ray said, "Okay, but lefs roll." Ray lost, and when the drinks arrived for the two of them, they exchanged names. Tley continued to chat together for a few minutes longer, when Ray joined the conversation between Steve and me again, leaving AI more or less out of the interaction.

Three men were seated at the bar talking. One of them turned to the others and said, "Come on, n buy you a drink." One of the others said, "Okay, we'll shake for it," which they did.

Since it is an impropriety for a woman to offer to treat a man, if a woman has accepted a gift drink and subsequently finds herself caught in an encounter which she finds repugnant, she may signify her dissatisfaction by insisting on purchasing a drink for the other. Here the demand by the woman to buy
124 a man a drink is usually taken at its implicit value; a man so insulted will not infrequently terminate the encounter there and then, although this did not happen in the following example:
A man and a woman were seated at the end of the bar, separated by one stool. They started talking and after a while exchanged names. Ile man then bought her a drink. They talked for a while longer and during this time he began to put his hand on her hand, arm, shoulder, etc. Finally he said to her, "Let me move over and be conventional." At that point she offered to buy him a drink. He declined, saying quite sourly, "Don't feel obligated."

Treating Among the Unacquainted

If the exchange of names is taken as the point at which the patrons in the public drinking place move from interactant to acquaintant, it can be seen that treating rituals can take place between persons who are unacquainted and who may have no intention of becoming acquainted.
One example of treating among the unacquainted is the presentation of a gift drink as a token of apology for a variety of social mishaps that can occur within the public drinking place. Unlike the gift drink that serves as a symbol of the relationship state or potential relationship state between donor and recipient, the gift drink that mediates apologies implies neither relationship nor potential relationship. The gift drink made as an expression of apology requires no more than a
immal expression of thanks to terminate the exchange and carries no implication for further interaction.
Perhaps one of the most prevalent mishap that can occur in the public drinking place is the inadvertent upsetting of another's drink. Not to offer a gift drink as an expression of apology in this situation is perhaps one of the grossest breaches
125 of bar etiquette. Whether the upset glass is full, partially fun, or quite empty, it is expected that the offender will immediately order another drink for the other, without consulting him. While the more general courtesy of a verbal apology is also required, it is never sufficient, and to upset another's drink and merely offer a verbal apology can be taken by the other as a direct insult.
A single man and a couple were standing by the piano bar talking. The single man inadvertently knocked over the other man's drink and quickly apologized verbally. However, the second man said, "Yeah, but you owe me a drink." The first insisted that the glass had been empty, but the other kep, saying, "You knocked over my drink. You owe me another one."
Finally the first man walked over to the bar, where he stood chatting with the bartender for a moment or two, and then he left the bar. A few minutes later the second man went over to the bar and asked the bartender where his drink was. The bartender asked him what he meant, and the man replied that be expected to receive a gift drink, since the other man had overturned his drink. The bartender said he knew nothing about it, and the second man
returned to his companion, shaking his head and muttering, "That bastard."
But just as it is obligatory for the offender to provide the other with a substitute drink3 so too is it obligatory for the one whose drink has been overturned to accept the offered drink. Not to accept it can carry the implication that the recipient has taken the overturn of his drink as something more than an inadvertent mishap.
Upsetting another's drink is not the only mishap for which a gift drink may provide an apology. Inadvertent physical jostling may also be smoothed over by means of a gift drink, as in the following incident:
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There were about seventy patrons crowded in the small bar. P. C. and I were standing by the juke box, each with a full beer glass. A man who had been sitting at the end of the bar got up to talk to someone on the other side of the room and on the way back stepped on P. C.'s foot. A few minutes later he turned and handed each of us a fresh beer, although nothing had been said between us before then. Mim*mal verbal courtesies were exchanged when he gave us the drinks, but nothing more was said thereafter, although we stood in each other's immediate proximity for almost an hour longer.
A second example of treating among the unacquainted is found in situations where one patron purchases a drink for all who are currently drinking in the establishment. When gift drinks are distributed en masse in this way, the recipients generally are under no obligation to acknowledge the drink, and while some may nod to the donor or extend a verbal thanks to him, others may not.
One important feature of "drinks for the house" is that, along with the drink, the bartender usually presents to the recipients the name of the donor.
There were about 10 people in the bar. I had been there for almost an hour when the bartender came down with a fresh drink for me, as well as for the rest of the patrons in the bar. He said, "Youre drinking with my friend Pablo."

