Would you serve a pregnant woman alcohol? If not, you’d be acting illegally and could be sued, as Triana O’Keefe discovered recently.
Working in a bar I am often confronted with situations of which I’m going to describe as less than ideal.
To be honest the job description should have read ‘Local bar seeks tender with no self-respect and who welcomes insults. Applicants must take abuse, both verbal and physical, on a regular basis and be willing to work in a hostile environment’.
Suffice to say I am no stranger to the weird and wonderful behavior of human beings. Having said that, a few weeks ago I encountered a situation I never thought I would find myself in.
It was a quiet Monday afternoon, around 3:30pm, when I was confronted by an obviously pregnant woman.
She had walked unassumingly towards the bar and engaged me in a conversation about her shopping list.
So innocent and casual was this expectant mother-to-be that I didn’t think twice when she ordered a bottle of wine.
I was halfway through icing a bucket when I stopped myself and turned to face her.
It felt like one of those moments in an old western film where the hero and villain finally dual in a Mexican standoff.
I waited for her to validate her order with a comment along the lines of “oh don’t worry it’s not for me” or “I’m meeting a friend”. No such luck.
We stood like this for an uncomfortably long minute or two; myself, waiting for the never-to-come validation while the woman waited for me to either deny her request or continue to serve her.
The unnerving thing about this incident was the way she stared me down in those moments. It was clear she had a rehearsed defensive argument ready to be launched in my direction should I choose the former option.
I was stumped. Was I legally bound to serve her or did I have to refuse? Would it make me a hypocrite, as a preacher of women’s rights, to refuse her service? They don’t teach this at the Responsible Service of Alcohol courses.
After referring the woman to my manager, perhaps the coward’s way out of an impossible decision, I hit Lord Google.
I was determined to find out what the legal boundaries were. Somewhat shockingly I discovered that in fact bartenders are unable to refuse service to any particular group unless showing signs of intoxication.
Furthermore, a pregnant woman would even be able to pursue legal action against any bartender who refused her request.
So what happens when a particular bartender takes a moral stance against this issue? According to the law we are bound to serve them however, we have every right to inform them of the dangers to themselves and their unborn child.
I wish I could say that this new information eased my mind, but I have to confess, even armed with legalities I still don’t know how I would respond in this situation a second time.
Your say: Would you serve an obviously pregnant woman alcohol? Should the law be changed to make it illegal?
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