Rantings of a Crazed Heckler



11/20/00

Today we talk about hypocrisy. This topic, as well as the events discussed in this forum, have been on my mind for quite a few months, and yet I never really let it see the light of day. I'm hoping that by bringing some of these events to the attention of the masses, people will realize what a hypocratic world we members live in at times.

About four months ago, LQ Clinton held a lock-in on a saturday evening. During the course of this event, one of the members showed up after a party where alcohol had been served. Apparently the staff of LQ Clinton realized this, and the manager in charge immediately accused this member of being intoxicated on LQ property. They even went so far as to smell his breath and then accuse him once again. This member denied the allegations vehemently, and to this day he denies that he was drunk at the time. Nevertheless, this member was asked to leave the lock-in, and was told that if he ever showed up under the influence of alcohol again, he would receive a lengthy ban from Laser Quest.

A few VERY interesting things come to my mind when I think of this. One of which may blow the minds of the masses. First off, I know of COUNTLESS evenings where I have been at the center and there has been a non member or two playing LQ that are VISIBLY and undeniably intoxicated or under the influence of other drugs (it's not that hard to smell weed, folks). At no time were any of these individuals checked for their intoxication level, nor were they EVER asked to leave. Yet one particular member...who was not even proven to be intoxicated....was asked to leave an LQ event because he may have possibly had an alcoholic beverage at some point in that evening. Now, I know that the members only make up less than ten percent of the LQ population, but does that excuse removing him from LQ property, and not removing the members of the general public that are guilty of the same thing? Think of it like this. The member in question plays LQ on a regular basis....knows the packs, knows the maze, and is less likely to hurt himself or someone else than a random member of the general public who is intoxicated in our maze. It just makes no sense to me...

Secondly, if this member WAS INDEED intoxicated (which he was, according to the staff!), then why in god's name would the staff let him drive home? Why would you remove someone from your property and make them operate a vehicle if you have reason to believe they have been drinking? I believe that in some states, if an individual leaves a party or a bar, drives drunk, and injures someone, including his or herself...then the person who owns the location of the party, or the person who owns the bar, is held responsible for the damage because they let this person drive under the influence. So if this member was so UNDOUBTEDLY drunk, then why would the manager on duty risk the reputation of Versent by letting this person drive home? Obviously this would lead me to believe the staff member is either a moron, or wasn't really sure that the member was drunk.....

And finally....in what could be the GREATEST form of hypocrisy I've encountered in years...the staff member who was responsible for throwing this member out, the individual who was POSITIVE that this member was intoxicated......this staff person was seen HIGHLY inebriated at a CORPORATE SPONSORED LASER QUEST EVENT!!!!! He admitted it to his teammates (or at least a few of them) and showed NO remorse for it at the time....and then went into a game and almost single handedly cost his team that game (which may have cost the team a spot at the North American Challenge as well, but that's besides the point...) Mind you, this is the SAME person who, 2 months later, removed a member from an LQ event because the person was supposedly inebriated.....and to this day he STILL randomly checks that member for alcohol on his breath (supposedly as a joke, but I"m waiting for the punchline...)

So I ask you all.....what is the deal here? Since when have LQ staff members become higher forms of life than the LQ Members? Have any other centers had this type of hypocrisy occur to them? I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on this matter. If it is happening elsewhere, maybe this is something we need to address....because as hard as we may try to get along with our staff, things like this sure put a damper on those relations....

I'm The Heckler, and I'm not wearing any pants....

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Email: heckler__@hotmail.com