In da club

Last night was the night one of the AOH Oklacana Music Festival at Arnie's Bar, and I worked the door. It was a lot of fun. I was told that my job was to check IDs and take the cover. When I showed up, I was told that the cover was a volutary donation to Catholic Charities Food Pantry. After about an hour, I figured out the perfect pitch: "Hey, guys! First of all, I'm gonna need to see some ID. Secondly, in lieu of a cover, we're accepting donations for Catholic Charities Food Pantry. We're suggesting $3, or if you care to give more, that'd be great."

It worked great. Only about five or six people looked at me and scoffed at the idea of donating money and walked in without paying. Some people gave five, some gave ten, some gave twenty. It turned out to be a great night for the AOH.

One thing I didn't know was that if someone comes up with an expired license, it's the same as if they're underage. The owner of the bar told me this and I figured, what are the odds? I only encountered this once over the course of the night, and this guy looked at least 45. When I told him he couldn't go in, he looked like he was about to punch me. I'm so glad the owner Chris had given me the huge Maglite billy club/flashlight. It really helped me with the image of the badass doorman.

Speaking of which, it was funny to have people treat me with this level of...well, respect isn't the right word...fear is more appropriate. "I'm gonna be able to get back in if I leave, right? Sir?" I'd pretend to have a real problem with it, but pull back at the last second, saying, "Nah, I'm just fucking with you. I'll remember you."

There was this one guy who, early in the evening, noticed the big wad of cash I was given for change, and commented that he'd try to rob me before the end of the night. Three times over the course of the night he stuck his hand under his shirt and pretended to be holding a gun, and asked for the money. I just laughed in his face. I told him it's hard for me to take him seriously when A) his "gun" has the distinct outline of fingernails under his t-shirt, and B) he told me he was gonna try this. Funny the first time. Vaguely funny the second time. Fairly annoying the third time.

There was one really fucked up moment-but a good kind of fucked up. There was this one girl walking out who kept looking back at me and smiling as she was leaving. It was one of those odd moments where the longer I waited, the more I needed to say something, only I couldn't walk away from the door because people were wanting to come in. Stupid work ethic!

I got home around two and fell right asleep and woke up around eleven this morning.