The rain pours outside the Lucky 13 bar in the Duboce Triangle. Inside, plastic buckets dot the cement floor to catch the water sifting through the rafters. Tom Waits' gravelly voice funnels out of the jukebox into the dim, smoky light. The second hand keeps the time on an otherwise handless clock behind a bar that seems to extend into the next morning.
Bartender Brad Kahn paces behind the bar, occasionally looking down the long end of the barroom toward the door. The small, silver hoops in Kahn's right eyebrow and ears catch the light as he pours himself a drink while making conversation with some regulars.
A man in a black suede hat is working on a strong buzz and asks for another beer. While Kahn would have ordinarily stopped serving him, he knows the guy will walk home because he lives two blocks away, so he pours him another.
Like most bartenders, Kahn just made a dangerous, yet all-too-common mistake. "Some people think that as long as someone's not driving, it's OK to drink to excess, but alcohol-related problems don't stop at DUI," says Victor Colman, project manager for the California Coordinating Council on Responsible Beverage Service, which focuses on prevention not just intervention. "Folks get home safely but there are a whole bunch of other risks: fires, falls, drowning, spousal and child abuse."
CCC/RBS is just on the verge of going public with a statewide certification process for businesses which serve alcohol responsibly. The organization comprises members of the alcohol industry, government and community dedicated to protecting public health and safety. Their goal is to establish responsible practices within the community and improve business.
Kahn, like the majority of bartenders, has no formal training in tending bar. He learned by hanging out with friends in bars, a pastime he enjoys. "It's like killing two birds with one stone," he says. "Instead of hanging out, I'm working." Aside from making about $100 a night, he pours himself free drinks.
Former bartender Jim Peters is director of the Responsible Hospitality Institute in Scotts Valley, which works with CCC/RBS and coordinates statewide projects to set standards and options for training people who serve alcohol. Peters feels bars make a valuable contribution in the community, both in the jobs they provide and the social role they play in bringing people together.
"The reason people go to bars is not to get a drink," Peters says, "because they could get alcohol and consume it at home less expensively. People are buying the social part, the companions, entertainment, and services." Peters trains owners and managers to think like they're in the real estate business, renting space. "People want to buy space, and it's important to recognize that. But by having so much emphasis on the promotion of alcohol and creating that atmosphere, you're going to lose business with people not seeking that as a goal," he says.
Peters emphasizes changing a bar's ambiance by shifting the focus away from alcohol and offering food and non-alcoholic beverages. "Having people who are intoxicated in your establishment is not good for business," he says.
When Kahn is faced with serving a drunk, he says, "It's all your call, it's from your perspective. One drink might be enough for some people, whereas four beers is social drinking for people who go out a lot. We are not supposed to serve anyone who appears intoxicated, but in some bars that's definitely not the case."
Kahn says monitoring dozens of people can be difficult. When it's obvious that people are deliberately trying to get drunk, Kahn cuts them off. "Really, only if somebody appears to be so drunk that they are stumbling, slurring speech and not having a good time, do we think about how much people are drinking. It's not the customer's fault that they're drunk or rude or obnoxious, but it becomes a pain for you. Usually people don't want to drink so much that they're out of control. Most people are responsible when they drink."
But despite Kahn's experience, alcohol contributed to 523 San Francisco automobile accidents in 1992, which is 41 percent of the total traffic accidents in the city, according the California Highway Patrol statistics.
James Mosher has been conducting research and organizing studies in California bars for several years. "We found that half of drunken drivers will report that they left a bar, restaurant or establishment licensed to sell alcohol. All those studies added together show that this is an important area for prevention. Responsible serving is an opportunity to reduce drunken driving on the highway."
As a result of Mosher's studies, health officials have begun to look at the role of bars seriously in terms of preventing intoxication and drunken driving and health problems. "In the last decade we've gone from being an oddball idea to one which the industry has accepted and realized," Mosher says. "People will drink, so let's create an environment where drinking will be done in a responsible manner."
The man in the black hat tosses one last gulp of beer down his throat and leaves the remains of his cigarette burning in an ashtray. He's had enough and turns toward the door. Kahn finishes wiping one last shot glass, and gives the bar a quick once-over with a cleaning rag. It's been a good night at the Lucky 13 for Kahn-that is to say, one without incident. He counts his tips and throws on an old leather jacket and locks up for the night.
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