Bar staff are a large section of the working community who are paid a low wage to stay sober and pour drinks for drunken customers.

Many are students and consequently few want to remain behind the bar forever, instead looking forward to the day when they can sit in front of it after a short day's well-paid work doing trendy things in their chosen sphere.

Many bar staff believe that they possess an almost sacred talent in being able to pour a pint. Within the first few weeks of a bar person beginning their new job, their friends are likely to be well versed in such fascinating terminology as 'head', 'surge', 'froth', 'pumps' and 'ullage'. They will probably also have been bombarded with the divine knowledge relating to a 45° angle between glass and tap, despite the fact that everyone in the civilised world already knows this.

The fact is that a bar person's true talent does not lie in pouring assorted liquids into assorted glasses - let's face it. Their talent lies in being able to serve drinks all night to groups of increasingly inebriated, boisterous, offensive, sweaty, irksome blokes whilst remaining perfectly sober, sensible and polite. Couple this with the fact that they have to do it all without sitting down for an entire shift and it's plain to see that bar staff, despite occasional shortcomings ('No, I did give you a tenner') are some of the most hardworking but under-appreciated members of the workforce.

So next time you're in front of a bar, spare a thought for the person behind it. The absurd prices are nothing to do with them, and neither is the selection of lagers which may not be to your taste.

So why not buy them a drink? They'd appreciate it.