The cost of an evening on the town is not what it used to be. A few pints of suds and various incidental expenses usually set me back about 40 bones. It's definitely not a necessary expense, but it's something I'm prepared to deal with for the sake of a good time. My life, on the other hand, is not something I'm prepared to throw in.
There is always a certain amount of risk involved in any kind of nightlife. On the surface, bars and nightclubs are a ludicrous enterprise: Find a building, think of a clever gimmick to get a seething mass of people inside, serve them all gallons of liquor, turn out the lights and pray to the deity of your choice that nothing goes wrong.
Assuming you make it out of the bar, there's the risk that someone on the road (hopefully it's not you) has grossly overestimated his or her capacity to drive. Risk is unavoidable.
Living life is sometimes as much a numbers game as it is an exercise in precaution and responsibility. Over the past week or so, a lot of people's numbers came up in Chicago, West Warwick and even right here in Tempe.
In Chicago, the deck was stacked in favor of death. There is no gentle way to say it. Regardless of the motivation for the stampede that resulted in 21 deaths, the fact remains that emergency exits were reportedly locked - a circumstance that was beyond the immediate control of every one of the club's patrons. Only the club's owners and security guards had the ability, through their actions and contingency planning, to prevent it from happening. Obviously, they failed.
In West Warwick, R.I., the actions of an '80s metal band, of all things, doomed 96 people to death and injured 187 more. A West Warwick club known as The Station caught fire and burned to the ground after members of the band, Great White, set off pyrotechnics inside. This incident has resulted in much finger pointing and many accusatory statements, but there are few precious answers.
Here again, someone unwittingly took the lives of others into his or her own hands. Either it was the club's owners by giving permission to use the fireworks without considering the possible consequences, or it was the band by deciding to use them without first thinking through the ramifications.
This kind of reckless disregard for human life cannot be tolerated. The problem is, you won't know you're playing shadow games with the reaper until it's too late. I don't know about you, but I couldn't tell you where one fire exit is at Mill Cue Club, The Library or anywhere else for that matter.
About the only place I know I could get out of is Dos Gringos. You put a lot of blind faith in the people who are running your drinking establishments, hoping that they know what they're doing and that they're taking their responsibilities seriously. In Tempe, clubs and bars are reportedly inspected five or six times per year, which is a good incentive to stay up to code; but vigilance is still required.
Of course, there are also circumstances beyond the purview of even the most dedicated bar or club owner.
Tempe resident Kevin Johnson was tragically killed outside of a club on a Saturday night in one of the most heavily policed parts of the city. No one can explain why a man, who was by all accounts an incredibly upstanding citizen, fell victim to a single fatal punch. This is not to impugn the Tempe police for failing to stop the punch from being thrown. There is no way they could have.
The citizens of Tempe are not altogether free from blame, though. A man being assaulted in the middle of a crowd of people generally does not go unnoticed. And yet, there are reports that Mr. Johnson laid there unaided for quite some time.
The overarching theme here is this: People are most vulnerable when they are having a good time. Attitudes are relaxed, and many things are taken for granted. While the government should hold a sizeable role in maintaining our safety (mostly via the police), the rest is up to private citizens. In other parts of this country, the private citizens have failed one another.
Here in Tempe, I propose a pact. To you, the bar owner, I request only that you do all in your power to give the consumers peace of mind. And we, your patrons, will look out for one another and reward you with many years of faithful and trouble-free service.
Chris Kotterman is a journalism and political science senior. Reach him at chris.kotterman@asu.edu.
