The Wisdom of the ACC Government
posted by AthensDoorGuy @ 11:57 AM
14 comments
Stories from an Athens, Ga bouncer & bartender
I'm a door guy / doorman / greeter / bouncer (whichever you prefer) working in a popular bar in Athens, Georgia. I also bartend on occasion. I relay my stories, feelings, thoughts and complaints about the bar business and other related subjects. Contact me at athensdoorguy[at]hotmail[dot]com.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
About Me
- Name: AthensDoorGuy
- Location: Athens, Georgia, United States
I observe. I laugh. I bitch. I complain. I work downtown in Athens, Georgia as an employee of the nightlife scene in the form of a glorified babysitter and bartender, and I write all about it on here.
Previous Posts
- Sideways Busted
- Another Year Begins
- They're Back
- Weekend Recap
- Just Stop
- Clarification
- A Fast One Gets Pulled On Me
- Breaking News!
- A Situation That Could Have Been Avoided
- What I Do
Contact me: athensdoorguy [at] hotmail [dot] com
14 Comments:
It's good they are finally cracking down. You rob someone, you go to jail. You drink underage; you go to jail. You drink and drive; you go to jail. You allow minors to obtain alcohol; YOU GO TO JAIL. Nothing wrong. Should have been done a long time ago. Bar owners are bitching because they won't be able to hire minors for minimum wage anymore. Fine. Hire responsible adults and PAY THEM. Otherwise, close your bar and get the hell outta Dodge.
Lord, "finally cracking down."? There's always some ordinance making it even more difficult for business owners downtown. You'd think ACC government would realize growing business is a good goal to have in a community. Once all the problems are solved downtown, then maybe focus on the minors throwing all their money away.
Maybe you haven't noticed, but the bars created problems downtown, they don't solve them.
Just read this blog for all the evidence you need. Problem after problem after problem.
For Athens, this "crackdown" doesn't really make that much sense. The doorguys handle checking IDs...once someone gets to the bar, the bartender should have every right to assume that the person has had their ID scrutinized and is 21. Even if the ID was fake and the kid is only 19, why would the bartender be the one to get arrested? It is not their job to look at IDs. How is this legislation passing?
Finally cracking down? Hmmmm let's think about how wonderful our little town would be without the bars downtown....it would officially suck. The alcohol sales downtown pretty much run ACC, and unfortunately the majority of students visiting those bars dt are underage. It's a simple known fact that anyone with a working brain knows...college town=drinking and more drinking, especially by students underage. If people want to crack down on underage drinking, then inform undergrads the responsible ways to act in college...don't reprimand the bar owners and employees for simply doing their jobs. ACC gov't could not be run by more hypocritical people...they allow open containers of thousands upon thousands of people during the fall every saturday during football games, yet try and act "tough" on the other 350odd other days of the year. Give me a break.
Too bad. The crackdown has begun and it is THE LAW. Serve underage or let underage patrons in the bar...YOU GO TO JAIL! This is long overdue. Should have been doing this since 1985. Don't like it? Too bad, whiners. It has passed and it is the law. Shape up, or ship out! I'm looking forward to seeing some of you ship out. The bars and drunks have run roughshod over Athens long enough. Party's over, dudes!
"The party's over"?! Are you kidding me?! The "party" is what funds this town. The underage demographic will always be there, just as it always has. Punishing the doorguys and bartenders isn't going to help. Civilization made it through the 70's when the drinking age was 18, and I'm sure it'll will survive now. With the way delegation is going these days, who would even want to be a doorguy? This law is complete and total bullshit; something to go on paper to make it look like ACC is doing something when they're actually doing jack shit. They're shifting the blame. They're making it easier for them to point fingers at the bouncer. Well, keep at it, retards. Soon, enough, no one will want to work downtown and your mission will be accomplished, and there will never be any more drinking ... ever. Have fun losing all that tax money, asshats.
There isn't any "new law" that results in the arrest of the servers and 99% of what y'all are bitchin' about did not come from the "ACC government" - this is a decision and an action coming solely and completely from the office of the Solicitor General acting completely on his own authority (which is legal) without any consultation or discussion with the legislative branch.
I don't like this action. But, my sympathies begin to wain a bit when I read all these comments that indicate that most of you don't have a fucking clue about basic Civics 101.
BTW - the tax revenues from the bars just barely break even on the cost of policing and cleaning up downtown so bars should stop assuming that they are funding anything more than the necessary "maid services" to clean up the mess that their customers create. This ain't no cash cow for the government.
Chisolm is pretty crafty doing this with his re-election 2 years from now too... I would hope Athenians could wise up and vote him out, but it looks like it won't matter.
I think folks should start some sort of legal defense fund for the first non-idiot who gets arrested for this. Take this to the supreme court!
Are the police stings challenge-able too? I'm not supporting underage drinkers, though I was one myself, but punishing workers for being a victim of deception is a bit wrong.
As someone has already stated this isn't a new law. The law has been on the books for quite some time. It's just that for some reason in the past this offense has only generated a citation. Almost every other misdemeanor offense in Athens is dealt with by arrest (traffic offenses excluded).
What exactly is deceitful about presenting a valid GA driver's license that clearly states you're under 21? That's how the stings operate. They present an ID that's stamped in red "Under 21."
And yet people are still getting busted?
I'm amazed that some commenting here think that there is some "majority of voters" and / or sympathizers that are going to give a damn A - that some door person is going to jail for breaking the law or B - that the bars are being policed. The MAJORITY of this community and it's VOTERS do not go to the bars downtown and could care less if all the bars close or not or if door persons are held to a pretty low standard i.e., stay sober on the job and keep underage people from drinking. Pretty simple job description. I think you will find the MAJORITY of VOTERS would be perfectly fine with MOST of the bars downtown shutting down and leaving. As someone noted, they don't contribute much to the local economy and probably don't even contribute enough to cover all the police manpower they WASTE by CREATING PROBLEMS downtown. Good work, Mr. Chisholm!!!
If they really wanted to stop underage drinking they'd up the punishment for the underage people who are drinking. Do they think freshmen care that the bartender is going to get thrown in jail?
And, as someone else has said, the bartender isn't even the one checking IDs.
If I were a bartender I wouldn't be handing alcohol to anyone who looked under 30, legit ID or no. F-that, you know they're not getting paid enough to risk jail time.
It's pretty simple. Check ID's at the door. Check ID's again at the bar. One drink per ID. No one under 21 should ever be allowed in a bar. Never. Not people's children, not 19. Never. If you can't follow the law and have ZERO incidents of underage drinking in your establishment, you need to A - change your business model B - shut down voluntarily or C - be shut down and put in jail. And, yes, being caught with a fade ID should be a FELONY and those kids should go to jail AND be expelled from university. The reason the kids and the bars carry on with this nonsense is because the penalties are not harsh enough and the law is not being enforced. Looks like that may be changing. Let's hope so.
Check "anonymous" at 10:05 am. Wtf dude? "the bars created this problem". What a f-ing moron. What about the dipshits with the fake ID's who KNOw they're breaking the law? Where's their responsibility? Bars are a legal business, and yes, they have the responsiblity to make a good faith effort to keep underage drinkers out. And yes, door guys who intentionally break the law should be punished. But it's all the idiots who try to skirt the law who "created this problem". f-ing retard....
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