Ok so it’s a Thursday night and were hitting up a few bars. Having a great time then we go to a club. I get in, pay cover and sit down for a second. We just walked across town so I sat down for a second and put my hand on my head to just pull myself together for a second. Then over comes the bouncer and says alright buddy, your out. I get kicked out and I quote the only reason I was given was, You looked tired, you shouldn’t have came here. Alright buddy if I looked tired then don’t let me in you fucking asshole. On top of that they wouldn’t give me my cover back and I literally wasn’t there a minute. You know I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of rule that you don’t let someone in if they look too far gone, then it becomes the bar’s responsibility. Our bouncers suck ass and we should get some real bouncers, not people that look big and are assholes. Last time I think about going downtown to a club.
—Pissed Off Bar Goer
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2009.
I worked in the bars for over 10 years (waiter, bartender, manager) and my opinion is that most bouncers are power tripping assholes. They definitely should have evaluated your intoxication level better before letting you in- not saying if you were drunk or not, I have no idea…
Sometimes is is difficult to tell the difference between drunk and tired though. Not defending what they did, I’m just saying.
Hey at least you got in. you should read some other post here.
I hear you on that one. My friend got kicked out once for looking confused cause she couldn’t find her friends in the Dome. God I hate the dome…
Can’t you just call the bar and make a complaint or something? Obviously you were treated unfairly and they’re probably going to assume you weren’t that hammered if you’re able to recall the event.
Load up on some espresso shots next time. Perhaps he thought you were high as the sky?
Calling the bar and complaining won’t do anything xox. Bar managers get so many of these calls that they don’t even listen to most of them. Most are from stupid drunks anyway. And if they don’t side with their staff, then they’re just as much of an asshole as the boss in the “Lack of Support” bitch from last night.
OP: The only thing to do is suck it up and don’t take it personally. And I am aware that you’re just venting here, so please no one take my head off about this being a bitch board and people have the right to bitch here, etc, etc. I’m just saying there’s really nothing you can do.
Man, I hate some bouncers, I get that they need them but I agree that they are sometimes just power hungry assholes (not all of the time though some are great!)
I went to a show one time, It started storming halfway through the night whilst in the bar, and I’m talking storming. Anyway, I was drunk, but not dysfunctional drunk so let’s say strongly buzzed. I ordered three drinks at the bar so lets say 7 bucks a drink, im pretty sure it was 5.50 but what odds. Gave the bar tender 30 bucks, and the stupid bitch bartender turned around and told me I owed her another 16 bucks WTF she owed me fucking change. So I turned around to a bouncer to tell him the bar tender was scamming me, I didn’t get the drinks, didn’t get the change, and they kicked me out in the middle of a snow storm without my jacket, or my wallet that had the rest of my money cards in it. I went to the bouncer out side to try to explain my situation saying that I needed my jacket, and to please let me in OR get someone else to get my jacket. Assholes refused to even listen to me. I wouldn’t get two words out and they’d be like ” I don’t care, your not getting in and were not helping you”. So I was stuck outside until my buddy finally figured out I was gone and I couldn’t get anywhere cause I had no fucking way home. I will never go to this bar again, and if I had thought about it at the time I would have called the cops. It sucked HARDCORE, and it was dangerous to do that plain and simple, what if I didn’t have a buddy of mine able to go back in and get my jacket, I could have spend that night in the hospital because of those fucks!
Job qualifications for being a bouncer:
-must have enormous chip on shoulder
-have unfulfilled dream of being a cop, or in some other powerful position of authority over others
-possess IQ no higher than 60
-ability to derive great pleasure from ruining someone’s night for no good reason
-CANNOT be sympathetic, reasonable, or helpful AT ANY TIME
I probably shouldn’t generalize like that, I’m sure there are some lovely bouncers out there, I’ve just met very few. Some of the worst I’ve encountered are the Source Security jerks. They were enough to ruin the Marquee for me entirely (when it was still open).
hey funny meow, that’s the place I am never stepping foot into again, and it sucks cause they had some good shows. However, I have met and talked to a lot of great bouncers.
1FA1, as the Paragon, it’s under new management, so I’m gonna give it another chance. They do have some excellent shows, so I figure it’s worth one more try.
OP, you should have brought your own Breathalyser, obviously.
…but hmm…why not have those available in bars to field objections just like the OP’s?
How about a 0.12 mg/mL for being cut off, and 0.16 mg/mL for being kicked out?
Well if it was Source Security, you do have a redress. They are a private security firm and licenced under the Department of Justice. You can lodge a complaint there.
Dogma: Some bars do have breathalyzers in them, but they’re strictly for entertainment purposes.
They tried using them in other provinces a while back to test people before they let them drive home. Problem is that if the test isn’t administered properly, it can give a false reading, and someone who’s actually at .15 blows a .05, drives home, gets hurt, and sues the bar for telling him he was fine to drive.
The very first time I went clubbing in Halifax this really drunk guy gets on the stage and the bouncer pushes him backward right off it. He knocked his noggin so hard on the dance floor he was mostly unconscious on top of being stinking drunk. The bouncer proceeded to drag him by the pant leg, head bouncing off the floor, off of table legs, etc all the way to the door when I got in his face. If I were a rat I would have enjoyed seeing him taken to jail for common assault. Needless to say, I’ve never gone back to that bar. Where do these egos get off thinking it’s okay to lay your hands on another? Hasn’t anybody seen Roadhouse? Be nice!
People want bouncers regulated but freak out when the gov’t wants a few bucks to deter people from selling food on the side of the road?
The one and only time I went to the Dome my friend was asked to take off his hat (to check for a concealed weapon I suppose) once this was finished my friend put his hat back on and the same bouncer that just checked him throttled him to the ground.
I won’t go there either, I tend to stick to the smaller pubs when I actually do go down.
shit, wait, is the dome closed down too? man I’m outta the loop.
I don’t understand the correlation between regulating bouncers and merchant permits… sorta like comparing apples and dogs isn’t it?
We have lived in a few ggod & some not so good in Europe,Usa as well as upper Canada, have seen just about all types.
Halifax well….all I can say is after reading & experiencing many of the similar posts here is hey there Halifax change the department of tourism phrase….’Halifax: the NEW Stupid’.. Gotta admit Halifax this is one place to keep your goals low.
nevermind,
I was not suggesting the alcohol testers be used to prove a person is sober enough for something, but rather to show they are DRUNK enough for something.
Used that way, there would not be the kind of problems you (rightly) mention.
perhaps you have realized that these types of bars are a corral full of drunk assholes. if it were your last night on earth would you even think about spending it drunk at some skechy dance club? A good rule of thumb for a bar, If it has more than one door man, its a dive, if it wont let you wear a hat, its a dive, if it charges cover and there is no live music, its a dive.