Just doing their job…
Meet Karl:
I’ve run a bunch of races with Karl and this morning we did the St. Patrick’s Day Dash through downtown Seattle. The race wraps up near the football stadium and F.X. McRory’s was hosting the post-run beer garden. Getting a drink after the race seemed like the festive thing to do (if not the most appealing - after a run, beer really seems a lot less tempting) but when we got to the entrance where they were checking IDs Karl didn’t have his and they wouldn’t let him in! I’m no lawyer but I’d swear that the legality surrounding such a situation is that the bar can lose their liquor license if they serve to (or maybe allow in) a minor - not for barring entry for a guy who is clearly in his 50’s but who doesn’t have his ID. Maybe I’m wrong, but this seemed like just about the dumbest thing ever.
To be fair, Karl was going around asking all the women if they had “seen me lucky charms” and he probably started drinking well before the race, but still…Instead we walked up the street to Fado where the staff was much more reasonable and had our pints.
(To be more fair - he was in costume and I think he asked all 20,000 race participants if they had seen his lucky charms - not just the women. And of course he hadn’t been drinking before the race. For once.)
E said,
March 22, 2008 @ 11:48 am
FYI: You are wrong. It’s not “the dumbest thing ever.
On St. Patrick’s Day (and other days), bars commonly have a policy of carding everyone without exception. It’s easier to have a flat policy than either giving the bouncers discretion who to let in or forcing them into the position of having to make a decision whether to allow someone in. It’s not just about complying with the law, but making things easier on the bouncers who will have to deal with a lot whiny, drunk people, while the buisiness tries to comply with the law. If they let your running buddy in, the 22 year woman in line after him who also forgot her id will say, “You let him in. I’m over 21, even if I don’t have id.” Suddenly the bouncer has to defend his decision on something other than a flat policy, which is generally a waste of time while the putative patron gets more and more annoyed (and annoying). And some 16 year olds these days look like they’re much older and could walk in without id simply because they look older.
For all you know, they were just looking for a reason to exclude him, and lack of id happened to work. Having a sweaty 50 year old patron “in costume” asking if anyone’s seen his “lucky charms” doesn’t help business. It might not keep you away, but I’d leave.
Patrick said,
March 23, 2008 @ 10:08 am
ok - you’ve just made it the second dumbest thing ever
This seems exactly the same to me as convenience stores having policies where people who are not very clearly over 35 must show ID. Karl is very clearly “of age”, the beer tent is set up at 10AM for the tons of people who’ve run the race (most of whom were in costume) and he was humorously asking the question and didn’t intend the double-entendre that I think most of us heard. I’m not saying they didn’t have the discretionary power to keep him out on this basis, I’m saying it’s stupid of them to behave this way.