P. C. rolled with the bartender for drink for the house (about fifteen persons) and lost. The bartender started to deliver the gift drinks, but then came back to ask P. C. what his name was. Then he returned to the job of dispensing the drinks, each time paying to the patron, "This is from Phil."

Thus, unlike the anonymous gift which may be given 'in polite society outside the public drinking place, where the
127 benefactor knows the recipient but the recipient does not know the benefactor, in the public drinking place it is just the opposite. Anonymous gifts in the former sense may be given as well:
Harley said that the last time he was here the bartender brought him a drink. When he asked the bartender who it was from, the bartender just smiled and said, "An admirer."
Whatever the circumstances under which they are given, however, drinks bought for the house--like drinks that medi-ate an apology--carry no implication of further interaction between donor and recipient.

Treating by Non-Patrons

Persons present in the public drinking place as employees rather than patrons may also be involved in the treating rituals, either as recipients or as donors. For example, when a patron buys a drink for everyone in the establishment, the bartender is invariably included. However, while bar-acquaintanceships between patrons are rarely acknowledged at other times, this is not the case for the acquaintanceship between bartender and patron; hence, patrons may treat bartenders whom they know by name to a drink in the same way they would treat other patrons with whom they are acquainted outside the bar. A bartender may also be made the recipient of a gift drink when he becomes acquainted with a patron in the same way as when patrons become acquainted--that is, when names are exchanged between them.
Parenthetically, the names of bartenders are often learned by patrons hearing others call them by name. Patrons getting this information have the right to use it later in addressing the bartender, although the right is not reciprocal, and bartenders
128 overhearing patrons' names in this way do not have such a right. Quite frequently, however, names will be exchanged between patrons and bartenders at the end of a patron's stay, when he is getting ready to leave.
A couple had come in about an hour earlier. During the course of their stay they chatted on and off with the bartender. As they were getting ready to go, the man called the bartender down to where they were and said, "By the way, what's your name?" The bartender told him and the couple left.
Just as with patrons, when a bartender is made the individual. recipient of a drink from a patron, control over the termination of an encounter between the two is vested with the donor. However, the difference between bartenders and patrons who are the recipients of gift drinks is that the donor's control over the interaction with the bartender lasts only as long as the drink lasts. Unlike the patron, the bartender's obligation to remain in an encounter with the donor until the latter wishes to terminate it automatically ends when he finishes his gift drink. There is no need for him to reciprocate with a drink for the patron in order to terminate the encounter. But the bartender is obliged to remain with the donor until the gift drink is finished.
By virtue of his presence in the establishment as an employee, much of the bartender's activity is mandatory. The terms of his employment dictate that his main activity be the tasks of the job, primarily the production of drinks and their distribution to patrons in the vicinity of the physical bar, as well as their distribution to other employees serving the patrons seated away from the bar. He is also responsible for a variety of subsidiary chores, such as washing glasses and utensils, wiping down the bar counter and his work area, emptying and cleaning ash trays, stocking supplies behind the bar, and answering the telephone. In perhaps the great majority of public drinking places, the bartender is the only employee
129 present, and often there is only one bartender to whom all these official tasks fall at any one time. While he can and often does enter into activities with the patrons, such as conversation, gaming, playing the bowling machines, and even occasionally dancing, his position in the setting obliges him to treat these activities as incidental when his official tasks require attention. Thus, during the course of a conversation between the bartender and a patron, the bartender may at any time be required to terminate the encounter between them while he attends to his official business, although he may, when his task of the moment is over, choose to return to the encounter if he is not subsequently engaged by someone else. When the bartender is made the recipient of a drink from a patron, he is obliged to remain with the donor until his drink is finished, and if he must attend to some aspect of his work before his gift drink is finished, he is obliged to return to the donor when the task of the moment is done. Thus bartenders typically leave their partially consumed gift drinks on the bar counter in front of the donor as they go about their work as a symbol of their current obligation to him, and if the task at hand takes them out of the immediate vicinity of the donor, they will often indicate by a nod or a smile to the donor that they will return as soon as they can.
