7A- Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

7A- Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

·         Opportunity: Bars gain an extra liability and the customers at those bars have to work around the extra hassle because of spilt drinks on people and the floor of the bar causing hazards.

a.       The who: Bar owners and bar-going Americans

b.       The what: Drinks spilling cause the floor to get wet and slippery and can put people on edge when getting spilled on.

c.       The why: Having a wet floor is a liability to the bar and a safety hazard to the people and a spilt drink also has the potential to rile people up.

·         Testing the who: I believe that this could be an issue for other restaurant/ bar and grill owners but at a much lesser level. The main customers would be bar and club owners that are serving alcoholic beverages.

·         Testing the what: Some bars are known for their dinginess and being the epitome of a gross bar and that is their curbside appeal but then when it comes to other bars and specifically clubs, they want the exact opposite because the appeal is that it is a nicer place, people want to be able to dress up and look a bit nicer when they go out.

·         Testing the why: There are probably a couple of viewpoints about where the root of the problem stems from whether it be the customers fault that spills it, the other customer that bumps into them, or the bar’s fault for not having enough trash cans. Any of those ways though still puts the bar in a position where they could be liable because something happened on their property and could cause a decrease in customers.

·         Interview #1- I first interviewed a manager of one of the more popular bars in Gainesville that is frequented more by college students. He explained that the liability would be on the bar no matter how the event went down if it was on the bar’s property. He said that even with 6 trashcans placed around the entire bar, people still manage not to throw their drinks away and leave them on the floor where they can be easily knocked over and cause a slippery floor.

·         Interview #2- I interviewed a college male who goes to many of the bars at midtown often. He was able to tell me that slipping was not the only problem of drinks being spilled but he had seen on more than one occasion where there are two people who may be intoxicated and one accidentally, or purposefully, spills a drink on the other and they get into a little tussle which could turn into something more violent simply over a spilled drink.

·         Interview #3- I talked to someone at a downtown bar that was less known for being closer to a club but more seen as a sit-down bar with a higher prices. They said that this was not as big of an issue because there are not usually enough people in the bar to where you are pushing through people just to get to the other side of the building so there is less likelihood of a spill.

·         Interview #4- I talked to one of the bartenders at a club in downtown Gainesville who also at the end of the night has to clean the floors for the next day. He explained that he finds so many cups on the floor from people simply just dropping their drinks on the floor which may seem fine because the drink is finished but usually there is always a little bit left as well as all of the ice that was in the cup which not only makes the floor sticky but also the ice causes the floor to be extremely slippery especially for someone already intoxicated.

·         Interview #5- I sat down with a college girl who goes to the bars and clubs in Gainesville frequently and she says that there are some places that she will not go anymore because she knows that no matter what she will either ruin an article of clothing that she is wearing or will fall, spill a drink she has paid for, or get it knocked out of her hands by someone else. She explains how annoying it is that she will pay money to get into these bars and clubs to then lose more money by a spilt drink or have a drink spilt all over her and her have to make the decision to either go home and dry off, maybe to come back and wait in a long line and pay yet again to get in or spend the rest of the night pressed up against people with a sopping wet shirt or a busted toe because she slipped on ice.

·         I was able to gain some helpful insight from being able to sit down and discuss the different aspects of bar life with the different people that interact in the scene. I learned that even though there are trashcans set out for people, most people will not use them and simply drop their drink on the floor; this paired with a packed building provides no way for clean up during the night which means the ice and cups stack up throughout the night. I also realized that this is not such a naturally occurring thing in all bars but bars that are frequented by college students, where drinks might be a bit cheaper as well as most clubs due to their goal of trying to make the place seem as lively as possible to attract people. While talking to interviewer #2 I found out that slipping and falling due to a spilt drink is not the only liability that a bar/club has when dealing with spilled drinks, but fights could also break out over small things such as a spilt drink because of intoxication. Through this interviewing process I was able to narrow down the customer base as well as broaden my view of the potential hazards.