"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com is back for another round! The whole month of February, we're serving up intoxicatingly fun articles on bars and clubs -- including guides, the latest trends, bartender profiles and more. Grab a designated driver and dive in!
So you're out on the town and enjoying a few drinks. Eventually you'll have to make a pit stop. Depending on the night and the bar, you might find yourself bargaining under a stall for a square of toilet paper or attempting to balance your used paper towel on an overflowing collection of its friends when you're done at the sink.
And if you don't? In a lot of cases, you can thank a bathroom attendant.
More bars and clubs are opting to bring in these lavatory liaisons to help out in both male and female restrooms on busy nights. But even with bathroom attendants becoming an increasingly common part of the nightlife, many Milwaukeeans are still unsure of what they do or how to receive them.
"I think there's kind of an adverse reaction to it, especially in Milwaukee," said Seth Rompelman, general manager at Lucille's Rockin' Pianos. "If you go to clubs outside the city, I don't think it's as uncommon for nightclubs to have bathroom attendants."
Though some bars opt to have attendants come in on weeknights, the majority of bars and clubs bring them in on weekend nights to help with everything from checking up on cleanliness to supplying incidental conveniences like tissues and breath fresheners for their patrons.
"They provide a bunch of different toiletry-type items, anywhere from gum to deodorant to perfume that people might want to freshen up," said Jake Dehne, the general manager at Suite.
For a busy bar like Lucille's, having someone to watch out for low supply levels makes the services of bathroom attendants particularly useful.
"With the volume of guests we have that join us on the weekends, it's nice to have somebody that will keep an eye on the bathroom supplies, the towels, the toilet tissue and so forth," said Rompelman.
Aside from the general upkeep of the space, bathroom attendants are also there to keep an eye out for the bar's property and safety of its patrons.
"There is an element of security to it," said Rompelman. "They are the to keep an eye on the restrooms and make sure there's no illicit activity, nothing's getting damaged."
Because they're stationed in the restroom much longer than anyone would normally be in the facilities, attendants are also more tuned in to determine if anyone is in serious distress -- something a patron might not be aware of if they were just passing through.
"They help with keeping the bathrooms clean and monitored to make sure people are safe. In case someone were to pass out in the bathroom, they're there to notice it," said Dehne.
Of course, there is one thing nearly all restroom visitors do notice: the tip jar. Most bathroom attendants, including those at Lucille's and Suite, aren't paid by the bar and therefore only get paid in what they make in tips. While attendants make the option available, patrons should never feel as though they have to tip.
"Tipping is completely on a volunteer basis," said Rompelman. "We're very clear with our attendants that they are not to solicit tips directly from our guests. We don't want anybody to feel obligated that whenever they need the restroom they need to take their wallet with them."
More so, it's understandable if you just want to go about your business yourself.
"Sometimes people don't feel as though they should have to tip. Some people like to get the paper towels themselves," said Dehne. "That's the thing, we tell people they don't have to tip. It's just a service that's provided."
As with any service, courtesy is key on both ends.
"If anything, a lot of people are grateful," Dehne said of responses to Suite's attendants. "They're there to help out."
Even if you don't need emergency deodorant and are still sober enough to find the paper towels yourself, it never hurts to extend an acknowledgment or pleasantry.
"I think if it's done the right way the guest experience can be positive," said Rompelman of the bathroom attendants at Lucille's. "We go to lengths to make sure we have the right people in there."
Contrary to her natural state of being, Renee Lorenz is a total optimist when it comes to Milwaukee. Since beginning her career with OnMilwaukee.com, her occasional forays into the awesomeness that is the Brew City have turned into an overwhelming desire to discover anything and everything that's new, fun or just ... "different."
Expect her random musings to cover both the new and "new-to-her" aspects of Miltown goings-on, in addition to periodically straying completely off-topic, which usually manifests itself in the form of an obscure movie reference.
