Providing a service to the public is hard work.
Providing a service to members of the public who are intoxicated is very hard work.
Providing a service to drunken holiday-makers, many of whom assume everyone on the island is out to steal their money, is extremely hard work.
But such is the lot of many ex-pats who serve drinks (and food) to holiday-makers. For every nice couple this ex-barman met, there seemed to five others demanding more beer beside them.
Let's not get into a woe-was-me lament though - that wouldn't be nice and it would be boring to boot. Instead, I state these facts (opinion?) solely in order to give some context as to what being a bar-person is really like in Lanzarote.
You need to de-stress after work and the most popular way to do this is to go for a drink (or eight) and have a whinge about holiday-makers, fellow staff, family, friends, the pope and anyone else who's unfortunate enough to pop into your head.
Add to this the fact that Lanzarote is a small place. And the ex-pat community is smaller still. Hence, nearly everyone knows everyone else. This means you end up giving out about people you know, (for the most part anyway - there are some who rise above this pastime).
The very nature of the place implies rumours, stress and drinking to excess.
My advice? Rise above it, if you can at all. If you can't, then at least try to behave and don't give people too much to talk about.
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