Like the patrons of the public drinking place, the bartender is open to the overtures of sociability of all present, and, in part, his job includes being so available to those not otherwise engaged. As one bartender said when asked what was the hardest part of his job,
It's coping with people and their problems. Every-one wants to talk to the bartender. I don't mind five or ten minutes. That's what I'm here for. But with 25 or 30 people you can't and then they get mad and say, "Why doesn't the bartender talk to me?"
Since a gift drink to the bartender obliges him to remain with the donor until it is consumed~ any overtures made by
130 other patrons (and particularly by other patrons not in the u , runediate proximity of the donor) must perforce be rebuffed, at least for the moment. As a solution to this problem, frequently bartenders who are treated by patrons will pour themselves a small shot rather than a beer or a mixed drink so that the gift drink and its concurrent obligation can be disposed of with dispatch and the bartender can make himself more readily available to others present. When bartenders do take a beer or mixed drink as their gift drink, they will sometimes surreptitiously pour some of it into the sink, presumably for the same reason.
It is rare that "drinks for the house" are actually drinks from the house, although occasionally the bartender himself will provide a drink for all those present. More frequently, bartenders will give drinks to individual patrons. As noted above, while the acquaintanceships between patrons of the public drinking place are rarely recognized at another time, this is not the case with acquaintanceships between bartender and patron. Just as a patron may treat a bartender whom he knows by name to a drink, so, too, may a bartender occasionally treat a patron whom he knows by name to a drink, particularly if the patron has been absent from the establishment for a long time. Bartenders, again like patrons, may also occasionally treat those they know from other settings who are currently present in the public drinking place as patrons. A variety of special occasions being celebrated by patrons who more or less regularly frequent a given establishment may be acknowledged by the bartender by the presentation of a gift drink as well. On one evening, a patron explained that it was his anniversary and he and his wife had been "hitting all the bars" they usually patronized in the area, getting free drink
from the bartenders. In a bar that I frequented for about two months during the course of the study, mention one evening that it was our anniversary similarly brought a gift drink from the bartender for my husband and me.
131  Bartenders may also use treating as a means of controlling a variety of situations that might otherwise generate difficulties of one sort or another. Patrons who are actively engaged in a heated altercation may be "cooled off" by the bartender's presenting each with a drink and a request that they "drink up and forget it." Patrons who are very intoxicated may similarly be "cooled out" of the bar with a gift drink from the bartender. The following example of this use of treating by bartenders took place a little after 2 A.M., when my husband, one other man, and I were the only patrons left in a bar:
The man asked the bartender for another beer, which the bartender drew for him. When he put the drink before the patron, the bartender said, "If you don't pay for it, then I'm not actually selling it." The bartender then came over to where we were sitting and poured us each another drink, without asking whether or not we wanted it. He simply said, "There's one for you, too."
Technically, whether the drink was sold or given away, its provision was still in violation of the liquor statutes.[99] On the other hand, like the free drink provided to the intoxicated (which is also unlawful),[100] the gift drink presented by the bartender after hours can serve to ease the patrons out of the establishment without engendering pique or ill will on their part.
When the overtures of one patron appear to be annoying another patron, the bartender may present a gift drink to the latter as either a gesture of understanding for the latter's difficulty or as a prelude to an encounter that could serve to insulate him partially from the offending patron.
A rather drunk middle-aged man who had greeted
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me quite audibly when I entered offered to buy me a drink. I declined, and he continued to ask, occasionally coming down to where I was sitting to put his arm around me and ask if I was ready for a new drink yet. When my first drink was almost finished, the bartender came down and said to me, "Let me buy you a drink." He took my glass and when he returned with the new drink said, "I doift want you to get stuck with that guy," indicating the other patron with a jerk of his head.
And sometimes uniformed policemen present in public drinking places will be offered drinks by the bartender as a means of qualifying the official nature of their presence in the setting for both the policemen and the patrons.

