Ban the locals?

Note: All articles in the Opinion section are the views of the individuals expressing them and do not represent The Stand’s official stance on anything.

I’ve only ever been rejected from one bar in my life. I was relatively sober. My downfall was a pair of patent leather heels and a dip in the concrete. In front of a bouncer with a diamond earring, I ate pavement with a theatre-worthy flourish. Recovering quickly, I figured that he would see that my inebriation was in no means excessive nor out of the ordinary and would let me in on that quiet Thursday night. This was not so. With an almost keen relish the bouncer allowed my drunker friends to prance in the doors glancing sadly my way while I trudged home to make eggs.

I know what it’s like to be rejected from a St Andrews bar. It’s no fun, because it’s obvious that you haven’t got in and you can’t crawl in a hole as there are only three main streets here. The other day I heard (and I’ve noticed) that the brass at the Vic have a nasty habit of preventing locals from entering their hipster alcohol caves. This struck a chord in my going-out heart, because once is enough to get rejected here semi-sober. Being banned because you actually originate from Fife and lack a gold pinky ring is quite another.

Apart from the fact that banning locals is a socially discriminatory act in itself, it’s also stupid and ignorant for two reasons. The first is the fact that American freshers are still obsessed with British accents. They go out and are titillated to find Fife drawls. You’d be surprised how many dewy eyed freshman will vacate the premises once they find that bright-trousered upperclassmen have replaced the locals.

The second reason is the bare bones fact that this place isn’t ours. It never has been. The point of St Andrews, as a town, university and holy ground for golf is to service a myriad of needs, and give something back to the place that gave us Kate n’ Wills and Raisin. You should leave St Andrews in a better place than you found it – and when it comes to nightlife watering holes, that means encouraging the local places to let the people that were born here get to scribble graffiti on the loo doors too.

What really worries me about banning locals is that it must have been based on negative feedback from students. If so, then we need to take a better look at our fellow student body. I’ve seen locals escorted out by the scruff of their collars, I’ve seen chunderous masses and fights with terrified first year bartenders over poorly pulled pints. But the ruckus the locals cause is a fraction of what the students do. If we really want to play ‘who has caused more alcohol-induced rabble rousing’, then we, the student population, win by a long shot. So let’s let the locals back in – for their accents, their spunk, and because they’re not responsible for the party doing the most damage to the unspoken deal between Town and Gown.

Disclaimer: The Stand can not verify that local people have been turned away from The Vic.