Have you ever found employment while in a bar?

[Nalfeshnee]

Actually, after reading this thread and seeing some of the more realistic interpretations of the cliche, i have a new appreceation for the old hired in a tavern hook (though im not really one to say: im running 2 PBP's here both of which started like that... in the same taern )

Well, the way i see it, characters (when not in class-related guildhalls etc) are in a tavern/inn, and any prospective employer who knows anything about adventurers know sthis.

Oh yes, I've landed many 'jobs' painting minatures for people in bars/nightclubs (the whole fantasy/sci-fi thing is immensly popular in Malta). so i guess that counts

 

[Imruphel]

I live and work in Singapore and it's surprising how many deals and leads are generated by spending time in bars and pubs (and I type that despite being a complete teetotaller).

Example? Nahhh, can't say... but they normally involve Indonesia (and most business between Indonesia and Singapore involves smuggling of some sort).

 

[Siobharek]

I got my first full-time job after shooting pool with two guys in a bar. Lead to me becoming a marketing assistant in the company and from then on it was copywriting all the way. So yeah, I've gotten a job in a bar.

 

[Stormborn]

Bars? no. But I'm not a "hang around in bars, pubs, taverns, etc." kind of guy. I have gotten job offers in Resturants, Coffee Shops, Book Stores, and the univesity food court. But its kind of like the fellow above who was talking about "gigs" - when people know you can do something and do it well, and its only going to be one day or one night or something they are more likely just to approach you. Which, I guess, is kinda like being and adventurer being hired to clean out one goblin infested dungeon or rat infested sewer.

 

[davidschwartznz]

As the title suggests. It's such a staple of D&D that I was recently wondering how it first developed. I'd like to know if anyone here has ever had something similar happen to them in real life. So, ever been kicking back in a bar enjoying some suds with your buddies only to have a stranger walk up to your table and offer you a cash job?

As far as I can tell no industry business actually takes place at GenCon, it all happens at the bars around GenCon. So, short answer: yes.

 

[SWBaxter]

Yes. Didn't get the job itself in a bar, but once when I'd just left one job and was at loose ends I ran into one of my college instructors in a local bar, and it turned out his brother's company was looking for someone right at the same time. He passed on my resume, I had an interview within the next couple of days and started work within a week. That was for a computer programming job, too, not your average bar fare.

That of course had more to do with networking than the bar specifically. So far as D&D and other RPGs go, characters are generally being hired to do something dangerous and/or shady. In the real world, that kind of work gets discussed in the "right" kind of bar all the time.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Same here. Still happens from time to time.

Back in my musician days, strangely, yes: one gig often leads to another.

 

[adwyn]

Wik's comment about rural vs urban strikes true.

I have been offered jobs while justs sitting around in bars -always rural ones. In a little place across the border from Nogales (AZ) a couple of men tried to hire me to drive their laundry and dog (?) across the border for them. Here in Montana I've been offered several day jobs of the grunt work variety and plenty of stranger ones, all while in rural one bar towns where the bar is the focus of all life, social and otherwise.

The real problem with the stranger in a bar scenario is it is too often run with a 13 year olds perception of the bar/pub enviroment.

 

[fusangite]

Depends on your line of work. Most hard-drinking, performance-oriented professions like academia, politics, acting and music do a large portion of their de facto hiring in bars. Certainly, I've benefited from this.

 

[Sejs]

As a matter of fact, yes. Granted, we're not talking about long-term career type employment here, but it was a couple weeks of work for myself and a few of my friends.

Guy was building a deck and addition on his house (summer house, as it turned out), and the work crew he was going to go with skipped, leaving him with materials but nothing more. We overheard his plight and offered to help, mentioned that we'd recently helped my father with a similar project, the bartender vouched for us, and things went from there.