Ceremonial Phrases and Acts

In addition to treating, there are other bar rituals in which the form is more or less identical but for which the import is variable according to the context.[101] When stated at the end of a round, for example, the phrase "I've just about had it," may mean that the speaker has had enough to drink or enough of the round buying. Whichever meaning the speaker may intend, the ritual meaning of the phrase excuses the speaker from the rounds and the round group, permitting him either to remain with the group but buying his drinks on an individual basis or to leave the proximity of the group for some other part of the establishment. The same phrase is often used as a prelude to departure when treating is not going on, signifying to those who have heard it that the speaker is about to depart and is, as of that moment, no longer available for interaction. Once the statement has been made, the speaker can
133 in a leisurely manner divest himself of his open status. He may slowly collect his goods and possessions and arrange himself for departure from the setting in a gradual or lingering manner, without the possibility of being drawn into even a momentary encounter. Or he may, if he desires, make the statement even before he has completed his drink, permitting him to finish the drink languidly but granting him immunity from any subsequent overtures of sociability.
The expression, "I've just about had it," may upon occasion even be used by those who, from the onset, desire to be excluded from the general assumption of openness that is automatically vested in bar patrons. When a patron enters a public drinking place and declares as he sits down, "I've just about had it," the verbal declaration is functionally equivalent to the postural declaration of the solitary drinker, granting the speaker immunity to any overtures of sociability from those who have heard it. But because the statement may be made only once, if it is to be taken seriously, his immunity lasts only as long as no new patron who has not heard the declaration locates in his vicinity. He may, of course, when those around him change, alter the basis for his immunity by moving into the posture of the solitary drinker. But if he desires to remain unapproached for a stay of one or two drinks at the most, the declaration is usually sufficient to establish this fact and still permit him visually to take in the ongoing events-- an activity denied those using the postural declaration.
Characteristically, the tone of voice and expression that accompany the phrase, "I've just about had it," differs when it is stated by a patron entering the bar from the tone and expression used prior to departure. In the latter case, it is usually uttered as a matter of fact, similar to the way in which one might say, "a martini on the rocks" or "tomorrow is Tuesday." When "I've just about had it" is said by an entering patron to divest himself of his open status from the onset, it is usually stated with a disgruntled edge, as though the referent of the statement were an unpleasant event or events
134 that took place in some other setting. Of course, no one asks "What happened?" unless the speaker goes on to mutter additional statements that serve to define the clause as a remark in the first place.
Like the locution "I've just about had it," the statement, "Well, it's about that time when stated prior to the speaker's departure, may permit him leisurely to divest himself of his open status while he collects his possessions or while he finishes his drink. But unlike "I've just about had it," when a patron enters and declares, as he sits down at the bar, "Well it’s about time he in effect proclaims that he is present and properly open for any overture of sociability which may be directed to him.
Entering patrons implicitly declare by the statement "Wen, it's about that time . . ." that the speaker is attuned to the nature of the setting that he has just entered and that he is aware of the kind of activity that can properly take place in the public drinking place. Thus while the statement can be made at any time, it is most frequently heard during those times when the speaker is most likely to have just come to the bar from a setting governed by a much tighter set of proprieties. Specifically, "Well, ifs about that time is characteristically heard said by entering patrons on weekdays around noon and from 4 to 7 P.m., when the likelihood is greatest that the speaker has just come from a work setting. Whether it is for the speaker's benefit, for the benefit of those around him, or for both, it implicitly acknowledges that the speaker is prepared, or is preparing himself, to treat the present setting as it should be treated and that he is ready to divest himself of whatever orientation he may have acquired in the prior setting.
While the locutions "I've just about had it," and "Well, it's about that time have a variety of ritual meanings within the public drinking place depending Upon the context within which they are stated, the expression "How are you?" which is typically a statement used to acknowledge the pres-
135 ence of another in other settings, has a particular meaning within the bar. When a patron's glass or beer bottle is almost but not quite empty, the bartender may say to him, "How are you?"; or if the glass or bottle of one patron in an encounter is almost but not quite empty, he may say to others in interaction with him, "How are you?" In both cases the statement translates as, "Are you ready for another drink?" and the conventional reply of "fine" or "I'm fine" means "no." If the one asked is, in fact, ready for another drink, he will typically reply either "yes" or nod his head and say "Okay."
"How are you?" is often used as a prelude to buying a gift drink for another. Thus, when the question is asked by a patron and the one asked desires another drink, he who has asked will often indicate that the subsequent drink will be his treat. One can offer to buy a drink for the bartender in the same way, as the following example, quite inadvertent, illustrates. The bar in which it took place was one which my husband and I had visited off and on for over a year. The bartender was the regular night man, who had just returned to the bar after an absence of about three months, during which time we had met him working in another establishment.
Gregg, the bartender, was talking with one of the~ patrons at the bar when we came in and sat one stool away from the patron, directly in front of the beer pumps. When Gregg looked over at us, P. C. said, "Two drafts," which Gregg proceeded to draw and place on the counter before us. As he put them down he said, "Well, how are you?" and P. C. replied, "Fine. How about you?" Gregg then said, "Okay, thanks, " and proceeded to pour a shot for himself, the cost of which he took out of the money P. C. had put on the bar. He then nodded and smiled at us as though we had known what we were doing in the first place.
