Bouncers and taxi drivers; we’ve all had our issues with the people hired into these professions.
You’ve squabbled with them at some point, big or small, necessary or unnecessary, but who’s in fault?
They deny us entry or service based on their interpretation of our behaviour or destination.
They discriminate based on sex, style and company.
They judge levels of intoxication, they make decisions that are best for them and are arrogant in dismissal.
Late at night, freezing in the city with a kebab in hand, tired and ready for bed, you approach a taxi cab that has the sign illuminated and isn’t moving. You stick your head inside the car as the window winds down and the driver asks you where you’re going. You’re honest and tell them where you live. And then they speed off without an explanation, leaving you stranded at 3am and hoping the next one won’t be so judgemental.
This scenario is illegal; taxi drivers MUST take you to your destination, whether it is in the direction they desire to go or not. Many wait for a fare that’s close to their own home, ready to finish a shift and preferring a short drive from the final drop-off.
And they wonder why many passengers speak rudely when a driver finally decides someone fits the bill?
We are paying for a service, they are getting paid.
Give me prepaid payment, give me fifty upfront, give me twenty and I won’t turn the meter on they say.
Now, it’s true that we may have had plenty to drink, we may be escorting a lovely member of the opposite sex home and may not be at our conversational best in these circumstances, but surely this is obvious when applying for a job that requires you to drive people home in the early hours of the weekend?
Bouncers push the bill to another level. Their lack of training is evident with the way in which they speak to possible customers, the nature of physical confrontation if the circumstance isn’t to their liking and a desire to assert dominance like animals in the jungle, beating chests and roaring loudly.
We’ve all be denied entry to a club or bar at some point. Sure, there are times we are drunk; this is expected when a venue only starts to hot up at 12am. But it’s the other nights where they say no, only to let the people next in line inside. Maybe they know them, maybe they are better looking or maybe the gender equation needed to be factored in. I can’t imagine such minds could calculate so efficiently.
So we are forced to play their game. We stand in silence as they assess our identification or our faces or the people we are with. And when we aren’t to their preference, it isn’t a nice dismissal. And if we argue our point? Yeah, then comes the bicep show; arms folded, neck tensed; a puffer fish expanding to the threat.
Violence erupts on the streets every weekend. In a booming city this is to be expected. But when the issues arise because a professional can’t follow the rules of the job and respect a customer, how can we be satisfied?
We perform in our day jobs to enjoy the weekend. The least we can expect is an equivalent performance.
By Chris Sutton
If you’ve experienced any of this please comment.
