Paco´s Life: Madrid

Estocolmo empieza a tocarme los cojones / Stockholm is starting to piss me off

Definitely I am not getting well with this city. Friday night, we go out to the most popular place in Stockholm, the Blue moon bar, opening till late and supposed to have the best atomosphere. There I am in a corridor, speaking with the people who was coming with me when suddently a big bouncer approachs me. He tells me that I have to leave, that he thinks I am drunk. Those of you who know me may think that he was right, obviously I was not totally sober, we had been drinking something before but I can tell you I was not wasted, I was very quiet, speaking with another guy. I was not dancing weird and of course I was not disturbing anyone. I had recently entered the place and I hadnt had time even for ordering a beer. So I try to explain all this to my new friend using English, apparently he does not like too much when we say we are Spanish, by the way, why the fuck does he has to ask us where we come from? does it makes a difference or what? The sucker becomes agressive, is not only that he wants me to leave but also that I am pissing him off. He starts to push me downstairs and sends another bouncer to get my jacket. The feeling of frustration is total because just in a second your night is over. Is just 1am and you just spent arround 12 euros to stay just 20 minutes in that place.

And the worst is that there is no justification at all, if I was producing a mess I could manage to undersand it, but even if he thinks by looking at my face that I am wasted (that I wasnt) thats only my fucking problem, it only becomes his if I am disturbing someone. At my age nobody is gonna tell me what I can drink. The guy was obssesed about kicking me out of there, only he knows why, not even his own colleages could convince him that I was ok. Why me and not the people coming with me? Was it the long hair or what? I dont wanna jump into conclussions but I am starting to see xenofobia in these people. Because swedish get drunk like hell and nobody kicks them out. Because I have been in that place 3 times and the first time they already tried to kick me out but when the guy spoke to me he had to admit I was ok. Because every time we go there they ask us for IDs (and I dont think we look too young) and when we prove it they look pretty dissapointed. And the sad thing is that this happens very often, the previous IT intern ended up in the street a few times and some of them violently. There is a girl here whose recently ordered beer was taken by the bouncers and she was kicked out. They say in Sweden is illegal to serve alcohol to someone who is already drunk but, who is the one to decide that? Is the level of accepted alcohol different deppending on wheter you are local or not?

The thing is that you get the impression that going out here is a fucking lottery, the party might be finished at any time, deppending on the arbitrary decision of a motherfucker. And of course, the normal reaction would be to decide not to be back in that place ever, but the sadly fact is that there are not too many options to go out in this wonderfull city after 1am. So you better get home earlier or some sucker will help you to take this decision. You get very pissed and feel like sending the fucking country to the hell.
Anyway, I consider it is also important to discuss these issues here, those considering Stockholm to be a great destination better think twice about it. I have lived in quite a few places and never found this shit. I dont like the atmosphere here, appart from the bouncer problem people in general looks kind of proud and not easy to reach, showing their money arround with an arrogant face. If right now I have to fill that famous report with the good/bad things of the city I am afraid the score wont be too high. I dont know wether this a problem of the country or just concerns to the posh capital. Maybe I have been very unlucky and now I am pissed and exagerating. But I have been here more than a month and my first impression is not changing. So I will have to do something about it, for the time been I am organizing plenty of weekends plans so I dont have to spend them here. Heading back to the Erasmus world is another good option, apparently they go out on Wednesdays and on weekends they just organize parties at the uni, avoiding going to the center. I am starting to understand why…