In the last 5 years, I noticed something: I always feel a strange feeling of schadenfreude (gloating at someone else's misfortune) when I find out that a nightclub is permanently closed, whether at the door or on their Yelp review. I don't know why, I just do. It has to do with my long history of bad experiences I had in nightclubs, where I was often dragged to by my bossy former friends. I constantly got rejected, lied about to bouncers, ignored by bartenders, and on a few occasions, even threatened by guys. So even after I got better at navigating their social scene, the bad taste in my mouth never really left me. I only kept going to clubs because Meetup didn't exist back then, and there wasn't much else for young people (under 30) to do on weekends.
I went through a short-lived phase of enjoying nightclubs, lasting less than 2 years. And I still have fun in nightclubs on cruise ships. But even then, it was always with friendly groups who respected me, rather than seeing me as a lovable loser or outright looking down on me. Usually, these groups had women who danced with me. Today, no one I know goes to nightclubs, and I have no desire to ever return to one. Except on my ship during a cruise, of course.
In the above, I'm talking about actual nightclubs: played-out top 40 music, glitzy decor, light projectors, arrogant guys, snooty girls, etc. It doesn't include dive bars, Latin clubs, piano bars, and "specialty" clubs, like swing dance clubs; they were always fun for me.
22 Nov 2019, 11:37 am
