On Thursday evening I stopped by the Establishment Hotel. I had just concluded a civilized evening of Annie Liebowitz followed by rich and delicious foods with a couple of glasses of red. Some old friends were at the bar and as it was on the way to the station, I couldn't see the harm. I walked around the bar and found my friends. I said my hellos but was quickly pushed aside.
What was going on? A short, drunk man had been harassing some girls. Tension was brewing. That particular episode settled and we all got on with catching up and singing along to Belinda Carlisle ( classy joint). I eventually got a champagne. A man had to order it. It's impossible to get service there as a woman.
A moment or two later the short man in the pin striped suit stroked my hair. I tried not to flinch as I knew he was just trying to get a rise out of my friends. He gave up and walked away, grabbing another girl and making her dance with him in a close embrace. He finished with her and a passing security guard rubbed him on the head, a familiar grin, good friends. Smelt like trouble to me.
The poor girl came back over and scolded her friend for not rescuing her. I butted in, "Do you know him?" "No, no, no!" He exclaimed. I just met him tonight. Moments later the drunk little man came up behind me and blew in my ear. Not gentle and creepy, but so hard it hurt and my hair flew about everywhere. I flinched and hunched over. People asked if he'd hit me. He hadn't, but who does that? My friends took the bait and an argument broke out. I had had enough and called for security. They didn't come quick enough. The little man got on the phone and was heard to call for friends to help in a fight. Apparently he asked for five.
Eventually a tall, skinny man in black appeared behind the bar. He looked harangued and out of control. He demanded the short man, "talk outside". I tried to grab his attention, "excuse me, I need to tell you something.""Not now ma'am." He said, as though I was a child. He said it as he walked away, pointing his finger at me. Couldn't the short man wait outside for a moment while I spoke my piece? I wanted to mention the call for friends. A few moments later he was back. This time he asked my friends outside. Suddenly it was urgent that I speak to him, but again he brushed me off. He took my friends outside to "talk" but they never came back. They had been asked to leave.
When the head of security came back past I asked to speak to him. He told me he was busy and would come back. I waited a while then looked for him. Spotted him flirting and laughing with an attractive blonde. He caught my eye and reluctantly came over. I carefully went through the events as I perceived them. I mentioned how I had twice tried to tell him about the call for friends to participate in a fight. How he twice refused to take the time to investigate properly, and even now how he was treating me like a nuisance. Then the bombshell. He told me he knew about the call for friends.I was stunned. He knew that the short, drunk, un-hinged little man had called for backup in a fight and had thrown the people he was planning to fight with out as well, despite the fact that those people had not been antagonizing or intimidating him. He explained, in a very patronizing manner that it was 'policy' to remove anyone involved in an aggressive dispute. I said it how I saw it, the Establishment didn't want to take on the responsibility to care for it's patrons, to protect them. He replied that it was policy. I asked his name and told him I would email Merivale about this policy. He told me to go ahead.
In my eyes a venue having such a policy is how we hear about bashings outside the front door, stabbings out the back or even the occasional drive-by shooting. Some poor chump gets stirred up by the back end if a donkey, kicked out by an arrogant, overworked security guard who won't listen to reason or divert from policy. Then the poor sod gets attacked by a group of 'friends' waiting outside for some action. Not the pubs problem anymore.
As it turns out nothing so extreme happened in this case. The worst that happened was that I decided The Establishment is well past it's hey day and I won't be going back. Aside from playing eighties classics and having over priced drinks, the bar staff are sexist, the security pig headed and the patrons down right annoying.
And as a final kick in the teeth, as I walked out the door I spotted the short drunk man at the bar. Security, for whatever reason, had let him back in.
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