History Main / ObsessiveCompulsiveBarkeeping

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''
** Adventure I6 ''Ravenloft''. The barkeep of the "Blood of the Vine" tavern mindlessly cleans glasses one after the other. When they're all clean, he starts over. He only stops doing this to take drink orders and serve drinks.
** ''Kobolds Ate My Baby'' 3rd edition. The sample village of West Bumble has the [[AdjectiveAnimalAlehouse Screaming Unicorn Tavern]]. The barkeeper is washing the three unbroken glasses in the place.

!!Examples:

[[AC: {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:ComicStrips]]
* ''{{Wormy}}'' in Dragon magazine #79. The troll bartender is shown drying a glass as he listens to his customers.

* ''PardonMyPlanet'' has an occasional strip with a bartender drying a glass and listening to a customer talk.

** [[http://www.oregonlive.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Pardon_My_Planet&feature_date=2013-04-18 strip for April 18th, 2013]]. A man says that when he told his wife that it would be O.K. if she found someone else after he was gone, he meant "gone" as in dead, not "gone" as in "at work".

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* The bartender in ''Film/BlazingSaddles'' who "always kept things nice and clean" by spitting in them and shining them.
* The bartender at the saloon in ''Film/BackToTheFuture Part III''.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* Lampshaded in ''Discworld/GuardsGuards''. Sham the bartender is constantly cleaning glasses, which always confuses Vimes because the glasses never seem to be ''clean''. A possible (and obvious) answer to TP's dilemma offered by - who else? - DouglasAdams is that the cloth is actually dirtier than the glasses, resulting in an opposite effect where the alcohol kills whatever germs have peacefully been living on the towel.
* Mac, the proprietor of [=McAnally's=] Pub in ''TheDresdenFiles'', is always either wiping glasses or polishing the bar.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure I6 ''Ravenloft''. The barkeep of the "Blood of the Vine" tavern mindlessly cleans glasses one after the other. When they're all clean, he starts over. He only stops doing this to take drink orders and serve drinks.
* ''Kobolds Ate My Baby'' 3rd edition. The sample village of West Bumble has the [[AdjectiveAnimalAlehouse Screaming Unicorn Tavern]]. The barkeeper is washing the three unbroken glasses in the place.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Brewster the bar-tending pigeon in the later ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' games which feature his cafe.

* The default animation for the bartender at the Chicken Kitchen in ''VideoGame/GhostTrick''

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* Brewster the bartending rooster in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing''.

Understandable in TV and Movies, where its an easy barkeeping duty to do in multiple takes, while many other jobs would need undoing before they could be done again and cause continuity problems. Less understandable in other media; it's probably a result of the stereotype.

* ''PardonMyPlanet''
** The [[http://www.oregonlive.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Pardon_My_Planet&feature_date=2012-11-29 strip for November 29th, 2012]] has a bartender drying a glass and listening to a customer complaining about his wife.

[[AC:TabletopRPG]]
* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure I6 ''Ravenloft''. The barkeep of the "Blood of the Vine" tavern mindlessly cleans glasses one after the other. When they're all clean, he starts over. He only stops doing this to take drink orders and serve drinks.

* In HarryPotter, Aberforth Dumbledore's first appearance involved him wiping a glass that seemed to be getting dirtier.
** The barkeep washing glasses is an obvious cover for his eavesdropping. Two books later, the stereotype falls away altogether as he becomes a full-blown [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Rick Blaine type.]]
* Lampshaded in Discworld/GuardsGuards. Sham the bartender is constantly cleaning glasses, which always confuses Vimes because the glasses never seem to be ''clean''.
** A possible (and obvious) answer to TP's dilemma offered by - who else? - DouglasAdams is that the cloth is actually dirtier than the glasses, resulting in an opposite effect where the alcohol kills whatever germs have peacefully been living on the towel.
* Mac, the proprietor of [=McAnally's=] Pub in TheDresdenFiles, is always either wiping glasses or polishing the bar.

* Brewster the bartending rooster in ''AnimalCrossing''.
* The bartender in VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor is doing this.
* The bartender in ''MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'' is always cleaning the glasses... with his spittle.
* The bartender in ''[[DarkForcesSaga Jedi Knight II]]'' invokes this, cleaning a glass as an excuse to ignore Kyle Katarn. Once Kyle slams his lightsaber on the bartop he [[OhCrap tosses it over his shoulder]] and switches rapidly to obsequious mode.

* Moe Szyslak does this all the time on TheSimpsons.

* The ''PardonMyPlanet''
** The [[http://safr.kingfeatures.com/idn/ck/content.php?file=aHR0cDovL3NhZnIua2luZ2ZlYXR1cmVzLmNvbS9QYXJkb25NeVBsYW5ldC8yMDEyLzExL1BhcmRvbl9NeV9QbGFuZXRfcC4yMDEyMTEyOV8zMjAuZ2lm&tok=2d0e8bdfcdf2f38c22ff42730edad3f1 strip for November 29th, 2012]] has a bartender drying a glass and listening to a customer complaining about his wife.
** The

* The ''PardonMyPlanet'' [[http://safr.kingfeatures.com/idn/ck/content.php?file=aHR0cDovL3NhZnIua2luZ2ZlYXR1cmVzLmNvbS9QYXJkb25NeVBsYW5ldC8yMDEyLzExL1BhcmRvbl9NeV9QbGFuZXRfcC4yMDEyMTEyOV8zMjAuZ2lm&tok=2d0e8bdfcdf2f38c22ff42730edad3f1 strip for November 29th, 2012]] has a bartender drying a glass and listening to a customer complaining about his wife.

* The bartender in ''Film/BlazingSaddles'' who "always kept things nice and clean" (by spitting in them and shining them.

* ''ComicStrip/MotherGooseAndGrimm'' [[http://www.grimmy.com/images/MGG_Archive/MGG_2012/MGG-2012-11-16.gif comic for November 16th, 2012]]. The dog Grimm is at a bar where the bartender is cleaning a glass with a cloth.

* Giriko Kutsuzawa in ''{{Bleach}}'', specially in the anime.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal'' segment "Taarna". When the title character goes into the bar the bartender is drying out a glass. When she goes over to get information from him he's still polishing a glass.

* Giriko Kutsuzawa in {{Bleach}}, specially in the anime.

* The bartender in Film/BlazingSaddles who "always kept things nice and clean" (by spitting in them and shining them.

* The bartender at the saloon in ''BackToTheFuture Part III''.

* The bartender in BlazingSaddles who "always kept things nice and clean" (by spitting in them and shining them.

* Lampshaded in {{Discworld/Guards Guards}}. Sham the bartender is constantly cleaning glasses, which always confuses Vimes because the glasses never seem to be ''clean''.

* The bartender in ''MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'' is always cleaning the glasses... with his spittle.

** A possible (and obvious) answer to TP's dilemma offered by - who else? - Douglas Adams is that the cloth is actually dirtier than the glasses, resulting in an opposite effect where the alcohol kills whatever germs have peacefully been living on the towel.

* The bartender in ''Secret of MonkeyIsland II'' is always cleaning the glasses... with his spittle.

*The bartender in PaperMario:TheThousandYearDoor is doing this.