Big, Intimidating, Necessary?
After living in China where you don’t need an ID, wait in a line, pay a cover, nor even really look nice to get into a decent club or swanky bar, the exclusivity and judging atmosphere of some clubs in DC are rather off-putting. I know that the perception of exclusivity is a good business strategy for clubs, as it attracts well-dressed, well-moneyed clientele who will make the club look good and spend lots of money, but to me it just seems oddly counter intuitive to create an unwelcoming atmosphere for customers. I’ve personally never had an issue getting into a club (being young, female and reasonably attractive is certainly an advantage), but it does make me distinctly uncomfortable to enter a place that has dozens of large bouncers standing around doing nothing but hogging floor space.
My biggest problem is with a club called Lima, which has a salsa night on Mondays that I regularly attend. There is always a relatively good showing for it being a Monday (there are plenty of salsa enthusiasts in DC), but nothing extraordinary, it’s certainly not packed, and as most people have to work the next day, no heavy drinking occurs to incite rowdy shenanigans. Yet despite this, there are always four to five big guys in suits standing around the club watching the salsa dancers do their thing. It is really hard to dance well and be carefree about it when there is a guy just a foot away watching you. Of course, I know that he is surveying the whole room, and not just watching me and internally critiquing my dancing skills (although he could be), but it is still an odd feeling. It’s MONDAY, and people are there to salsa dance specifically, not a scenario that would call for 5 bouncers to be in the room. I can’t imagine how many they would have for a typical Friday or Saturday night, but then again, I probably wouldn’t go to Lima if it weren’t for the salsa. I’m not a “there to be seen” type of person, and it is certainly that type of club. Get me back to Beijing where I could go to a club in my PJs and dance without anyone looking twice!
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