You know when it’s Friday night, you’re getting ready with your girlies and everything seems to be going right. Your makeup is popping, your outfit compliments every single part of you and your main objective for the night is to have fun; to enjoy every precious moment with your precious friends; to put all the BS to the side and shake it the way it was meant to be shaken. But then, you lose your ID. Your sneaky link isn’t answering your texts. Your friend left you at Bull Run and you literally don’t know what’s going on. We’ve all had those nights…we’ve all been victims of bar-induced anxiety and the unfortunate environment that is created when the majority of 21+ Bucknell students fill a tiny bar. 

What you decide to do with that frustration, anxiety and overall unpleasantness is what matters; and let me tell you, bartenders are the last people that deserve to be projected on by obnoxious people. 

Yes, being cute at the bar is cute. Spending time with your friends and wanting to make the most of your time out is valid; we’re all young and deserve to experience genuine laughter — especially in the middle of nowhere. However, we all have to keep in mind the inherently stressful environment of a bar — more specifically a bar catering to the drunken needs of people that don’t know how to say please and thank you sober — much less while intoxicated. 

Even when we don’t focus on the respect for others lacking in the brains of our peers, shifting our focus to the compensation residents within Lewisburg/PA receive for their labor is also important. We all know compensation is nowhere near enough to make up for hard work many people in this community/state endure. The minimum wage in the state of Pennsylvania is literally $7.25. Be f****** for real. 

I encourage each and every person that goes out to the bar this weekend — and every other day this year — to thank their bartender and treat them with kindness and respect. Don’t be messy. Don’t be annoying. Don’t do the most. Just vibe and remember that the good energy you put out into the world will always come back to you. 

Mucho Amor,

Ricky (they/them/theirs)