Club is attracting a bad crowd

chandler: excellent point. I guess it should be called "Rules for Patrons"

Of course, if they were to really enforce that rule they'd have to send all the strippers home.

I once assisted a club in posting their Rules of Conduct. We covered the basics: the State liquor laws and the local liquor ordinances and the cover charge. There were only Nine of them, and it seemed to me to be asymmetrical, so I invented a tenth: "Bullshit will not be tolerated." Many years later, the sign is still posted and it is still enforced. The manager points to "Rule Ten" and tells them to get the fuck out. Other clubs have stolen this rule, put it on their posted Club Rules and I didn't get paid dick for it.

Good Rule.

DandyDan----it has a DJ. I think he's catering to what the dancers like. It's not that I "stick out", it's that I've witnessed violent acts in the past @ this club. Nothing good can come from a bunch of gangstas in a club.

lopaw--- not really in a seedy area. Just typical commercial area on US19 in Hudson, FL.

I really think the way to keep them out is music selection. Well, and higher cover charge. But the music thing is worth trying.

My favorite club has a dress code. If you look gansta, you you ain't getting in. It is the clubs way of keeping out drug sellers. Which is more feared by owners than prostitution charges.

I have noticed the weekend crowd at The St James in Houston has been getting a few more gangsta wannabes the past couple of years. I t is a difficult thing for a club to control outside of dress code and metal detectors.

What kind of neighborhood is the club in? Is it catering to the local clientele? Many clubs are in seedy areas that can attract seedy characters.

Even though it likely would cause repercussions, just call the police and have them tossed! If the police "ran" them, they'd have a record and possibly warrants.

Does this place have a DJ or a juke box? If they have a DJ, he's probably just catering to the crowd. If they have a juke box, that's the music the dancers like. The music's not changing either way. Frankly, I don't worry about what the rest of the crowd is like. I've been to places where I stick out in the crowd, but I don't worry about it.

Didn't mean to post incomplete. Let me elaborate. I would be fine if a club played only rock and country. I'm not going there for the music, after all. The girls aren't really DANCING at this place, they're just gyrating on stage. And they could easily do that to Kings of Leon.

But gangsta black dudes aren't going to stick around long if the music is rock and country.

The way the OP is written, you either have to wade through things just as ignorant as what the "seedy" crowd might say or reject it outright. It's like the stuck up people who can't understand why professional wrestling and MMA are popular, then complain when they take in a show and see a bunch of people they don't want to mix with.

If you don't like the looks of the people there, don't go back. The club won't miss you. It would be interesting to see if switching out the music would change the crowd, though. Is there some reason the "moneyed white" people could sit through music they don't like and the "dreadlocked gangsta" people couldn't?

Oh sure, wallanon. It's totally ignorant to feel uncomfortable in a bar filled with dreadlocked gangstas. Did you miss the part about watching security having a standoff with same? I saw someone get hit in the face with a bottle at this club a couple of months ago. Guess who swung the bottle?

I'm sorry I offended your delicate sensibilities. Must be difficult going through life with rose-colored glasses.

And since the waitress and a bunch of dancers were overjoyed to see me, showered me with free passes, and wouldn't leave me alone the whole time I was there, I think they DID miss me. Why? Because I spend money and I'm nice. And safe.

"Is there some reason the "moneyed white" people could sit through music they don't like and the "dreadlocked gangsta" people couldn't?"

The "moneyed white" people seem in general, from what I've seen, to care a hell of a lot less about music than the "dreadlocked gangasta." The Trap had a long history of overt and covert discrimination against black dancers and black customers----finally, the game changed, but a big part of that change was a change of music. The "moneyed white" seemed to like quiet rock or country and the minority blacks be they dancer or customer would vocally complain about "white music." Seems like the "white music" is dead and the rap or whatever it is rules----my last visits didn't see many whites at all---dancer or customer.

Too bad discrimination i.e. freedom ain't allowed.

Yes, I go primarily to black clubs and I'm white and yet I think "whitey" should be able to have his own little club. I say little because I believe Tootsies (a huge club) is still very white and fighting hard to underhandedly discriminate----I don't like the club so I haven't kept track as of late. Maybe it is now a black club. :)

There is the possibilty that better screening of dancers could reduce the gangsta customers. In the past year I have seen 2 fights at the St James, both times by gangsta wannabes. And it is not hre looks of the people, it is their behavior that is a problem.

@pothead: Delicate sensibilities? I see.

tuscl.net

Not going to "argue" with any one of you. Just seemed like a lot of energy for what is an easy problem to fix. I'm not the morality police. Who and what you are is your business. But it is ignorant to continue to patronize an establishment that makes you uncomfortable and then complain about it.

@pothead: Especially when you said there are others clubs you can visit. Be glad you're in a town with decent clubs nearby. You were obviously expecting everyone to cheer you on and empathize with your plight. I called bullshit on it. Shit happens.

"But it is ignorant to continue to patronize an establishment that makes you uncomfortable and then complain about it."

Sometimes there ain't a lot choice. Government eagerly shut down one tiny club after another. The Trap when it basically became "ghetto"---I'd love to see the whole country go "ghetto," btw---the older white customer really had no place to go. Please don't say Tootsies. That is for tourists or those that want a huge club. The older whites were looking for a more family like club----you know the same dancers for years and years---quiet and relaxing with lots of conversation. These older whites, in general, definitely had the $$$.

Oh well, they can wave their flags from home and spend more time at church. :)

@jablake: You seem like a nice enough guy. Not picking on you, btw, but "complain" is really the point of the line you quoted. And maybe complain was too generic a term to use.

