Saturday, August 25, 2007

Proving Manhood = Proving Idiocy And Insecurity

Why I Don’t Like Changing Venues…

Our company picked up a new venue, and last night was the first night on it. I was pulled of my normal favourite wine bar for it, but it helped the boss and I didn’t mind really.

The place is generally pretty trendy, and the majority of the girls who attend are absolute stunners yet dress respectably. There were also far more girls than guys in the place – always a good sign that there probably won’t be much trouble.

And there wasn’t – just one fight and a couple of removals. In one, I was wearing my black leather gloves as I’d just come in from the door to assist and I was freezing outside.

Some know-it-all who said he worked as a glassie at a dodgy pub said “The bouncers at my club only wear gloves when they’re going to fuck someone up. This is my brother you’re going to remove, so if you’re going to fuck him up, I’m ready to party”. I communicated that this wasn’t a dodgy pub, I wasn’t going to fuck anyone up and to prove it I took the gloves off. He seemed almost disappointed and revved himself up further with some fighting talk I didn’t bother responding to.

Whilst this was going on his brother, very drunk, was making his way to the ‘back door’ (which really just opens onto the same street as the front door, just a bit further down the road). Glassie was excited that we were ‘taking him out the back’, because to him it proved that we were going to rough his brother up, and thus give him a chance to prove how much of a man he was by valiantly taking us all on. Classic example of confirmation bias – selecting evidence to prove your own view in spite of the big picture and what’s actually going on proving the opposite (to VERY simply state the psychological phenomenon).

We got out the door and Glassie said ‘Right, we’re out the back. Let’s go’. Puzzled, I pointed out we were on the same street as the front door, with regular police patrols going up and down. ‘So now what?’ asked Glassie.

‘That’s it. End of incident. I’m going back on the door’ replied I.

Glassie seemed disheartened. No fighting. No proving of manhood. No winding up the bouncer to provoke him into a fight.

Can’t please everyone I suppose. Would rather go home in one piece than make his day by sinking to his level.

Ah well, back to the wine bar next week. Suits me fine – I get on with the regular patrons and we have no trouble. If there’s any minor issues then management sort it out. It’s strange but the atmosphere there is not conducive to trouble even if troublemakers are in there.

One night we had a young bloke high on speed go crazy in the (small) toilet and kick the hand dryer off its mounting. The boss told him he had to leave. After a few seconds of blank starting, partly due to the drugs, he left without incident. Had it been anywhere else, I’m pretty sure it would have kicked off.

Might have been how the boss spoke to him or the very convivial atmosphere of the place, but one gets the impression that trying to prove manhood in a place like the wine bar would not garner any support or encouragement from the patronage to fuel the behaviour.

And rightly so.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Drunk on duty...

... not me, I hasten to add. One of the people I share(d) the roster with has been 'removed' from duty due to numerous occasions in which they've turned up smashed. I know this is a cruisy, laid-back gig but turning up half-cut is never a good way to keep the job for long!

Was asked to go full-time in replacement. Turned it down - I've got too much going on. Am really getting into the copywriting side of things now (something I do on the side) and may even be able to negotiate a speaking arrangement in Malaysia in September on a niche area of Internet marketing that I'm gradually developing some expert knowledge in!

Getting a decent income for the moment - fingers crossed it stays that way for the moment. Need to have enough in the bank to make a dent in the debts in the UK I have to pay off still. And then there's the flights costs to pay upfront for the upcoming speaking events, which are likely to be re-imbursed when we make enough sales of IM products (and the guy I work for normally ALWAYS makes a good profit at each event).

With the AFL season coming to a close the availability of hours on weekends is likely to shift from the main stadium to another stadium as the football (read: soccer) season starts up. At this time of year there's enough events to keep people in guarding and crowd control jobs anyway. And no job I've worked before or since has compared to the mayhem of Melbourne Cup day. Thank God I won't have to deal with that one again - nowhere can be as bad as the casino on that day! Might end up working one of the racecourses dotted around the place - up in the VIP area with luck. Or maybe I'll be off in another country at a marketing seminar - will have to check the calendar...

Speaking of the old place, my new housemate had her head rammed through a glass window and then hit against a wall by a particularly angry patron one Saturday night a few weeks back. No wonder that place gets bad press for the sheer amount of trouble that goes on and the complete inability of their security team to stay on top of things. I keep going on about the place and sound bitter, but I just found it astounding that I was assaulted twice (relatively minor in both cases) in the police in nearly three years service, yet was assaulted at least once a month whilst working at the old place, and that was just in five months!

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Security in an upmarket world...

Well I've gone from dealing with the general dregs of society who frequent the casino to upmarket wine bars and high-profile events.

Thanks to a combined effort of two casual jobs plus copywriting work on the side, I'm earning far more than I would have done in the Air Force; double what I was on at the casino and with fewer hours and less risk.

Pressed charges against the idiot who assaulted me (wasn't connected and the threats never had anything in them).

I love the wine bar - it's a great place; excellent wine and decent people who go there. I've never had any trouble and have befriended some of the patrons, all of whom are well-to-do and very personable.

To keep my hands in the action I goto a nightclub in the main district after the wine bar. Even there the worst nights do not compare to the casino. Further, should any trouble arise we deal with them as required - up to and including chokeouts if worst comes to worst. I've only done a handful of physical removals there over a course of months (compared to the casino where it was at least one or two a night on a quiet night) and have been able to talk down most people. Saw one guy get tasered, which was quite amusing.

A more detailed blog over the weekend - pretty tired from standing on the door for a classical music concert. God it's hard work! :P