Becoming a part of the Shot glass Mafia

Aging is all about milestones. Sixteen means getting behind the wheel instead of meeting Mom outside the movie theater to be picked up promptly at eight. Eighteen means living up to your democratic duty and exercising your right to vote. But it's 21 that's arguably the most anticipated among young people in America. While for many 21 is the age that officially represents the transition into adulthood, it also bestows upon millions of college students across the country the right to finally purchase alcoholic beverages legally. And every year, these young people's newfound freedom sends them to one particular place in droves -- bars.\nAnd IU students are lucky; Bloomington offers a plethora of bars and restaurants from which newly-turned 21-year-olds can choose: the closely-situated Kirkwood Avenue venues of Nick's, Kilroy's or The Jungle Room, along with off-campus franchises such as Applebee's and Chili's, give of-age students plenty of opportunities to access that which was once off-limits. Gone are the days of fake IDs. But some IU students have been doing more than enjoying a social drink or shooting the breeze with the bartender with their visits to these places.\n"My buddies steal shot glasses all the time. They make it easy by slipping them into their girlfriends' purses," says Jeff, an IU junior, who declined to have his surname published. \nThe practice of permanently borrowing bars' signature shot glasses has long been a way of snagging a souvenir, but it's a habit of college students that has been spreading through Bloomington like a wildfire.\nIU students do it so frequently that it has merited the inception of a group on Facebook. Hoosiers who frequent Kilroy's to practice the art of swiping shot glasses unite in this assembly of nearly 500 students.\n"And that's why we don't have our name on any of our shot glasses," says Carey Pittman, a bartender at Nick's English Hut on Kirkwood Avenue.\nPittman, a long-time resident of Bloomington, says it's no surprise students "help themselves" to any memorabilia from the bars they visit. \n"I've lived in Bloomington since 1966," he says. "And every year, students steal everything that's not nailed down. People take shot glasses, salt and pepper shakers, anything they can get their hands on."\nShot glasses may act as a keepsake and are stolen because they serve as testaments to students' alcoholic adventures into the world of adulthood. But at what price does this come to the bars?\nPittman estimates each individual shot glass sets Nick's back around seventy-five cents. "But anyone can steal a shot glass," Pittman says. Nick's has a signature "pound jar," an upgrade from the dinky shot glass to a full-fledged drinking glass that sports the Nick's insignia. So naturally, people steal those, too. The pound jars can be legally purchased from the bar for $3.95 each, but with at least 500 self-proclaimed "mafia" members stealing at least one shot glass and/or pound jar with each visit, it adds up.\nFor $25, Nick's also sells a deluxe steel bucket used for "Sink the Biz." Pittman says an IU alum came up with the notion to make the buckets from steel to improve durability, making the buckets more marketable and sell more successfully. Unfortunately, current IU students swipe enough glasses and jars whose cumulative cost far exceeds the price of one bucket, putting a potentially considerable dent in Nick's bank account.\nWhat happens to perps caught in the act? "Well, we usually take the glasses back and tell 'em to get the hell out," Pittman says. Individuals who are seen stealing may be faced with the possibility of being refused service at the bars they waited so long to finally get into upon turning 21.\nAfter nearly four decades of living in a college town full of bars, Pittman acknowledges the grim truth that all bars and restaurants in the Bloomington area must face. The type of theft that has plagued these businesses for years is more of an unavoidable inevitability than it is a problem with possible solutions. \n"It's inherent with college students," says Pittman. "It's pervasive in the fact that these are people who are away from home for the first time, and they're in an environment they don't give a shit about."\nAnd apparently, this devil-may-care, seemingly selfish attitude can be applied in broader terms, beyond the context of bars. Vandalism, littering and general disregard for the city is nothing new to Pittman.\n"Every year, there's trash everywhere in the streets. People tear down trees, they rip off basketball nets. I remember it got so bad that the cops had to grease the hoops so people couldn't climb up there anymore," he says. "Stuff like this happens everywhere, not just here."\nSo why do people steal shot glasses? It may be because the glasses are small and easy to conceal, or because they're mementoes of happy hours past to showcase in apartments and dorm rooms. But maybe Jeff, our IU junior, puts it best: "You want to drink in other places than just the bar."\nWhatever the reason, the the trend shows little signs of slowing down. As long as people come and go to bars, the staffs can expect at least a few of their drinking ware to be conspicuously missing from their inventories. Whether or not these 21 year olds, who have waited so long for entrance into bars (and to arrive at adulthood), really act their age by stealing these seventy-five cent pieces of glass is up for debate. \nAs for Carey Pittman, he's ready to deal with it.\n"It's gonna happen," he says. "College students will be college students"