In this week’s edition of Hey, Barkeep! three bartenders from bars on University Blvd. share what life is like while campus is full of parents. 

Lauren Galgotra from Gentle Ben’s:

Daily Wildcat: If you could describe family weekend in one word what would it be?

Galgotra: Crazy. Especially here. 

What are some of the craziest things you’ve seen happen here during family weekend?

Parents drinking with their kids is just so funny. Like the dads would be coming back who used to be in frats here and they’d try to out drink their sons which is hilarious. Or the moms would be taking shots with their daughters. I don’t know it’s pretty crazy.

As a bartender on University, what differences do you see here when the campus is full of parents and siblings as oppose to normal weekends here?

It’s completely different, especially since Saturday is game day. A ton more families come in obviously and everyone has crazy school spirit as oppose to a normal day when it’s just like random people that come in it’s like a U of A fan crowd.

Do a lot of people come in here to watch it instead of going to the game?

Yeah I would say too we’re always packed on family weekend.

Do you think as a bartender you’re treated differently when students are with their parents?

Well we get tipped better. Parents have more money to throw around than students generally do. I mean the parents usually want different drinks as opposed to kids. Like kids would be okay with an AMF but mom or dad might want a martini or something so in that regard it’s different. We have to be more upscale.

Victor Republicano from Frog & Firkin:

If you could describe family weekend in one word what would it be?

I would say family weekend is lively. I would say chaos but chaos sounds bad.

What are some of the weirdest things you’ve seen happen during family weekend?

I would say it’s just kind of a cool vibe a lot of times it’s the first time the kids are drinking with their parents so there’s that always that initial moment of kind of figuring out what’s acceptable or how drunk they can get or how drunk their parents will get with them cause for a lot of kids it’s the first time they’ve gotten drunk with their parents so it’s kind of a new territory you know you get kids who come in here a lot who I’ve seen drink a lot and all of a sudden when their parents come in so they’re drinking a lot less.

What differences do you see when the campus is full of parents and siblings or how is it different when there’s families here?

I think it’s kind of the same thing I was saying like parents and kids trying to figure out their limits you go out here and just see parents taking shots with kids or dancing with kids and different parents dancing with different people. You just see weird stuff that goes on. It’s the same stuff that happens at U of A just now parents are thrown in the mix. And there’s not really less drinking going on just everyone trying to figure out what’s acceptable. 

Do you think as a bartender you’re treated differently when the students are with their parents instead of when they’re by themselves or with friends?

Well it’s kind of funny you see the regulars that you see pretty quickly like it doesn’t surprise you when you meet that parents of the kids that come in a lot cause they’re very similar typically. In some ways it’s easier in the sense that a lot of times it’s the parents picking up the whole tab instead of kids splitting it up so it’s easier that way. But it’s fun, it’s always a good weekend. I think it’s one of the more fun weekends of the year. It’s not as crazy as homecoming it’s a little more in control. People are sitting down eating and dining not just getting hammered, although that does happen. 

Mike Defer from The Auld Dubliner:

If you could describe family weekend in one word what would it be?

Madness. It’s crazy. It’s a good time but we’re really busy.

What are some of the craziest things you’ve seen happen during family weekend?

I’ve seen nudity, I’ve seen beer bongs in a bar. Probably the nudity thing.

Was that from a parent?

Yeah that was a parent.

Was their kid with them?

Somewhere I don’t know where but yeah. Yeah it was a mom trying to get free drinks so it was pretty funny.

What differences do you see as a bartender on University when the campus is full of parents and siblings?

Kind of its just fun seeing parents act like their kids a little bit. Like they get to party as opposed to trying to be I guess a role model. I don’t know, I kind of see them being friends with their kids instead of parents. And other than that just increased business. We get really busy during family weekend. 

Do you think as a bartender you’re treated differently when students are with their parents?

Probably a little bit they try to be more polite and show their parents that they’re more mature. But other than that it’s not too bad, people usually treat me pretty well. I would imagine with the parents they’re just trying to act their age. 

Do you have certain students that you remember coming in a lot and it being different when they came in with their parents and you were surprised at what their parents were like?

Not really. Some of the ones that we get here were regulars and it was kind of what I expected to be honest. You kind of see where they came from and why they act certain ways. You can kind of see like that totally makes sense that that’s your dad or that’s your mom.

Follow Emma Jackson on Twitter.