Bouncers in pubs-the debate continues

Hairy Homer

Some guy called Frank Shouldice (it's not me folks) wrote an excellent Irishman's Diary piece in the Times last Saturday.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/opinion/2002/0518/2918047328DIMAY18.html

Nice to know I'm not alone.

Come to think of it. Given the ever increasing quality and availability of home entertainment; the comfort of my own chairs, and the availability of incredibly cheap beer courtesy of the Roscoff run, I'm coming increasingly to the opinion that we don't need pubs; lager tastes much nicer out of a bottle and not when its full of mouth corroding gas that the draught taps impart.

I'm going to watch the World Cup from the comfort of my own armchair and in the company of family and friends, none of whom will have to worry about licking the arse of some meathead with an earpiece to enjoy the convival atmosphere.

If pubs want to treat us with the assumption that we're all UK lager louts, then I say leave the pubs to the Brits in the same way as the Dutch leave Amsterdam's red light district to low life tourists.

A little bit of economic clout where it most hurts could yet put manners on these arrogant, regulated monopolists.

dysfunct

Originally posted by Hairy Homer
I'm coming increasingly to the opinion that we don't need pubs

Dont be silly, where would you meet the sexy ladies before the nightclub then?

Thats is all since i've never had trouble with a bouncer.
In my opinion all you have to do is look respectable, dont be loud or obnoxious and dont look as if you've already been drinking many pints.

po0k

Yep.

We don't have hassle off bouncers in Galway, unless you're pished or look like a tink.
Most of em are pretty sound ('cept the ones round the LC pubs)

Dave

I go to a pub to socialise and meet women. Being alone in front of the T.V. on a saturday night doesn't really appeal to me tbh.

nesf

Tbh, I detest the need for bouncers. I hate the passive-aggressive demanour of many bouncers I've met over the years, and the annoying "Are you feeling alright", "Are you sure your ok", "Have you been for a few already", at the first pub you enter is extremely annoying. Clubs are worse, but I find it most annoying about pubs.


What really gets me tho is when they impose a dress code when it's not displayed at the door (as required by law). Being turned away because you've not got the right shoes on, when you're entering a place which has not got what one would call a select clientel, is insulting.

Then again I don't envy their job, and I've seen what they have to put up with, and I do feel that alot of their ill manners comes from being exposed to the same, regularily.

Lolo

Originally posted by dysfunct

In my opinion all you have to do is look respectable,

This is the bit I object to most - Dublin is the only city I've ever been to where you get turned away from pubs for looking a bit weird. And I mean just a bit weird - I'm hardly Marilyn bloody Manson. If my hair is blonde and I'm wearing jeans I can get into any pub in Dublin. As soon as I dye my hair pink and dress up a bit I get refused form the same pubs - usually using the 'regulars only' line.

This doesn't happen to me in London, New York, Paris, Berlin - or even Cork, come to think of it! It's only started to happen in the last few years in Dublin, and it's one of the reasons I moved away.

The problem is, you're at the mercy of a bouncer's sense of style, which, let's face it, is not going to be cutting edge. A friend of mine who's a fairly well-known fashion designer can get into the VIP section of a certain Dublin bar ('cause of who she is) but not into the plebs' section ('cause of how she's dressed). It's ludicrous.