Every workplace has its perks, and every bar has its regulars. Most sit quietly, tip well, and ask for their usual order.
One content creator says hers can also assemble furniture.
‘Mine used to fix my car, bring me food, help me move’
Content creator Amaris Vee (@amarisvee) shares a video about getting her regulars to build IKEA shelves. Her video has more than 1.6 million views.
Vee’s video begins with her filming an older man in her bar.
Text on the screen reads, “Pro tip: bring your IKEA furniture to the bar for your regulars to build.”
The older man shows her a power tool and says he is “ready for battle.”
Then, Vee pans the camera to a newly completed set of IKEA shelves. She asks the man to take the shelves to her car. She finishes the video while laughing and saying, “Next piece of furniture.” Her caption reads, “Pro tip…only in a dive bar.”
Commenters discuss the hack
Vee’s viewers flocked to her comment section to applaud the “hack” and to share similar anecdotes of their own.
“I had a regular come in and tell me he noticed my tire was flat so he found the leak for me and patched it,” one wrote. Another commented, “I work at a veterans bar…and this is genius.”
“Girl, you’re a genius. You know they had fun too lol,” a third said. Vee replied, “Lol this is the second item this week lowkey.”
A fourth commenter said that their regulars used to help them with any number of day-to-day tasks.
“Mine used to fix my car, bring me food, help me move, etc,” the commenter wrote. “They’re like the [stepdads] I never had I’m still friends with all of them to this day lol.”
What’s the difference between a dive bar and a normal bar?
In 2022, The Takeout attempted to define “what makes a bar a true dive.” The publication cited evolving dictionary definitions of such establishments.
“One of the first documented uses of the term ‘dive bar’ was in an 1871 issue of the New York Herald, according to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary,” The Takeout wrote. “The SOED defines ‘dive bars’ as ‘illegal drinking dens in the lower levels of a building, like a cellar or a basement,’ where patrons would ‘dive’ into the venue. That definition eventually became obsolete, so in 1961, Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language swooped in and defined dive bars as ‘a disreputable resort for drinking or entertainment.’”
However, The Takeout’s 21st-century definition includes more atmospheric descriptors, including “Questionable or quirky decor, friendly regulars, strong and cheap drinks,” and “things to do — think pool, darts, gambling, sports on TV, live music — as hanging around is part of the dive experience.”
In 2022, VinePair distinguished a neighborhood bar, which reflects its local area, from a dive, which sets its own rules and draws people from across the city. Food Republic reported in 2025 that, unlike cocktail bars and gastropubs, dives typically have no kitchen and no table service.
Moreover, dives have traditionally been spaces for the working class, according to VICE.
@amarisvee
Subplot News reached out to Vee via email.
