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Behind the scenes: The ones who serve us

*All names have been changed


On a night out, people tend to not think about the ones providing the services they receive and simply enjoy their night.


But have you ever stopped to think about what it may be like for the ones that are being paid to be there?


Four workers from several different nightclubs in Gloucestershire revealed what it’s really like to be the ones making our nights out a possibility.


Phoebe:

Before starting university, Phoebe was left worried that she would be left behind when her friends went out as the clubbing atmosphere never appealed to her. So, when a nightclub job came up, she decided to go for it, “it meant I could still be there, but didn’t have to be right in the middle of it.”


But working in a nightclub isn’t as fast paced as some may think.


“There tends to be a rush at the start and end of the night, but other than that I just sit there. I’ve started to take a book or crocheting.”


Phoebe said some people love working in the cloakroom, simply because “they can just sit there and watch Netflix.”


For Phoebe the most entertaining parts of the night is watching security break up fights.

“If it’s boring, I just think to myself ‘someone please kick off.’ It’s great, it is like free entertainment and an hour goes past really fast if a fight is going on.”


Lillie:

Fed up with being a waitress and wanting to delve into a true ‘student experience’ Lillie decided to take a job in a nightclub.


“At first adapting to night shifts was easy, but now having to change my sleep schedule to wake up for my 8am lectures is really starting to affect my studies, eating habits and mood.”

Lillie says she can thank the people she works with for making her shifts bearable as “work wouldn’t be fun without the people I work with.”


Working in a club, Lillie inevitably deals with a lot of drunkenness and doesn’t underestimate the power of water. However, when leaving one morning Lillie noticed a man drifting in and out of conciseness. “An ambulance refused to come because there was no immediate danger, and we didn’t know what to do.”


Lillie believes that all nightclub workers should have basic first aid training. “Our duty of care to these people should go further than just in the club rooms.”


When working, Lillie describes having a sort of alter-ego. “I almost turn into the intimidating one actually, but I think you have to be otherwise people try to take advantage.”


Unfortunately, there are times when Lillie does feel threatened, especially when she is no longer safe behind the bar. She says she doesn’t receive any support if harassed, and if she tells security or her managers she is basically told ‘you work in a nightclub, what do you expect?’


One of the funniest encounters Lillie recalls is when serving a man at the bar. “When I took payment from him, he leant over the bar to kiss me. Obviously, I rejected him, but he spent the next two hours trying to convince me to run away to the circus with him. I won’t lie, he made it sound rather appealing!”


Lillie says she cannot even count the number of times people have fallen over, but one time that stood out to her the most was when a man fell down the stairs carrying two pints. “When he stood back up, I swear he hadn’t spilt a drop. I was very impressed.”


Like any workplace, nightclubs have their own codes of conduct, even some questionable ones. “Sometimes people forget to put tops back on bottles and sometimes they get flies in. We are told to filter the flies out and carry on serving the alcohol. I personally do not listen to that!”


Maya:

For Maya, the downfalls of working in a night-time venue did reveal itself when she found herself wanting to be the other side of the till. “A group of my friends came to the club to celebrate a birthday and I did feel like I was missing out because I couldn’t dance with them.”


Talking about her experiences, Maya recalls a night when she was told someone may have a knife on them. “Luckily there was no knife, but it was scary for a while and my friend and I had to hide.”


As a woman, Maya also feels as if the treatment she receives from customers is a lot worse than what male staff deal with. She recalls a lot of inappropriate comments and says that sometimes groups of men will try to intimidate her into giving them discounts.


Another eventful night Maya recalls is when a DJ they hired got drunk and played an entirely different playlist. “She was swaying all night and ended up being fired.”


Imogen:

Imogen personally finds that it never gets boring in a club because every night is different. “You become accustomed to the business and loudness of the club after a while.”


She says that although most of her experiences are positive, the worse thing is any abuse to staff members.


“People forget that we are only here to give a good service to customers.”



So next time you are on a night out, remember there is more to what you see.

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