I'm not a racist. Nor are the rules.

[hinakiba777]

*jaw ticks* So asking the man to produce his membership card, which he had, made you racist?

*Eye Twitch*Not letting him into the club without the documentation needed by everyone to get into the club made you racist?!



Alrighty!!!

So he falls into that magical group that believes the world is out to get them. Rules are bad. etc.*nods calmly*

I am now going to stand on the hotel balcony and scream with frustration. Then I am going to eat some snickers and try to distract myself from this story.

It makes no {string of expletives} sense. I feel bad fro you. I really do.

[Willis]

*jaw ticks* So asking the man to produce his membership card, which he had, made you racist?

*Eye Twitch*Not letting him into the club without the documentation needed by everyone to get into the club made you racist?!



Alrighty!!!

So he falls into that magical group that believes the world is out to get them. Rules are bad. etc.*nods calmly*

I am now going to stand on the hotel balcony and scream with frustration. Then I am going to eat some snickers and try to distract myself from this story.

It makes no {string of expletives} sense. I feel bad fro you. I really do.

Yea that made absolutely NO sense at all to me too. That was a surprising twist to the story. Just show your membership card and go on in and have a drink instead of hassling the doorman who seemed to be very nice and helpful. I think he was just looking for trouble, had a bad run in someplace else and just wanted to be a douche and look for a fight. It's never cool to accuse people of racism. That's just fighting words for some people because you're questioning their character.

[ZedOmega]

Uh... wait, I think I understood that... hold on...

So... he makes a racism claim despite there being black members in the club at the time... and he had a membership the whole time just to see if the staff was racist?

Damn it, my eye won't stop twitching now!

[C. Cecil Ivanish]

This guy's experiment fails hard. In order to prove racism, he would have to prove that there are Caucasians inside the store who were permitted without a club card. Since he made the assertion, the burden of proof lies with the SC.

Eeeexactly my (our) point. That would have made more sense. I mean, kind of.

*jaw ticks* So asking the man to produce his membership card, which he had, made you racist?

Apparently. But even if he had not had it - well, "Admission reserved to members"... does it suggest you anything?

So he falls into that magical group that believes the world is out to get them. Rules are bad. etc.*nods calmly*

Looks like it. Or, more likely, he got some "special service" somewhere else by playing the "racist" card and was trying if the game worked there as well. Point is, why did he need to, as he HAD a card and therefore free access to the club?

It's never cool to accuse people of racism. That's just fighting words for some people because you're questioning their character.

Nobody was really questioning his character, really... you want to access the club, you need a membership card (which you could get and use in two more clubs in town by the way).
At the time (10 years ago) there were not many African-Italians in not-too-big towns (250,000 people). I guess that he might have been hoping for some "special treatment" being "the only person of African descent" in the club. Which luckily for us he was not.
And I think that, if we hadn't had the support of the African-American cook, we might have just given him what he asked for to avoid allegations of racism.

So... he makes a racism claim despite there being black members in the club at the time... and he had a membership the whole time just to see if the staff was racist?

Don't ask. I think you don't really want to know.

[infinitemonkies]

That's like claiming someone is [insert discrimination card of choice here] because they won't let you into a movie without a ticket.

It happens. A lot. I've seen that exact scenario personally, still have the brain damage.

I've been called racist many times at the hotel for refusing to check someone in who has no ID, no credit card, no bank card, and not enough cash to cover even half the rate of a room, let alone a damage deposit.

I was also once called elitist for not checking in this hipster-meets-hippie white male (which is not an altogether uncommon archetype out here) SC because he didn't have any way to pay. That one I found mostly amusing. I'm honestly not sure if he was serious or just trying to pull a prank.

[Willis]

Nobody was really questioning his character, really... you want to access the club, you need a membership card (which you could get and use in two more clubs in town by the way).
At the time (10 years ago) there were not many African-Italians in not-too-big towns (250,000 people). I guess that he might have been hoping for some "special treatment" being "the only person of African descent" in the club. Which luckily for us he was not.
And I think that, if we hadn't had the support of the African-American cook, we might have just given him what he asked for to avoid allegations of racism.

