Absolutely loved this article, and I loved the turns of phrase even more, Jack. I worked at a club on Oldham Street around the Millenium and the bar staff and the door staff had a brilliant relationship, we had a lot of fun. It’s a tough job.
Really disturbing to hear about a more widespread lack of respect although there were always people who abused doormen and women. It’s too easy, whatever your age, if you’ve lived through your phone for 18 months, curating the world around you via social media and keeping a tight circle in real life, to know how to interact with a range of people. Add being entitled into the mix or any kind of racial abuse and it becomes sickening. One demographic’s fun and the money they spend shouldn’t be more important than anything else. Nothing is ever an excuse for treating people as less than human.
Thanks Leah, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Also yes to everything in those two paragraphs. I used to mix cocktails at a bar that had an outpost in Castlefield and - while abuse from drunken customers was a given for everyone across the board - an especially intense strain of it seemed reserved for the door staff. That last point you raise is one that, throughout interviewing people who work in the night time economy, has always seemed to come up: to what extent can we justify the suffering/abuse of workers fuelling the enjoyment of customers. Be that bartenders and floor staff having to work 16 hour shifts just so people can continue to drink till the small hours, or door staff suffering outsized abuse just so venues can operate safely. That is a far bigger question that implicates many more groups of people - but I think it is one that will be nudged further into public conversation after the pandemic.
Agreed! But nudged is the operative word. If can’t see this being a topic that wider society is prepared to talk about at all. I see other countries post- pandemic building a different world for themselves (France has banned domestic flights that can be done by train in under 3 hours) and I think in the UK we are just slipping back down the same slope in so many areas and potentially worse. The nightlife industry has always thrived in Manchester and will continue to be a thirsty employment market. With greater social divisions and fewer job prospects, there will always be a ready supply of staff accepting worse and worse conditions as part of the job. It feels like there should be a code of conduct for punters, not just door staff.
Despite ‘protagonist syndrome’, Whitworth Street West ‘an upturned pot of honey’ & sundry Joseph Knox rehearsal lines, a thoroughly enjoyable and original take on #FreedomDay
Ermm apologies Jack for sounding so grudging, even patronising. Didn’t mean to. Yours is a fascinating take on an interesting guild. I enjoyed it very much.
Better to google him than read the novels, in my view. There are thousands who disagree. Many of them work for Waterstone’s. Actually (as you clearly know) there’s a long back story to door security in Manchester. I very much enjoyed your writing. Pg
Absolutely loved this article, and I loved the turns of phrase even more, Jack. I worked at a club on Oldham Street around the Millenium and the bar staff and the door staff had a brilliant relationship, we had a lot of fun. It’s a tough job.
Really disturbing to hear about a more widespread lack of respect although there were always people who abused doormen and women. It’s too easy, whatever your age, if you’ve lived through your phone for 18 months, curating the world around you via social media and keeping a tight circle in real life, to know how to interact with a range of people. Add being entitled into the mix or any kind of racial abuse and it becomes sickening. One demographic’s fun and the money they spend shouldn’t be more important than anything else. Nothing is ever an excuse for treating people as less than human.
Hi Leah, could we use this in our letters section for Monday? Just need your borough. Best, Dani
Hi Dani, yes you can! I am from Old Trafford. I see you on Ayres Road sometimes! I will say hi next time!
Oh hello neighbour! I'm on Stamford Street - yes please do, it's always lovely too see the faces behind the names.
Thanks Leah, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Also yes to everything in those two paragraphs. I used to mix cocktails at a bar that had an outpost in Castlefield and - while abuse from drunken customers was a given for everyone across the board - an especially intense strain of it seemed reserved for the door staff. That last point you raise is one that, throughout interviewing people who work in the night time economy, has always seemed to come up: to what extent can we justify the suffering/abuse of workers fuelling the enjoyment of customers. Be that bartenders and floor staff having to work 16 hour shifts just so people can continue to drink till the small hours, or door staff suffering outsized abuse just so venues can operate safely. That is a far bigger question that implicates many more groups of people - but I think it is one that will be nudged further into public conversation after the pandemic.
Agreed! But nudged is the operative word. If can’t see this being a topic that wider society is prepared to talk about at all. I see other countries post- pandemic building a different world for themselves (France has banned domestic flights that can be done by train in under 3 hours) and I think in the UK we are just slipping back down the same slope in so many areas and potentially worse. The nightlife industry has always thrived in Manchester and will continue to be a thirsty employment market. With greater social divisions and fewer job prospects, there will always be a ready supply of staff accepting worse and worse conditions as part of the job. It feels like there should be a code of conduct for punters, not just door staff.
Very good article my clubbing days are well past me lol
Great article and very interesting. I really enjoyed reading it.
Despite ‘protagonist syndrome’, Whitworth Street West ‘an upturned pot of honey’ & sundry Joseph Knox rehearsal lines, a thoroughly enjoyable and original take on #FreedomDay
I really enjoyed reading this, your line about the clubbers learning how to dance again made me chuckle. I can just imagine the night :)
Ermm apologies Jack for sounding so grudging, even patronising. Didn’t mean to. Yours is a fascinating take on an interesting guild. I enjoyed it very much.
No need for apologies Phil - a word of criticism is worth more than a book of praise. Although I must admit I had to google Joseph Knox hahaha
Better to google him than read the novels, in my view. There are thousands who disagree. Many of them work for Waterstone’s. Actually (as you clearly know) there’s a long back story to door security in Manchester. I very much enjoyed your writing. Pg