Dear Readers,
I am writing to you in utter outrage at the appalling treatment that my friends and I received when we went to the Bee Knees in Accrington town centre. We had been to a Christmas party and were in a rather merry mood and as such, a number of our group were sporting Christmas Santa hats and crown-style cracker hats.
We were making our way around the town centre pubs and enjoying the seasonal cheer, but once we got to the newly refurbished Bees Knees, our festive fun was quickly put to an end. We were approached by two door men whilst on the dance floor who asked us to remove our Santa hats. Initially we all thought they were joking, as the very idea seemed so ludicrous! So we laughed it off and tried to continue our party fun, but then they returned in number and told us we had to leave! “Not until I’ve finished my outrageously priced £3.50 drink” exclaimed one of my friends. Everyone (I say ‘everyone’ but that’s rather generous, there were merely twenty people on the dance-floor at this point-which again reinforces the question of how they can afford to be so picky about the type of headwear their clientele are wearing!) was in utter disbelief ; they could not believe that a group of girls, out celebrating the season and spending vast amounts of money, were being ejected simply for exhibiting some Christmas spirit!
Unfortunately, one of my friends decided to try and reason with the door staff. Surely that is a paradox in terms? Reason and door staff do not belong in the same sentence together! When asked why we had been removed, they simply stated it was the venue’s ‘policy’ for no hats to be worn. It’s not as if we would wear them every week, it was clearly a special occasion and so seemed slightly heavy-handed to remove a group of girls because they were infringing their strict ‘policy’. When my friend asked to see the said ‘policy’, she was refused. She then asked to see the manager, who was conveniently unavailable at this point. They did say, however, that those with the cracker hats on were ‘OK’ as they could see under them? What did they think we were hiding under there exactly?! Knives? Bottles of booze? Weapons of mass destruction!? As they were being so illogical, my friend then asked if they would apply the policy to an Indian Sikh wearing a turban, but of course, they said it was not the same issue. Is the Santa hat not a signifier of the Christian festival of Christmas? Clearly, this is a rule that they can pick and choose who it applies to. A vulnerable group of girls, doing nothing wrong, were an easy target to make these door staff look like they were keeping the peace, when in fact, they were doing nothing but creating the trouble themselves; is it any wonder people are afraid to go out in Accrington when you get treated like this?
The final nail in the coffin of our night was when one of the group nipped back inside to grab something they had left behind and the two door staff quickly grabbed her and launched her in to the street. This is simply not acceptable. We were not a group of angry, snarling girls when we went out, far from it in fact, but by God, did those door staff manage to create a monster after evicting us.
When did it become so difficult to enjoy a night out without trouble? It is supposed to be the time of good will to all men but instead we were treated like the scum of the earth. I am still in disbelief that this establishment has deemed Santa hats as offensive and potentially dangerous? To anyone out to have a good time this Christmas, I strongly suggest you avoid the Bee Knees if you intend on enjoying yourself (and wearing a hat)!
yours,
Disgruntled Santa Hat....