I didn't say you were questioning his character, I was saying that when some people get accused of racism (which he was doing to you and your club) they may feel their character is getting questioned. Which I would think is how you felt, that he was questioning your character not the other way around.

[EricKei]

SC seems puzzled. Then rummages in his pockets. Produces... yes. You guessed it. a membership card.
SC: "I just wanted to see if you are racist, and now I know you are! I'm never coming back and I'll tell all my friends!", and walks away.
Me, Boss and DW:

I really wonder if he had a hidden camera taping him or something, and he thought he was brilliantly executing a sting or something in order to create "evidence" for a "documentary" >_>

[Dave1982]

If that's the case then he's a calculating (dumb, but calculating) schemer who should get a life.

I think it's more likely that he suddenly got it in head to see what would happen if he was a jerk and pulled the race card just to cause a scene, perhaps thinking that if it worked, he might be able to get in without paying to renew his membership in the future. Then, when it backfired, he didn't want to back down and lose face so he just refused to admit defeat.

[Shalom]

And you guys allowed him to leave with his membership card?

Shoulda confiscated it. After all, he's never coming back again anyway, right?

[C. Cecil Ivanish]

I didn't say you were questioning his character, I was saying that when some people get accused of racism (which he was doing to you and your club) they may feel their character is getting questioned. Which I would think is how you felt, that he was questioning your character not the other way around.

'right, sorry, misunderstanding.
Point is - I am aware that I am not a racist, so I didn't feel too heavily attacked.
Still, being *called* a racist is never pleasant (unless one is, I imagine). And we were afraid that he would have gone on to talk to the Police about this... and, yes, I know, innocent until proved guilty, but it is never nice...

[Magpie]

I was also once called elitist for not checking in this hipster-meets-hippie white male (which is not an altogether uncommon archetype out here) SC because he didn't have any way to pay. That one I found mostly amusing. I'm honestly not sure if he was serious or just trying to pull a prank.

Ah, but you were an elitist. You were perpetuating a system by which only the elite (you know, those with money) get anything. If you're not for them you're against them! And no, that doesn't make sense. I was trying to channel that guy.

Still, being *called* a racist is never pleasant (unless one is, I imagine).

Ah, but you're never a racist. You're just someone who is concerned about issues to be willing to ignore all this PC crap. (Not that that description only applies to racists.)

[C. Cecil Ivanish]

I really wonder if he had a hidden camera taping him or something, and he thought he was brilliantly executing a sting or something in order to create "evidence" for a "documentary"

I don't think I can allow myself to say here and now where I would have liked to insert his (possible) camera, right?

And you guys allowed him to leave with his membership card?
Shoulda confiscated it. After all, he's never coming back again anyway, right?

You do have a point, but we were all trying to collect our jaws from the floor - and the card works (or worked) in two more clubs in town...
OK, we didn't react fast enough. Not that he handed it to anybody, of course - he just shook it before our eyes.
Probably it was somebody else's, too.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Minorities aren't the only ones.

That's why I said "usually."

Wait, wait, wait...

He had a membership card, but he was intentionally not giving it up because he wanted to see if you would let him in without it...

At what point did the SC have a membership card? He showed CCI his Italian ID and offered to let CCI hold it while he went in the club.

[mattm04]

My poor brain. How the hell was that supposed to prove they were racist anyway? Never mind, I want to keep what is left of my brain.

[terakhan]

"I don't care to belong to any club that will have me as a member."

"I have a mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it."

What really gets me is the fact that the first time he played the race card was when you told him he was entitled to half off the price of membership.

Regardless, the guy was just a moron, but no different a type of moron than people too lazy to get out an ID card to prove legal age to purchase alcohol here in the states.