Jason profited from his physical presence, and his urge to put other’s safety over his own. Being a bouncer meant maintaining order and honor among his fellow FAU students while they imbibed at the University Center’s Rathskellar. He also took on a bouncer/barker role for his family’s bar in Key West, Upstairez.
The 90s were a fun time to be in college. Jason helped pay for his college classes, books and expenses working a variety of jobs for the University Center, helping organize, cook, clean, and most often: bounce at the front door of the University Center’s Rathskellar. He was relatively fearless at the time, having spent too much time in martial arts classes as a teen and college student; this was an opportunity to leverage that investment in a way his other martial arts classmates did.
At the Rathskellar, Jason performed:
- Crowd Control during events.
- Assisting unruly patrons towards behaviors everyone can appreciate.
- Assisting threatened patrons in a quick and safe escape.
- Assisting incapacitated patrons get the help they need to leave safely.
- Confiscating alcohol from and ejecting underage guests.
- Confirming ages and validating identification.
- Collecting entrance fees and distributing credentials.
- Cleaning the venue after busy nights.
- Assisting co-workers on whatever they needed.
- Training new co-workers.
- Reporting events accurately and objectively to management and officials.
- Keeping the peace.
In Key West, Jason did the following:
- Helped promote the new bar
- on the street “barking” during open hours,
- and around town, spreading awareness with locals and tourists.
- managed entry checks,
- helped management with miscellaneous assignments,
- and performed the role of bouncer.
This was fun work, not really like working, but more like playing around compared to previous jobs. What made it fun was getting into the Key West spirit, celebrating the environment of the island as as requirement of the job. So many other roles required completely Dionysian demeanor, but being a street barker needed someone sell to Bacchanalian experiences, exuding welcome and cheer.