Brandon Twp.- Music is playing, the lights are dimmed and drinks are flowing, just another day on the job for Joyce Caron.
A bartender at Bullfrogs, Caron smiles as a regular customer takes a seat and gets him a beer, chatting a bit before quickly moving around the bar to serve another customer.
‘I’ve met so many wonderful people in this town,? says Caron, 44. ‘I’m very outgoing so this is a good job for me.?
Caron began bartending six years ago when she was at a crossroads in life. In the midst of a divorce, she ws working one day a week waiting tables at a Coney Island and wasn’t really sure what she was going to do after having been a stay-at-home mom to her two children for 10 years. A customer suggested she would be good at bartending. She went for an interview at the Village Pub in downtown Ortonville and was hired on the spot.
She worked at the pub for a year on the day shift before leaving to work at Bullfrogs. She had been there only a week when she worked her first, and last, night shift.
‘It was as busy as St. Patty’s Day and they were asking for all these drinks and I didn’t know where everything was,? she says. ‘Every bar makes a drink differently and I was panicking. Sales were crazy. I was thinking, ‘I don’t care if I make $500, I’m never doing this again.??
Caron recalls one man asking for a drink with an obscene name that she’d never heard of and didn’t know how to make, nor did anyone else working at the bar. She made a drink using a few different liquors she chose and if he knew the difference, he never said.
Another drink she was asked for in the beginning that she’d never heard of was ‘the three wise men,? which she learned was Johnny Walker, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels. Now, Caron knows how to make about 30 different mixed drinks. Her specialty, she says, is Long Island Iced Teas. The most popular drink is a Jaeger Bomb, a shot of Jaegermeister with Red Bull. The drink she finds most difficult to make just right is a frozen margarita. Caron’s own favorite drink is a Cosmopolitan, which she mixes now for a customer, using a three-second count of each liquer (Absolut vodka and Cointreau) and adding a splash of cranberry.
‘Having a bad night?? she asks. ‘Have two of those and everything looks good in life.?
Caron also likes working days rather than nights because she is afraid of people leaving the bar after drinking too much. She has taken a TIPS class, which teaches bartenders how to avoid overserving and is certified.
Caron watches how much she has served people and if they’re getting louder. She has denied people a drink without ever serving them one when they come in already drunk. She says some people change after two drinks and other people could drink all day without it being obvious.
‘People get mad when you cut them off, but then they’ll come in later and apologize and thank me,? notes Caron, who has about three people she refuses to serve, including a man who chased her around the bar before.
Getting used to being in a bar after being home with her children was difficult for Caron. She remembers a man making an off-color comment to her that made her cry when she first started bartending.
‘Now, I’ve grown thicker skin,? she says. ‘I take comments now with a grain of salt.?
Although she’s had less than stellar customers, Caron has also had ones that have gone out of their way for her bringing her flowers and perfume and giving generous tips. One customer even split his Keno winnings with her, resulting in her largest tip ever- $205. She won’t date customers, but has made a lot of friends, both men and women.
She regularly lends an ear to customers who talk to her about marital troubles and tries to not be judgmental, but honest. Others tell her their life stories or talk about nothing at all (she refers to the latter as ‘Seinfeld people?).
‘It’s never boring,? says Caron. ‘The best thing about (this job) is I can be bummed out about something, but come here and forget about it. The customers are great.?