Like the expression "How are you?" money also has a particular ritual meaning in the public drinking place. In most
136 public settings people are held responsible for the care and protection of their property. If something is left unguarded it is often labeled "free goods" for others who come upon itv to be, if possible, converted to their ownership. Thus in many public places people are cautioned to lock their car, watch their coat and umbrella. and, in general, to keep their possessions from being easily converted to other ownership. Such is not the case within the bar, where personal articles and money may be, and frequently are, left unguarded, often for extended periods of time.[102]
This is particularly the case with money, both bills and silver. In most public drinking places, each round of drink
is paid for after they have been served. While the patrons may, after each payment, return the change to their pocket or purse, more likely than not the change will be left on the bar or table, easily accessible for payment of the next round. At the same time, the patrons may or may not remain in close proximity to their money. Couples seated at the tables or along the bar may get up to dance, or individuals seated at the tables or the bar may leave to go to the bathroom or to chat with someone at some distance from where they were Originally located. At these times, when the money is openly left, it is considered to be safe. He who leaves money in full view, unattended at the bar or table, can reasonably expect that it will not be wrongfully taken. Thus, if one orders a drink and leaves temporarily before it is served, the drink will be delivered and the bartender or cocktail waitress will take the cost out of the pile of currency that is there. But it is under-
137 stood that no more than the cost of the drink will be taken by the employee and that none of it will be taken by anyone else. Money in the public drinking place in this sense has the ritual status of a marker. Its presence unattended along the bar or at the tables informs those who see it that the space before it is occupied even though no one is visible there at the moment.
I had been talkin with two patrons (Ray and Steve) who left to see about their car, leaving a ten dollar bill and some change on the bar in front of the seat Steve had occupied.
A few minutes after they left, a third patron, who had thus far said nothing to me, although he had been talking for a while with Ray, came down to where I was sitting and asked if I wanted to dance to the records playing on the juke box. I declined, and then he partially sat down on the stool where Steve had been sitting and we talked. He eventually reached down the bar and pulled his drink and his change over to him in his new location.
When Steve came back he stood behind the new
man without saying anything. Finally the latter said to Steve, "Is this your seat?" Steve replied, rather
COOIY2 "Oh, that's okay," but remained standing where he was, looking sternly at the other patron. Finally the other patron, without saying anything further to me or to Steve, pushed his own drink and change over to the seat that Ray had occupied, and Steve sat down where he had been sitting before.
On one occasion I observed a patron who left his change in three different locations along the bar as he moved from encounter to encounter, controlling a variety of possible locations to suit his mood of the moment. More frequently, however, a patron will leave money in only one location and if he enters, in passing, into an encounter with a patron in another location, upon reordering lie will indicate to the bartender to take the cost of the drink out from the money at his original
138 location. However, the following incident indicates one of the problems for the employees in such situations:
A man came up to the bar, ordered, and when the bartender returned his change (thirty cents), the patron left it on the bar. The patron stood at the bar drinking for about five minutes and then wandered off toward one of the tables at the back, where he stood talking with another group of patrons. Two or three times the bartender walked by the money, each time glancing at it. After about fifteen minutes the bartender looked at the money again, then glanced around at three or four patrons sitting in the vicinity of the coins, shrugged, and then pocketed it. The glance and the shrug apparently served to indicate that he guessed it was a tip after all.
Finally, inasmuch as one's continued presence is indicated as long as one's money remains visible, one can also indicate one's impending departure without any verbal statement by collecting and pocketing his money.
I had been in the bar for about two hours. While I had taken my purse with me to the bathroom to write down some notes on a number of occasions, I had left the change from a five dollar bill on the bar. I had been talking with the bartender on and off, and when I started to pick up my change (although I hadn't got off the stool) the bartender came down to where I was sitting and said, "You don't have to go now, do you? Why dorf t you stay and hear the music?"
Thus while there are some ceremonial phrases and acts which, like the treating rituals, have a variable meaning within the setting of the public drinking place depending upon the context within which they take place, there are others for which the meaning is relatively specific regardless of context, permitting only one reading for those who are witness to them.
139 However, whether such rituals and ceremonies are variable or specific in their meaning, like the spatial proprieties within the setting, they have implications beyond the immediate moment and hence may be a matter of concern for those present. But again, like spatial proprieties, the consequences they engender are not automatic. The constraint and respect which the presentation of a gift drink or the utterance of a ceremonial phrase requires are not present from the onset but, rather, are established only by actively undertaking a particular course of action,
[92] The relative unimportance of alcoholic drinking in the public drinking place is noted in Mass Observation, The Pub and the People (London: Victor Golrancz, Ltd., 1943), p. 92 et passim. The relative unimportance of the public drinking place as a locale for alcoholics is noted in Simon Dinitz, "The Relationship of the Tavern to the Drinking Phases of Alcoholics" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1951), p. 226 et passim.

