In a viral video, TikTok user Vanessa Cervantes Martinez (@la_guerita.20) captured the bartender only putting one shot in her drink, despite her ordering a double shot.
“I asked the bartender to make me a double shot, and then I realized it was my fifth shot,” Martinez says at the beginning of the video, as he records the bartender making the drink.
He places a large cup with ice on the counter. He pours a glass of clear liquor. It is heavy and overflowing. A smile forms on his face, he looks at her quickly, and he starts to pour a second glass. Almost nothing comes out of the bottle. The second glass is nonexistent.
“He didn’t understand the assignment,” she added in the video’s caption. The video has been viewed more than 897,000 times, generated hundreds of comments, and sparked much discussion.
Many viewers disagreed with Martinez, arguing that the bartender “knew his job” by not giving her another drink, which they speculated was because she was clearly intoxicated.
2019/03/20(Sun) He didn’t understand the assignment😭😭😭💀💀💀#page #bartender #Failed ♬ Como Quiera – Los Canelos de Durango
“He secretly did all he could for you,” one viewer shared. Another added, “He got the assignment from my book,” to which Martinez responded, “He really did because the next day was awful.”
Others shared personal experiences and anecdotes: “I used to bartend at weddings and the bride didn’t want her guests to get too drunk,” one person said.
However, some viewers thought that if Martinez paid for the double shots, she should get one too. “Open bar is one thing, but not if she’s paying for doubles,” one viewer commented. Another added, “But she paid for them!?! Let her have the shots!!”
Do bartenders have a responsibility to turn away drunk customers?
The debate over the responsibility of bartenders who stop drunk customers is not limited to the comments on Martinez’s video. Reddit A thread addressing the question, “When and why do we cut people off?”
In California, where Martinez is based, the legal answer to that question is pretty simple. Alexander Law Firm“In California, the law is clear that a third party who continues to provide alcohol to an intoxicated person is not civilly liable, even if that person later commits a drunk driving offense.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Vanessa Cervantes Martinez through TikTok.
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Amara Thomas
Amara Thomas is a freelance writer and cultural activist whose work has appeared in The FADER, Village Voice, Gothamist, Highsnobiety, and more.
