What's a guest to do when relaxing, too-quietly, at a poolside bar in paradise?  If that guest is at Comfort Suites, Paradise Island, the answer is to ask the Authority for a drink, a song, and anything else they may want to know.
The singing bartender, Michael "the Authority" Sampson, has seen many customers become life-long friends over the years.  There was the German couple, for example, who asked him to be the best man at their wedding 14 years ago.  Sampson said somewhere in Germany today there is a house with an extra room built just for him and available whenever he wants to visit, as a result of that friendship.
But that couple joins a list of "thousands" of guests that still e-mail and call him, according to Sampson.  Some make contact whenever they are coming to The Bahamas.  Some want to see him at the airport as soon as they arrive, others have sent invitations for him to come and visit them at their homes.
"It's all personality.  People tell me I'm a people person," Sampson explained.  "I'm just being me.  I'm very outgoing.  People tend to talk to me because of my nature."
Despite his success in the career, Sampson would not be considered a typical "mixologist", for a simple reason.  No, it's not the serenading of guests - it's the fact that Sampson, a minister at Christian Tabernacle, does not drink.
"I create drinks but don't know what the drink tastes like.  But guests love them.  I have an ability to know what blends well - which rums and which juices to put together.  I have a feeling about what it would taste like," he said.

He has created several favorites, Sampson listing the "Crazy Bartender" named after himself, the "Sippy-Dippy", after the property's sip-and-dip pool bar, and the "Shame and Scandal", after the Bahamian-adopted West-Indian song of that name.
He created the "Shame and Scandal" because of how popular his rendition of the song has become with guests.
"They love that song," Sampson said, adding with a laugh that he's been promised record contracts and prodded towards auditioning for American Idol or the Bahamian equivalent.
But the excellence Sampson pursues now is focused on his guests, not a singing career.  For him, satisfaction with a job well-done is measured by guests who plan to come back.
Sampson has been bartending for about 32 years, starting out at the Southerners Lounge on Baillou Hill Road.  He was a janitor there until a fill-in for a bartender was needed.
Later, a patron was impressed with the service he delivered to local guests.  That patron happened to be the food and beverage manager at the Flagler Inn Hotel.  That's how Sampson got his start in the tourism industry.
About ten years into his employment with the hotel, which had become the Loews Harbor Cove, he stepped outside of the tourism industry to become a bread salesman.  He said he never stopped loving his bartending career, but changes in the organization left him unsatisfied with the service he was able to provide for his guests.  The move, however, helped him to realize just how much he loved is bartending career.
"I missed the interaction.  Meeting people.  Getting that knowledge and exposure that comes through conversation.  I learned a lot from my guests as well as they learned a lot from me."
The learning has helped him to land 'the Authority' as a nickname - along with the crazy bartender.  He's called 'the Authority' because he seems to have just the right answer to any questions his colleagues or guests pose, he said.
Sampson shared some advice with young people considering a career in the industry.
"Go for it," the Authority said.  "There are a lot of opportunities in the tourism industry and it provides a great range of different disciplines you can venture into.  It's rewarding as well, and that reward doesn't always have to be monetary, but also in the experience to get you paid."

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