If you want to understand how a cool bar thinks, just take the way every other business thinks—”please the customer and they’ll come back”—and do the opposite.
I call it the You’re A Little Bitch strategy. Being forced to stand in line like a tamed snail—often when it’s cold and even sometimes when the bar is empty—is your first taste of the You’re a Little Bitch strategy.
While you wait, you’ll watch several all-girl groups walk to the front of the line without waiting, where the bouncer opens the rope and lets them in. Ahead of you. Because you’re a little bitch.
When you finally get to the front, you’ll notice there’s no sign with the bar’s name anywhere, because the bar likes to watch its little bitch customers go through extra trouble to find them.
You’re then asked for your ID by someone who may not have been the biggest dick in your high school—but he was the biggest dick in someone’s high school.
My model is that the primary service the Cool Bars provide is gatekeeping, so if you’re not the kind of person big spenders want to be seen with (pretty girls and impressive men) it’s going to be a hassle.
Related (and hilarious): Why You Secretly Hate Cool Bars from WaitButWhy
My model is that the primary service the Cool Bars provide is gatekeeping, so if you’re not the kind of person big spenders want to be seen with (pretty girls and impressive men) it’s going to be a hassle.