Hello,
I felt compelled to answer the letter Paul wrote about boycotting the
Regent, for I think it is a good thing for people to know the reason Dave
has a dress code. I have discussed this with Dave, and I believe I
can give an explanation he would agree with.
David is a businessman, and any action he takes should be seen in this
light. If he turns someone away he loses the money that person
would have paid, so it is not in his interest to just exclude people
without a reason. On the other hand, to stay in business he has to
ensure the people who do come enjoy themselves, or they won't come
back.
The salsa dances have always been a problem. Not everyone who comes
to the dance comes to dance, or they come with a chip or two on their
shoulder. Dave has had to call police several times over people
fighting in the Regent, and in the parking lot outside. He moved
the dance (originally from 11:30 to 2AM) to 11 to 1:30, because the
police require the place be completely shut down by 2. If the
trouble continues he is in danger of losing his liquor license, which
would cut into his income from dance nights, as well as cause problems
with catered events (he would lose business). In the last few
months car windshields have been broken with baseball bats and if I
remember right, at least one shot was fired in the parking lot.
So how do you make sure the people who come to the dance want to
dance? He could try the theme park solution (Theme parks like Six
Flags make most of their money from concessions in the park, not from the
gate. They charge large up-front fees (isn't it something like $40
these days?) not to make money, but to keep local kids from just coming
to the park several times a week just to hang around. Loitering
people, especially from rival gangs, cause problems.) But even if he
charge more than $4 for the dance, it is hard to charge enough to
dissuade gangs from showing up.
Another solution is to enforce a dress code, so people who want to dance
know to dress nicely. Also, if you're in your good clothes you are
less likely to get into a fight and ruin them.
In either case (charging more or enforcing a dress code) the business
will lose some clientele. The balancing act is to make a reasonable
amount of money, keep the police and the neighbors happy, keep the
dancers happy by keeping the fights out, and keeping enough dancers
coming despite the dress code.
Of course some people will be unhappy there is a dress code. But
some people actually prefer the people dancing aren't wearing t-shirts
and cutoffs, but are dressed nicely. One might also argue there are
t-shirts and t-shirts, those with obscenities and those that have
butterflies on them. Unfortunately though, the rules Dave
enforces must be clearly spelled out and uniformly-enforced. If
he lets even one person in with a pair of jeans, anyone else who is
turned away has the makings of a dandy lawsuit. (I watched Dave one
evening try to explain all this to a woman who had on a pair of jeans and
a nice shirt, who had two companions in slacks. They could go in,
but she couldn't, and she was adamant that she be allowed in. I
felt sorry for Dave that there are some people who are so
blindingly-selfish they cannot see anything but themselves, and think the
universe should bow down to them in abject adoration.... Sorry, I
do get carried away.)
Dave will lose some business because of the dress code. He will
gain business from people who like the atmosphere of a ballroom that has
a dress code, an he will remain in business because the police are
satisfied. On the whole, I think the dress code is doing the job it
is supposed to do.
Now, as for Mr. Patton and his froggie shirts, there are a couple
solutions. He could get a nice shirt, put it on over the t-shirt
and leave it open. I believe that would satisfy the "not a
t-shirt" rule, but would let all the women admire the frogs.
Or he could go to the bank and get a loan, open a ballroom, work his tail
off for over twenty years making a living at it, and then talk to Dave
about how a business should be run. Maybe then Dave would listen to
him.
Regards,
Chris Huson
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