Attack of the flasks
SEATTLE — They’re crafty. They’re frugal. They’re spiking drinks on the sly. Try and stop them— Corey Ramey does.
“It’s just one of those things that always happens,” said Ramey, who owns The Alibi Room and has spent 15 years in the business.
Despite style mags touting recession-chic hip flasks, cocktails topping $12, and at least one local cheapskate on the prowl, flasking is still way under the table. It’s been a year or two since Ramey busted anyone for serving themselves at his bar.
The fear of being caught is a strong deterrent. Ramey asks flaskers to leave immediately when he catches them, and they usually look pretty embarrassed, he said.
But the shameless are always among us. Those riding out tough times with of a covert splash of Monarch may be “flasking back” to jazz-age irreverence. A 1921 New York Times article described “young things” and the “new hip-pocket habit.”
This isn’t Daisy Buchanan in a flapper dress cheekily taking a nip from sterling silver flask. A flask doesn’t even have to be a flask to serve its purpose. According to a co-worker who asked to remain anonymous, kids these days are more likely to be swigging off “baby” plastic water bottles – the six-ounce kind—filled with vodka.
For bar owners, those tiny $2 bottles of Tanqueray that seem so cute at the liquor store can be big trouble in the bar. Aside from the fact that flaskers are fleecing the establishment they’re drinking in, “The bigger issue is if they go out and get an accident and hurt somebody, the bar could be held liable,” Ramey said.
If he’s serving the drinks, he can keep track of how many customers have had. If they’re refilling without his knowledge, Ramey has no way of knowing how much customers imbibe. If they end up drinking and driving and hurting someone, Ramey could be sued by the victim or victim’s family, he said.
Not surprisingly, Ramey has zero tolerance for the flask-carrying kind; ”It’s like someone else decided to take a risk with the job of all the employees that work here,” he said.
That’s a lot to stuff in your hip pocket, isn’t it?
What do you think?Are flasks crafty or are flask users losers? Tell us about it in the comments section.