During the past few weeks The Mercury has been bringing its readers a series of articles related to this community's growing problem with liquor consumption and its resulting consequences.
In past episodes we have visited with police spokesmen, addictions counsellors, social/family counsellors and have gathered information regarding the liquor consumption rate in Estevan compared with other provincial centres.
This past week we spoke with another segment of the local population, a couple of "front-line" employees, who deal with this issue on a daily basis the bar and lounge servers, bartenders and late-night service employees who have contributions to make on the topic as well.
In order to get this perspective, The Mercury agreed to speak with them on a confidential basis, which meant not using their real names or indicating their specific employment site since they stated they enjoyed the jobs they had and had no negative issues with their current employer. These employees said they did not want their comments and observations to reflect negatively on their work site, employers or fellow employees, and therefore, anonymity was agreed to in order to bring this additional insight into a growing problem.
So where are the happy drunks these days?
Apparently, there aren't that many of them left in the Energy City. Too many of them are angry and frustrated and just wanting to get drunk for the sake of getting drunk.
There are a variety of reasons for this current state of affairs with the local liquor consumers and we'll get to them in a moment.
Shieleen (not her real name) has been employed in the hospitality industry in Estevan for over four years at different locations as a server and bartender and she also remembers Estevan's earlier years before the recent oil boom, when Estevan's population wanted to go out and have a good time, get a few drinks, have something to eat, exchange a few stories and jokes, make plans with friends to do something later, and then go home.
"Oh sure, there have always been the 'let's take this outside' stuff they'd deal with on occasion, but it would usually be one guy in an argument with another guy that would lead to a fight outside the bar. Now we see angry guys coming in, and we're wondering what we'll be dealing with within an hour if they're this way already. We see guys actually vibrating with anger, we don't know what they're mixing with the alcohol. We see gang attacks five guys beating up one guy, using boards or broken bottles. It's crazy," said Shieleen.
The occasional fights in the past were usually reserved for weekends. That's not the case anymore.
There are strange shift-work hours for those on the rigs. The servers and bartenders have no idea how much sleep they've had, they don't know what they've ingested before coming to the bar or what they're adding to the mix once they get there.
Lounge staffers can make a point of spraying down the backs of toilets with cooking oil, a trick that ensures the drug users won't be sniffing up their line of cocaine on that piece of porcelain. But they find a way and often it's pretty open as the drug users and sellers become emboldened. Lounges add more bouncers, the inebriated celebrants simply move on to the next bar after being tossed from their first venue.
"We were never asked about how to get drugs before, except maybe somebody might inquire about how he or she might get some marijuana, but that was about it," she said.
But the addition of a drug culture into the drinking and so-called party scene, brings with it some inherent challenges.
"We're trained how to serve and what to watch for in customers and not to over serve, but when you have a girl pass out in a bathroom stall before she's had a second drink, where do you go with that?" Shieleen asks.
So staff can attempt to spoil the coke line, bring in more bouncers to cope with more frequent and unfair fights, and more policing to clean up the chaos but where is it all leading?
With a male to female ratio of about 10 to 1 with many workers in the city for six or eight weeks on contract, leaving wives, girlfriends and family members behind, they come to Estevan to make some big money and live large for a little while. The results often aren't pleasant.
"I'm no counsellor, but I know booze is a drug all by itself and it can kill. I also know the customers we used to have, don't want to come out anymore. They don't want all the drama," said Shieleen.
Susan, (not her real name) a front-line employee at a late-night convenience store feels these people need alternative avenues for their energy and socializing.
"They go out with the guys they work with, or guys they're bunking with because they're the only people they know," she said.
"It's big business, big money, big boozing, big drug use, big violence," Shieleen said, summing up the local situation.
"There is some truth to the statement that a lot of the problem is guys from out-of-town, but we've dealt with that many times before, and it was different," said Shieleen.
"I also know that you can't be sensitive and work in this profession. You handle the occasional groping and grabbing," she added with a laugh. "Hey, I like people, I've heard it all, but there are boundaries for everyone. We know there is some infidelity going on, cheating, but again, as I said, I'm not a counsellor here. That's something they'll have to deal with as a family and those trained to help them. I'm not going to judge or say anything."
Shieleen went on to note that even just a few years ago, "we'd know 90 per cent of our customers, we'd know their drinking habits, behaviour pattern, but we don't know that anymore. We don't know who is out just to have a bit of fun and who is sitting at a table with a gun in his pocket."
On the positive side, Shieleen said the opening up of the Energy City has introduced an exciting array of different nationalities. Sometimes cultural differences lead to misunderstandings, but for the most part, it's fun to meet people from around the globe. "They're here to make a good living. Sometimes liquor drives them out of character. There are great ones you just want to sit down and visit and we'll do that. They have a few drinks and leave. Some know about tipping, others don't," she added with a chuckle. That's not the important part. The important part is that there are some people from all over the globe who know how to drink sensibly, enjoy the moment and move on to other activities.
"Take in a movie, gym, play cards or games, bike, play some ball, dance do we even have a good dancing place in Estevan now?" asks Susan.
Unfortunately, there are still too many who choose to close the bar down and then get in fights while they're waiting for a cab, or fight over the cab, which means the bouncers, servers and police have to work additional hours.
"It's like nobody is allowed to be naïve anymore. You always have to be on guard and that's not a pleasant thought," said Shieleen. "I love meeting people. I want to be pleasant, but when you get rude and belligerent right from the start, you begin to rethink things."
Shieleen adds that she believes the Estevan Police Service have been very positive in their approach, and she looks at the situation as being a very tough issue to deal with on a continual basis.
As for Susan, she merely added that "We see so many young people now with built up anger. They come to Estevan, some from very far away. They get the money here but I don't know how many I've heard say 'I hate this town,' and that's because they don't know it," She added, "Not everybody needs to fight, but it seems like there aren't a lot of happy people. They need to do other things. They don't necessarily have to not drink, but just get to know the city, see all the things they can do. They don't have to act like idiots on a Saturday night. They might not even remember how bad they were on Saturday or Friday night when we see them on Monday morning, but believe me, we remember."
As the front-line staffers were quick to point out, they don't have answers, but they certainly have witnessed the problems associated with excessive liquor consumption, especially when it's augmented with drugs and a lack of family and friends for support. It grows with access to money, and is fueled by erratic working hours and living conditions without recreational and social diversions to lead them away from the booze and into alternative adventures.
It is not a problem that comes with one or even two easy answers. Perhaps it will only come with a collective will to make things better in a vibrant city that has a lot to offer.
