Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone rang in 01/01/11 with a bang! I'm sure there are all kinds of crazy stories out there, and feel free to tell me all about them, but my New Years had a serious damper put on it by the city of Long Beach.
First of all, let me establish that generally speaking, I am a fan of security. Chaos and anarchy is not the way to live one's life, nor to be a productive member of society, but just like a society where fear has over ruled common sense, there is a certain point where security infringes on the liberties of others. Some people are okay with this, but I am not.
The girlfriend and I decide to head to Long Beach's relatively famous downtown block party for New Year's eve. From what we had heard, it was a good time. The lineup of bands were pretty cool (a Kansas tribute band, opening for a Neil Diamond cover group... yeah, you read that right, Neil Diamond. They were ironically awesome!) We arrive at around 1030pm to find the line to get in wrapping and stretching down several blocks. Should I remind you that this is a block party? Meaning open air venues, taking up several downtown streets of public property. Yeah, the LBPD was there enforcing stuff, and to their credit, they weren't being dicks to anyone, and they were just doing their jobs, but at the “Gate” there were private bouncers checking ID's, and then you had to be frisked and wanded with a metal detector – again by “event staff” just to get onto the street. I decided to cache the tactical folder that I keep in my pocket rather than risk this gauntlet of absurdity. The line took more than 2 hours to get through, and that is with us staying the course and not leaving, furious about the situation, like so many others (and people leaving were the only reason the line seemed to move at all). We counted down the new year waiting in line, with a crew of delightfully drunk Brazilians, who didn't understand why the powers that be would make such a big deal about getting into a party.
The infuriating situation outside the gate would have been somewhat justified had there been a cover charge, or a real risk to security (this isn't New Years on the Mall in DC after all) or had it even been a free for all inside, but once on the street, every bar there still checked ID's and had their own security in place – rendering the arm bands we got at the gate more than useless. We listened to the bands, and had a nice time, despite everything, but I walked away shaking my head. If I had been a business owner, I would have been furious at whoever had mandated the security situation, be it the city of Long Beach, or the Business Association, or whoever. That sort of situation does not prevent incidents. It practically incites them, and fights are still going to happen. The only result of this cordon was literally hundreds of potential customers being turned away or leaving in anger, and that's something that small business owners these days cannot afford to let happen.
