Bouncer in trouble again

[Slootvreter]

Not at all - if you read through all that I had written you will note that I said that security at a club is necessary because of the 'coked up customers getting drunk'.

A guy high on coke and drunk who does not believe he is wrong and will argue and fight to prove it, is a difficult situation. You need guys who can handle these types easily and not cause too much of a scene inside the venue. That is never easy.

 

[Nocturnity]

I have a few bouncer friends. They're all managed by the same dude and they're all bikers. They are the nicest, friendliest bunch of people I know. They're always willing to chat with anyone and they don't stand around trying to look tough. They're not particularly big guys (hell, I'm probably taller and heavier than most of them) but they have a job to do, so they do it. Many of them have been retrenched and are bouncing to make ends meet while they're looking for new jobs. The one dude's wife recently had twins and he has to feed his family somehow. Swing round to Corner Bar in Durbanville if you don't believe me.

The last place I'd work is Stellenbosch. The one guy threw a drunk guy out of a club the other night and the drunkard got on his bike with his girlfriend on the back. No helmet. The bouncer picked him up and put him next to the bike and told him not to ride in that condition and he's endangering his girlfriend's life (seeing as he's a biker himself). He turned around and started walking back to the door and heard a crashing sound. When he looked back, the guy went for his throat with a bottle he'd just broken. He pulled back and his chin and arm got cut and he got a few stitches.

I wonder if the patron's still recovering...

 

[Slootvreter]

I have a few bouncer friends. They're all managed by the same dude and they're all bikers.

I believe we're talking about the same people here

 

[Slootvreter]

On another note, I can also sometimes understand the patron's annoyance at certain criteria for admission into a club. I have also worked at a premium club in Bellville for about 2 years (well it was a premium club 4 years ago..), and there is nothing more frustrating than a club owner who expects you to impose her stupid rules. Now this is (sorry, was, not these days!), a high-society upmarket cocktail lounge and dance venue that only opened 10pm and had a very strict dress code.

Here is an example. Along comes a group of about 6 people, all dressed nicely, except for the one guy wearing sneakers (dark blue Puma's, for example). Now I'm expected to turn them all away because of this one guy (who doesn't even look bad!). An argument will ensue about how his underpants costs more than my whole suit and how he pays my meager salary (little do they know...), and how I should be taught a lesson, etc etc.

Now the owner is standing slightly behind me inside the doors, telling me she doesn't want people with that attitude in her precious venue. Here I am, in the middle, and this is normally where a scuffle will break out.

 

[Albereth]

he will face an assualt charge and public outrage regardless of the fact that he was not in the wrong.

Smacking someone is the only solution?

Club owners are in favour of drug abuse. It makes the patrons less inhibited and, hence, more likely to buy more of the over priced drinks. The side affect of the drugs is the increased possibility of 'trouble'. Add to the mix the drugged up bouncers and you have a powder keg.

And then you do have a few 'innocents' who are neither drugged nor drunk who get caught in the cross fire.

 

[hoegh]

I like to think of bouncers as the referees of the "club scene" you will always need people to control large groups of people. Me and my mates have had a few small run ins with bouncers back in the day and I can honestly admit, we had it coming, drunk out of our minds and just plain acting stupid.

Bouncers are a neccessary evil and will always get the short end of the stick, no matter what decision they make, just like referees. IMO most of them are probably good okes just trying to do what has to be done...

 

[Slootvreter]

Smacking someone is the only solution?

Club owners are in favour of drug abuse. It makes the patrons less inhibited and, hence, more likely to buy more of the over priced drinks. The side affect of the drugs is the increased possibility of 'trouble'. Add to the mix the drugged up bouncers and you have a powder keg.

And then you do have a few 'innocents' who are neither drugged nor drunk who get caught in the cross fire.

Smacking is not the only solution, but you can only talk and explain and plead and be nice so much. I mean, if a guy doesn't want to leave when you ask him, and retaliates violently when you put your hand on his shoulder and explain it's time to go get some fresh air, your options are limited. Get the guy in a wrist-lock of some sort, and take him out. Should he be an able figher, a choke hold works better, but this causes a huge scene in a club. Hitting someone inside a club is out. You get this guy outside, and still refuses to leave and carries on taunting and threatening and invading your personal space, he will get smacked. Now I'm not saying break his nose and make his ears bleed. And on that same note, pepper spray also works, and you can also be charged for assault for that.

If the guy is screaming from the street, let him be, that's not my business. It's when he gets in my face in a threatening way, that's the trouble, and that's not unreasonable to feel you might want to defend yourself or do something before he carries out some of his threats. One could argue call the police to take the guy out of the club, but this will put another tick under trouble hotspots in the police logs, which is not fair towards the club because of a guy who can't handle himself when drinking.

 

[syntax]

On another note, I can also sometimes understand the patron's annoyance at certain criteria for admission into a club. I have also worked at a premium club in Bellville for about 2 years (well it was a premium club 4 years ago..), and there is nothing more frustrating than a club owner who expects you to impose her stupid rules. Now this is (sorry, was, not these days!), a high-society upmarket cocktail lounge and dance venue that only opened 10pm and had a very strict dress code.

Here is an example. Along comes a group of about 6 people, all dressed nicely, except for the one guy wearing sneakers (dark blue Puma's, for example). Now I'm expected to turn them all away because of this one guy (who doesn't even look bad!). An argument will ensue about how his underpants costs more than my whole suit and how he pays my meager salary (little do they know...), and how I should be taught a lesson, etc etc.

Now the owner is standing slightly behind me inside the doors, telling me she doesn't want people with that attitude in her precious venue. Here I am, in the middle, and this is normally where a scuffle will break out.

"Classy" venues dont attract my interest because of this, usually their admission regulations are stupid, the drinks are expensive, the ppl there are popped collar morons and the bouncers are looking for someone to bash...
Sounds like a crap night out, i am not that dedicated to being "seen" someone cool....

 

[Slootvreter]

I like to think of bouncers as the referees of the "club scene" you will always need people to control large groups of people. Me and my mates have had a few small run ins with bouncers back in the day and I can honestly admit, we had it coming, drunk out of our minds and just plain acting stupid.

Bouncers are a neccessary evil and will always get the short end of the stick, no matter what decision they make, just like referees. IMO most of them are probably good okes just trying to do what has to be done...

That is a good way of putting it. I do believe however bouncers should be polite and helpful where they can, and that's how you can defuse s troublesome situation. Then again, experience and knowledge of who's who in the crowd makes trouble easy to spot before it starts.

 

[Mila]

I believe we're talking about the same people here

You capetonians
You are so laid back no wonder you think i'm mean saying bouncers are socially disabled...

 

[Slootvreter]

You capetonians
You are so laid back no wonder you think i'm mean saying bouncers are socially disabled...

Haha. I actually meant, literally the same physical people, by name. Not the same general kind of people.

 

[Mila]

Haha. I actually meant, literally the same physical people, by name. Not the same general kind of people.