Can you be friends with people who provide you a service

So basically what the title says. Have you guys ever made friends with people who provide you a service and if so, how is that going? So I have been going to the same people for several years now maybe about three years. I mean the same nail person, hair, person, bartender, etc. Well me and my nail tech hung out for the first time in three years just the other weekend and I actually had a really fun time however me and a couple bartenders that I’ve been annoying for equal amount of time have been going out once every week or once every other week for the past couple months and we actually live near the same place so we’ve been really cool But I feel like sometimes it’s blurry between actual friendship and business. For example, one of the reasons I’m making this pose is something that happened today. So this bartender that I’ve known for three years we’ve been really cool, but we never started hanging out outside of the bar until this year. He hangs out with me and my husband and we actually live in the same building and he told me just the other day that he really appreciates our friendship and we’re becoming some of his really close friends. So I probably go to that bar cause it’s really close to me 2 to 3 times a week. I was just there recently, and I was talking to another person sitting at the bar and our professions are similar so we were exchanging stories and having a good time. Well, because we were in such conversation, he kept ordering more wine and made kind of a joking comment about how he probably shouldn’t but he’s having a really good time talking to me. Well, I basically said that I know what he means and I’ve been there before and when the bartender came, I was basically saying, yeah X can be a bad influence meaning that I’ve been there more than one time just wanting to get one drink, but because the bartender is so charismatic and cool. I’ve stayed for way more drinks than I intended to. Like I said because we had been friends for a few months and hanging out weekly, I thought he would kind of just laugh it off, but it seems like he took it really personally. he got extremely serious with me and he was like well then I’ll just cut you off. Again, I thought he was just joking so I kind of laughed, but then I could tell he wasn’t joking because like I said he was really serious and he was like no seriously you’re over here telling people that I’m a bad influence and I think he took it the complete opposite way because obviously he didn’t hear our entire conversation because he was attending to some other people at the bar. I texted him afterwards clarifying what happened but it has really gotten me to think.

Is it a good idea to be friends with people who provide you services or do you think they should be separate? I think for me because I see these people so regularly and obviously I like them because that’s why I keep coming back. It just felt natural for me to suggest hanging out and being closer with them But again I don’t feel like I can really interact with them and joke with him like I would a regular friend because of situations that I brought up above. Also, I’ve searched Reddit a lot, and a lot of people say that they have been in the same situation and basically the person will always look at you as a client first because obviously you’re providing them money on a consistent basis so they’re never gonna be super real with you because if they hurt your feelings or something, then you won’t be coming back and they’re losing money. What do you guys think? It’s not just that above incident, I’ve also had other incidents with other people where I thought we were super cool because we had been hanging out for a while, but then like I said, it’s really hard to tell when they’re being professional versus joking around. Also, I don’t know if this makes any type of difference but the type of job I have is a very high paid respected job. I never really thought that played any part into the dynamics, but maybe it does.

Any advice would be appreciated. Like that interaction I described to you really rubbed me the wrong way because I feel like he was trying to portray the situation in a way that it wasn’t and trying to make it sound like I was attacking him and trying to maybe suggest that he just gets people drunk. Again he has known me for years so I would hope that he would know that I’m not that type of person and that I do consider him a friend. This entire situation has just gotten me really confused.

TL;DR: basically do you think it’s a good idea to become friends with people who have been providing you a service for a couple years or do you think it just complicates a relationship? Like do you think they will ever just truly see you as a friend or do you think in the back of their mind they’ll always be having to put a guard up because they know that you give them money