Accepting a situation even if it is less than ideal is part of life. Blaming a club or the world for not accommodating your personal taste is a recipe for increasingly bad things. If you have the power to influence or change a situation then all the better, but you'd better be sure of the consequences before you try. There is a scene that comes to mind from what was a very good show when it was still on air:

"You want it to be one way...but it's the other way" youtube.com

That's of course only television, but one of those two characters wound up in a vacant rowhouse with a tag on his toe. And one thing that has emerged in this thread which is very relevant is simply that different experiences lead to different perspectives. When common ground can be found, and strip clubs are just about the easiest places to find it since it's tough to disagree over liking naked ladies, you get less bodies on the ground and that's a good thing.

Stereotypes don't bother me in and of themselves. They're a convention that goes a long way towards sustaining civil societies. It's when we cling to them so strongly to the exclusion of other points of view that we run into difficulty, be it on a fringe strip club board or in everyday life. Physical conflict and war (multiple members of the site can speak to their firsthand views on it) are the absence of acceptance and compromise. The proverbial bottle to the face isn't so much about dreadlocks as it is someone assuming they can impose their will on someone else.

One group having $$$ does not preclude another group from having it. Perspective sets the expectation for whatever the topic, and reality confirms or refutes it. It's our concept of the world from our own experiences that either lifts up or boxes us in depending on the context. If nothing else, this board and other forums allow people to communicate on a level playing field with the common ground being whatever shows up on the screen.

It doesn't matter if I agree with what I read here. I treat it as entertainment and food for thought.

@wallanon----you are free to believe what you wish, of course. Your classification of my posting as IGNORANT is incorrect. My statements are based on years of personal experience. A club full of gangstas is going to have a much greater chance of having violence occur. I'm not the only person who knows this. Go ask a cop where most of their problems occur and he'll agree with me. Hell, go ask a BLACK PERSON. They know.

A club of any sort which is known to have a large black customer base, be it strip club or night club, will experience an exodus of white customers. That's just how it is. Why? Because all stereotypes are based in fact.

As for your statement "One group having $$$ does not preclude another group from having it."---I've spoken to dancers at numerous clubs IN THIS AREA. Black customers do not spend the money on dances that older white customers do(in these particular clubs) regardless of what you've seen in a rap video. They don't really spend the money on drinks, either. They show up drunk, or smoke blunts in the parking lot. Basically they pay their cover, hang out, dance(which is weird), and cause trouble. It's a hassle for the staff.

Hey, I have plenty of options for clubs. It's just a shame that these gangsta thugs will destroy this particular club, just when it's acquired a new manager and things were looking up. If it goes black, it's dead in this area. Dead.

Hi wallanon,

People generally don't like or appreciate complainers----especially if they're males.

Actually, my tastes were accommodated for a long time with all the little strip clubs along W. Dixie Hwy. Most of those clubs didn't get my business----the beauty was different clubs had different rules and cultures. One club too loud? Not a problem at all. Just shop for a different club. :) Government took that away. Also, government changed radically and became a prison state---police officers were bribed to make arrests. The need to bribe was because the local culture was so strongly set against making arrests even of the guilty---assuming you were white.

The police--assuming you were white--were definitely the good guys. Even though the courts had become corrupt---no jury trial of your peers an total fraud left right center---the police were the bulwark of personal liberty protecting you from real criminals AND government (money is excellent weapon to corrupt even good people like the police officers). There was a lot of freedom.

So, yes I'd say pretty much my personal tastes were accommodated, but the game changes.

Anyway, I think in this society a person needs to be complaining non-stop if they have any hope of changing the game---heck, complain just to vent. Sure, it won't make you buddies---generally. In a free market, complaining about a product or service other than letting the seller be aware doesn't, imo, make sense because you could just go down the street or maybe even open your own business---the old fashioned American way. Now with the free market not very free the games have changed---many times you just can't go shopping for a club more to your liking. I don't like the music or anything about The Trap---in the good old days it wouldn't be too difficult to just open another club right next door with completely different rules.

"One group having $$$ does not preclude another group from having it."

True, but the group having $$$ can enact laws or have customs that make it unlikely the other group will have it or keep it. It is good old fashioned oppression. For example, a wealthy friend gets arrested on a "serious" gun charge---if there were real 2nd Amendment rights there wouldn't even be an issue. Anyway wealthy friend puts out to him a measly $20,000 for lawyers and he considers the whole thing a joke. He loves America because to him even a $200,000 pay off to the lawyers would be a joke. A poor person gets that same arrest and there is a pretty good chance their life is over in a real sense---forget about the supposed American dream.

Generally I don't any problem with hardcore racists--black, white, whatever (heck, I've even been accused of being a racist). However, one area with most white racists that is particularity grating is they can't comprehend getting arrested for being the wrong color and they can't comprehend the long term damage such an arrest can have (even if you're found not guilty or the charges are dropped). The only way these white racists could get a wake up call is to live the life of a black man who gets screwed by government and others for being the wrong color. I believe most would get a whole need attitude--some might no longer be racists because for them race wasn't really the reason they're racist.

I used to live in a town that the police installed giant speakers on the "gang" corners and played classical music in blaring towns. The effect the gangs left those street corners, due to not liking the music (this was after they cut the power once or twice and vandalized the speakers a couple of times). Needless to say, the music work.

I don't care what the music is as long as it is not "screamo, heavy metal music", which hurts my ear drums worse than anything. I really do believe that at smaller clubs, music influences the dances and the patrons who come in more than prices.

Great local club became a "gangsta" hang out-don't know why-it is now out of business. There is a local new outdoor long strip mall that plays mellow country music from outdoor speakers. Patrons are 99% white-go figure.