Inhospitable

 

As Jack and I strolled Music Row (Broadway) in downtown Nashville on Saturday night, I noticed that all the country music bars had virtually identical bouncers working the doors. They were all big, burley, surly white guys with goatees. It was as if they found one alpha big, burley, surly, white guy with a goatee, and cloned him. They dress all the clones in identical black jeans and black T-shirts and set them outside the doors.

 

A sign found outside most Nashville bars.

 

 

I find it somewhat strange that all these establishments would choose to make these uninviting individuals their initial points of contact with potential customers. This is by no means unique to country music bars in Nashville. Nightclubs of all varieties embrace the bouncer-induced, step-in-here-and-I’ll-kill-you school of hospitality. I understand the unspoken, behave-or-else message these bouncers send, and it probably does a lot to keep trouble from ever happening in the first place, but it is a little strange. Imagine of the chorus of “Cheers,” singing, “Sometimes you want to go…where everybody wants to pummel you.”

 

The bouncer at the Wildhorse Saloon defied expectation, and was a nice, warm chap. The fact that he was a fellow Yankee fan didn't hurt, so we went in.