NAJM Rant - Bring Down The Velvet Rope!



		Bring Down The Rope!
		The Velvet Rope that is. Studio 54 started it and now every wanna be club has copied it ever since. What purpose does it serve? Crowd control you say? How can $5 worth of velvet dangling between a couple of brass stanchions really control anything? It’s all about image. I recently went to a club in South Beach where the rope was set up. After waiting ten or so minutes outside, they let me in. To my surprise the club was nearly empty. So who are you trying to fool? After a few minutes I decided to leave. On the way out I saw, yes you guessed it; a large crowd huddled by the rope hoping to get in. We all know this game, but still tolerate it.


	After waiting at the rope at Club Liquid in Miami I was denied entrance because I was “wearing shorts.” Now please understand this was South Beach during Spring Break. I understand and respect dress codes, but during Spring Break? Please! I must say that I have never had a positive experience at Liquid so I am pleased to learn of their impending demise, rope and all. Then there is the point where the club reaches capacity. In this case, it is actually illegal to allow you to enter until people leave. This is where that line around the block at 3 am occurs. I ask you why you would wait in such a line? In hopes of gaining entry before 5 am? What’s the point? If you have time to wait in a line for two hours to pay a $20 cover, then shell out $8 a drink, you need to do some soul searching or get a life. Humans are curious creatures, and the rope trick merely creates demand. In cities where there are many clubs within blocks of each other, I can’t understand why you would allow yourself to be manipulated like a herd of cows. Just like you won’t wait at Denny’s two hours for a Grand Slam, you shouldn’t wait to patronize these clubs. Oh, but don’t you feel so important and special when you’re on the list and are whisked away to a VIP room without incident, while all the other unlucky bastards wait outside? Keep telling yourself that because it’s all bullshit. I’m not buying it and you shouldn’t either. To hell with the velvet rope and those who rely on it!

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