Thick skin is a job necessity
BOUNCER Karen Hughes reckons she's lucky. She's never been spat at.
Most security guards she knows have copped a face full of saliva or bloody spittle. At least.
It's Karen's third year working in security at Bojangles Nightclub.
It can be a tough job, and it's a career that requires a thick skin.
"You have to put up with people calling you names," Karen said.
She added that patrons asked to leave the club often resorted to profanity.
"They scream all manner of insults."
Kaz, as she's known, often uses a "good cop" approach when dealing with drunks.
"You don't just crash tackle - you mediate," she said.
But that tack isn't always so effective, especially when said drunkards are given their marching orders.
"There are times when you have to physically remove patrons," Karen said.
"We much prefer people to walk out on their own - it's less embarrassing."
While she's never been involved in a serious incident, Karen received her first battle wounds recently.
A couple started arguing inside Bojangles. When the girl began to lash out and try to scratch her boyfriend, one of Karen's male colleagues intervened.
He bundled her up, securing her arms and handed her over to Karen to take outside.
That's when she began to claw at Karen.
"She was a tiny, little thing," the bouncer explained, tracing the faint scars on her arms.
Karen's never crossed paths with that girl again. But others who've misbehaved have returned to say sorry.
And this bouncer appreciates the gesture.
"It takes a lot of balls to apologise."
IF I HAD A DOLLAR...
The lines Karen wishes she earned a buck for each time a patron is evicted:
"Make me."
"You can't make me."
"It wasn't my fault."
"I didn't do it."