[93] Although toasts are occasionally given in public drinking places in San Francisco, they are not particularly frequent and are most likely to be non verbal. Thus, for example, when one patron is bought a gift drink, the recipient and donor may share a fleeting moment Of eye contact and perhaps raise their glasses to one another and nod, but typically nothing is said. When two patrons together are buying their drinks separately, even such gestural toasts are frequently absent.

[94] The term "round" is sometimes used to refer to mutual treating between any two patrons, but its use here will refer only to a sym etri. cat treating arrangement between patrons entering together.

[95] Millicent Fenwick, Vogue's Book of Etiquette (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1948), p. 63.

[96] Cf. Margaret Chandler, "The Social Organisation of Workers in a Rooming House Area" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1948), p. 63; see also Claude Levi-Strauss, "The Principle of Reciprocity," in L. A. Coser and B. Rosenberg (eds.), Sociological Theory (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1957), pp. 88-90, and Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel (K. Wolff, trans. and ed.) (New York: The Free Press, 1950), p. 33.
The offering of a drink to instigate an encounter typically occurs when a male sends a drink to a female, and it is customarily the pre. lude to a pickup. These encounters will be treated in detail in Chapter 9.

[97] Cf. marcel Mausso The Gift (New York: The Free Press, 1958), p. 58: "The recipient is in a state of dependence upon the donor. . . . The gift is thus something that must be given, that must be received and that is, at the same time, dangerous to accept. The gift itself constitute an irrevocable link, especially when it is a gift of food."

[98] The obligatory character of the proposal of the first gift in contrast to Proposals of subse4uent gift drinks may stem from its seemingly "voluntary" nature. Cf. Simmel, op. cit., pp. 392-393.

[99] Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (California State Printing office, 1961), pp. 138-139.

[100] Ibid., p. 134.

[101] On the contextual meaning of words and phrases, see Jos6 Ortega y Gassett, Man and People (New York: The Norton Library, 1963), pp. 238-239, and Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (New York: The Free Press. n.d.), p. 305.

[102] This is not to say that if personal articles and money are left in the bar and the patron leaves the setting for an extended time he can always return with full assurance that they will still be there. In fact, particularly with respect to personal articles, those which remain once the patron has left are often converted to new ownership by the em-ployees. Occasionally, too, money left on the bar in front of one patron may slide down the bar a few inches to become money left before an-other patron. But, in general, as long as the original owner remains on the premises his property is relatively safe.

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