A bartender who felt anxious about the date of one of his female patrons in Tampa earlier this June gave the woman a fake receipt that provided her an opportunity to escape the man whom she possibly felt threatened by.

 Common exit strategies that bartenders have put into place, such as supposed accidental spills or faux-emergency texts, sometimes are good enough excuses to safely get women out of an uncomfortable or even unsafe situation. As a result, bars across the United States created fake receipts and fake drink orders for women to escape the bar safely if they feel unsafe or uncomfortable with the men they are with.

A bartender in Tampa, Florida noticed women at the bar who were being harrassed. After he noticed that the girls were clearly uninterested and the man started to get aggressive, he made the decision to get them out of the unsafe situation. The bartender gave the women a fake receipt and afterwards removed the man from the bar, informing him he was aggressively hitting on them and needed to leave. 

“If this guy is bothering you, put your ponytail on your other shoulder and I will have him removed. He’s giving ME the creeps,” the fake receipt said.

Along with fake receipts there are fake drinks, as well. A very common fake drink order is a drink named The Angel Shot. The name Angel stems from a sexual assault prevention campaign in the UK urging bar patrons to ask for “Angela” at the bar if they feel unsafe or are on an uncomfortable date. Over the past few years, this strategy has made its way to the US and has been changed to The Angel Shot. 

When ordering The Angel Shot, there are three ways for women to order them; neat, on ice, or with lime. A neat Angel Shot indicates to the bartender they need to be escorted to their car. On ice indicates the bartender needs to call a taxi or uber for the guest and ordering with lime indicates the bartender needs to call the police.

The Angel Shot is meant to fly under the radar. In order to inform women of this fake drink, restaurants and bars put up signs in the girls bathroom explaining what The Angel Shot is and the different ways to order them. 

Using fake receipts and fake drink orders is an innovative way that effectively protects women by removing them from unsafe situations. These fake receipts and drinks can make women feel safer and comfortable when going to restaurants or bars. 

“I think it is a very smart concept and speaking on behalf of women, is a great way to make women feel safe and protected,” said Gabreilla German, an NHS junior.