A friend and I were just looking to have a bit of fun, just us girls, so we went to I.K. Because it's a popular hang-out for the Soldiers stationed here (my friend's husband is deployed right now.) She likes to sing, she does Karaoke events in her hometown all the time so I thought she might have fun here. She's also religious and doesn't drink alcohol, but told me she'd be okay with being my designated driver.
We arrived at IK, it's already somewhat crowded but people seem to be having fun. She looks through a 3-ring-binder of songs and picks one that she wants to perform while I wait at the bar to order my first drink, then proceeds to the bar to ask the barmaid about the song. AFTER the woman already put her song into the cue she then asks my friend if she'd like a drink, to which she replied "A glass of water." I guess, despite having already put the song request in her system, there's a policy about only paying customers can actually participate (this could have easily been mentioned BEFORE said request was accepted) and she proceeded to yell at her "You no pay, you no sing! You won't buy something, you no sing here!" This is not a racist paraphrasing, this is what the older Asian woman ACTUALLY SAID. She went on that there are already paying customers there, why should she let her sing ONE SONG if she wasn't going to pay for a drink (that she wouldn't have been able to drink anyway...)
The older woman then proceeded to needlessly interrogate her about her age (we were both already carded at the door) and that she didn't think she was actually 21. She said this loud enough that at least a few people around heard it and started to stare, by then we'd already tried explaining that she's the DD but I guess that's not good enough to just sing one song and have a little harmless fun.
Well, she's right, I guess they have enough paying customers that they don't need OUR PATRONAGE even though we were just trying to be responsible adults. I changed my mind about that drink, my friend changed her mind about IK, we went somewhere else instead. No one should be punished and humiliated for being responsible, the barmaid was incredibly rude to us for no good reason.
Go where you want, sing what you want, drink what you want, just keep in mind that designated drivers and their friends are clearly not welcome at International Karaoke & Bar, we will not be returning to this place any time soon ourselves. I also encourage others in Sierra Vista to plan ahead, have a DD, but don't go where you're not wanted: I.E., IK.
This is a military town, Soldiers and their friends can buy booze and sing ANYWHERE.
0 comments