Incident tonight - if you know me I'm trouble walking. Long story short. I met 12 relatively nice guys from Arizona this evening. They are in town doing training at the U of M and staying at Webers' Inn. Who knows what brought them out Ypsi way but they were here none the less. A few of them could fall into the "douchy" category but the majority were harmless on a whole; came into Taproom this evening. Taproom is my home, I live one block from the bar and the owners trust my judgement. They know who I am and respect my opinion. After the extended stay and partial annoyance of Lisa - Co-Owner of Taproom - the boys decide to leave. I send them to Smarty Catz, a new bar in the area that's small has a bit of the home town feel and has potential to be good fun. They have been to Pub 13 which is over priced and highly over rated. Friday nights at Smarty Catz a DJ spins and they just installed the stripper pole in the dance floor that's maybe 12X12. Patricia and I arrive at Smarty Catz maybe 10 minutes behind the boys and at least 3/4 of them are out on the side walk smoking and talking to chicks that can maybe send them in the direction of the next dive to party at. The well meaning boys that they are, they've got to designated drivers on hand to make sure everyone is safe.
One of them not falling into the "Douchy" category - Joe was very polite, barely had more than 2 beers prior to walking into this bar, tipped for water and is happily married gets fingered by a hoe-cheese kinda girl who's a server for grabbing her ass. I was standing there when the incident happened and he didn't lay a hand on her though he did make the move toward the "gentlemans step" as I call it where he steps back and would have made a move to put a hand on the small of a womans back. She was letting us know that she'd just broken glass behind us and to be careful. Not having touched her, another man comes out of the mens room behind her and very well may have touched her but she lost her fucking mind! Started shouting in Joe's face about never fucking touching her like that ever again, not caring about how big he is she'll fucking whoop his ass... etc. She walked away after a very Joe apologizes if he's touched her. I step out after a chat or two with other peoples I knew who were around and next I see Joe is being thrown out of the bar. I step up to speak to the owner - who wants me to be a welcomed patron of his bar to let him know that I was standing less than 2 feet from the incident and was there when it happened and that he never laid a hand on her. The situation takes a turn for the worst. The bouncer Richy- AKA Super Douche - starts yelling about how he doesn't care, Joe is never allowed back in the bar. Joe rebuts with the fact that he's from Phoenix and doesn't give a shit if he's not allowed in this shitty bar ever again. I start to get the situation defused and the bouncer just keeps going.
I understand backing your staff. On more than one occasion I have been the person who does not work at the bar but is put in charge of bar backing & bouncing the door by people who trust me with their business as I am the worlds greatest promoter of the local businesses that I frequent. Having been approached by one of the principle partners in the business to get me to push people to come to his establishment I would like to think that my word stands for something. However, backing your staff and letting your 5'8 bald headed bouncer act like a dick when he knows he's out of bounds is far beyond my reach. My violent center only finds it chi easily when I know I'm being met half way. The bouncer continued to yell at the no longer welcomed guest after he'd asked for someone from his group to collect the remaining members of his party so they could depart and well after he'd walked away.
Long and short of it, I got most of the 12 away with one of the sober drivers left to collect the remaining members and next thing I know as I cross the street the bouncer is still yelling back at an upset falsely accused Joe talking about how he's calling the cops.
I had to step in and effectively make bald headed bouncer guy walk way when he decided to proclaim that they even own the sidewalk. Then while trying to prove just how big of a man e wan he came across the street to cause further problems. Yes Joe was mad and still spouting about how this whole situation was bullshit but that is no reason for a man who would call himself a professional to cross the street to goad him on. His friends - the not so sober ones are now pissed on his behalf and ready to talk. That's when Amanda got to play. I'd have hated to have to hit a bouncer over people I barely know but it's just uncalled for to continue a charade of having pretended to call the cops just to piss off a man who did nothing wrong in the first place.
When did we forget that manners go a long way. I've been close to the owners of some of the baddest bars in the business. I mean hell, no one wants to believe me that the owner of the Blind Big/8 Ball Saloon - one of the most notorious musical venues in Michigan, a place where Cobain played - is a little old 75+ year old lady who will slap you if you cross her. I've got owners across Ann Arbor and Ypsi in my pocket because they know they can rely on me in a pinch... but they manage to hire people who will under every circumstance take it two steps too far. Why have we become a group of people that can't bark before we bite. The brother and I have a saying - "When the big dogs bark the puppies listen." If I bark people know I mean what I say, and not have to press me to punch them in the face but some people just ask for it. It's time to start cracking heads assholes, especially when the people who will send others to you when they have left are the ones offended at the end of the day. Mind your manners, it's not hard too hard to do!
Song of the Moment: Breaking Benjamin "Lights Out" Album "Dear Agony"
