The music is loud, the dancing is hot, the drinks are strong. To anyone who has ever had the opportunity to visit any of the various nightlife hotspots in Toronto, this scenario should sound extremely familiar- especially during Frosh week. Guys and gals gathering on a sweaty dance floor to have some good old-fashioned fun right? Well… not always.
The truth is that what starts off as a fun-filled night equipped with hard alcohol and loosened inhibitions can sometimes turn into excessive and out of control antics. As people drink more, they lose their sense of social propriety. As a result, they can not only get sick, but they can become more emotional and in many cases more aggressive.
Lately, there has been a slew of violent tragedies taking place in the downtown clubbing district. To quote a few headlines, “Woman dies in club shooting; Six others wounded as gunmen open fire on party-goers in Toronto nightspot,” from The Spectator on April 25; and “Local man shot and killed outside club” in the Etobicoke Guardian on August 10.
With this in mind I went to investigate various night spots to uncover the various techniques bars use to promote healthy drinking. My findings: other than the odd poster for MADD in the washrooms, the clubs showed little to no interest in promoting responsible drinking. In fact, it is my humble opinion that the majority of the clubs make it a challenge to drink responsibly despite official mandates.
It is required of those who serve alcohol in Toronto to take what is known as the Smart Serve course, which, in the organization’s own words,is a “non-profit organization dedicated to developing and delivering responsible server training to all individuals who serve alcohol beverages or work where alcohol beverages are served in the province of Ontario.”
From my investigation’s findings, it is clear that bartenders’ mentalities are in the smart serving frame of mind; it’s just a different kind of smart: money smart. The more they serve, the more people drink, become frivolous with money, and shell out more tips. But the bartenders are not the only culprits involved in this phenomenon.
Think about it from the club owner’s perspective. Their only real objective is to get customers to spend money, so often that means serving drinks to those who clearly don’t need another, and making sobering techniques expensive and inaccessible.
Water is an essential tool to help re-hydrate the body and balance out the alcohol after a long night of drinking. And, as I found, water is not made very attainable at the majority of the hotspots in downtown Toronto. Au contrair, mon amie. At one club a bottle of water reached the high of $4.50, making a shot of tequila seem more affordable and more tempting.
Wouldn’t it be much more responsible for clubs to offer free bottles of water? Surely the ten dollars club-goers pay at the door should cover at least one “free” bottle of water. And, if bottles of water were readily available for the partier, it would slow him or her down from drinking so much alcohol. Although it may not initially seem to be in the club’s financial interest, providing water would allow the club owner to avoid excessive drinking nightmares-such as the recent violence- from taking place in his or her club. With this threat removed, more crowds would be showing up to have a good time.
It seems so simple: bottles of water. Yet, this simple and affordable idea has been completely overlooked in the Toronto clubs, and the violence continues.
