Opinion: New Bar Will Run As Police State

By sprayhawk Sunday August 9, 2009

This is about actual news. Surprising, right?

I read an article on The Daily Kansan’s website about a new bar, Frankie and Johnny’s, which will be opening in Lawrence around the same time that classes start. It seems as if they will have security so intense that you’ll be lucky to get out at the end of the night without having your favorite cavity searched.

Not only will you be given a once over with a metal detector, but if you are female, you will also have your purse searched. This is not only an invasion of privacy, but it is also a buzz kill. As one owner, Joe Perrine said, “You have to control your door. That’s where the happiness begins.”

Apparently happiness also means hidden cameras and undercover bouncers, each of which will be plentiful at the new bar. Perrine said, “We’re not trying to keep an eye on everybody. It’s for the safety and security of the customers.” You are trying to keep an eye on everybody. Otherwise you wouldn’t have hidden cameras.

Hey. This guy looks dangerous.

Perhaps more ridiculous than the Orwellian level of surveillance, a dress code will be enforced. Here it is copied from the original article:

Frankie and Johnny’s dress code for the club:

No weapons
No gang colors or pocket rags
No athletic wear or jerseys
Pants must be secured at the waist
No baggy clothes
No sleeveless shirts
No plain white t-shirts
No offensive symbols or writing on clothing
No t-shirts below the waist
No ripped or soiled clothing
No do-rags
No hats
No large purses or backpacks
No fighting

Customers are subject to search at any time.

Minors caught consuming alcohol will be photographed, detained by police and permanently banned from premises.

First of all, I would like to point out that “No fighting” can’t possibly be a part of a dress code, although I generally do put on my camo fighting pants when I go out in Lawrence. Second, I find it reprehensible that they should expect to search their customers “at any time”. If a man wearing plain clothes comes up to me in a bar and starts patting down my ass pockets, I will be sure to panic and start crying loudly.

It seems to me that this dress code is narrow minded and racist. No plain white t-shirts? No hats? No t-shirts below the waist? No do-rags? No gang colors? No…black people?

Although this statement in itself could seem racist, I would argue that certain fashion choices are generally associated with certain ethnic groups. This bar seems to capitalize on one such common association. Is the association wrong? Definitely, in a universal sense, but it is hard to ignore the type of fashion that this dress code prohibits.

And aren’t all colors gang colors somewhere? Red…The Bloods. Blue…The Crips. Black…The Hell’s Angels. White…The Ku Klux Klan. What should I wear? A gray jumpsuit?

What is most worrying is the ban on sleeveless shirts. How will I show off my gunz? I’m concerned that this is going to ruin my totally badass and huge lifestyle.

The last rule is also absurd but warrants its own sixty page rant. I won’t get into it here, but isn’t it ridiculous that an 18 year old man can have his legs blown off “for his country”, but he can’t have a beer without being photographed and detained?

I will not be visiting Frankie and Johnny’s. It is places like this that will turn the fun of Lawrence nightlife into the Power and Light District, which has similar rules.

However, if you do venture in, I invite you to bring brass knuckles and hide your favorite sharpened toothbrush in your sock. Might as well keep the Secret Police on their toes.