SamIslands

Never Again

Back in December I came out from Manhattan to gauge some Queens bars the night of a bad snow storm. I got to Club Atlantis some time after 10:00 and barely anyone was there aside from the bartenders, but for some reason it still took forever before I was served. After a minute I put my hat down next to my drink and got up to take a look around the place. My back had been turned for all of seven seconds, but when I came back to my seat, my hat, which I had borrowed from my boyfriend, was missing. It was grey with fur interior, the kind with ear flaps. I asked the two bartenders if they had seen it, and they just smirked at eachother and ignored me, wiping out some glasses. Again, there was no one there but the bartenders, so it couldn't have been another patron. So I asked them again if they had my hat, and they said "No," then, again, turned to eachother and started smirking. I looked under the bar, in my pockets, everywhere. I ended up having to trudge through nine inches of snow back to the seven train (which I had to wait on for twenty minutes because of delays due to the weather) with nothing to protect my head from the blustery cold but my scarf, which was soaking wet by the time I got on a car. I more disappointed than mad about my experience - you go to a gay bar to have fun and feel safe and comfortable, not robbed by the people who work there. But that was just my experience, so, if you must go, bring a friend to watch your stuff, because I certainly won't be going back.