When you work at a bar, your income generally depends on where the bar is and what nights of the week you work.  My girlfriend tends bar some nights of the week and barbacks on a couple of others.  A barback, if you don’t know, is sort of like a bartender’s assistant.  They don’t serve drinks, but basically go around making sure the bar is fully stocked and they clean and do all the odd jobs.  My girlfriend doesn’t make a lot of money.  But her father is a Personal Injury Attorney in Atlanta.  Actually, he’s quite a successful Personal Injury Attorney in Atlanta.  He gives her enough money that she can buy I-Phones, drive a Range Rover, and live in a loft-style condo all by herself.  She has a job because her father insists that she have one and it gives her something to do.  It also gives her some spare cash if she ever actually needs it.  She’s bright and actually quite talented and needs to go back and finish school, but working at a bar for now is just fine.  If you make a lot of money or enough to get by, then I understand if that’s what you want to do for years.  That’s probably how and why a lot of people end up as bartenders.  But she can do better, so much better.