Bouncers Are People Too
STATE COLLEGE, Pa- Who are the most important people at a bar? Some might argue bartenders. It is the bouncers who are the backbone of a bar.
Three bouncers who work at bars in downtown State College talked about their experiences. These experiences have highs and lows. They are all passionate about the job and value the experience.
Eric Doberstein works for Penn State by day and works as a bouncer by night. Doberstein is a financial aid advisor and liaison to the Division of Undergraduate Studies. “I have been a financial aid advisor for Penn State for 12 years this summer and have been specifically assigned to liaison with DUS for the last five,” Doberstein said. On the weekends, he is the head bouncer/security manager at the Basement. He’s worked for Hotel State College for almost 20 years.
Bouncing has its pros and cons. Doberstein likes bouncing for social relevance. He likes people remembering who he is. The money is good. Doberstein is one of the highest-paid workers and enjoys the tip. It is a side hustle for him. The long hours and the physical tool is draining for him. During the day, he is working for 9 hours and 5 days a week. On the weekend (Thursday to Saturday), he works 6 hours and 3 days a week.
Doberstein also mentions how he likes social capital. “Because of my role at the Basement I have made friends at most of the other bars and restaurants in town. I don’t have to wait in line. I get discounts or free service at a lot of places in return for reciprocity for helping them out at the Basement,” Doberstein said. This leads to other bars having an alliance of sorts.
Nick De La Torre is a 30-year-old student at Penn State and a friend of Doberstein. He is majoring in cyber security analysis. He is an active marine reserve member. De La Torre works as the head bouncer at Cafe 210 West. De La Torre met Doberstein while he was working on a Tuesday night.
“We have an alliance of sorts with the Basement. If they let the Cafe people cut the line, we will do the same for the Hotel State College employees,” De La Torre said. De La Torre is a teacher at heart. It would not be uncommon to see him teach strangers how to catch fake IDs.
De La Torre mentioned what he looks for when looking at Pennslyvania IDs. There are three words near your picture. The three words are virtue, liberty, and independence. He looks to see if the “y” in the liberty aligns with the “e” independence. “Most people are not even aware of this,” De La Torre said.
He describes himself as a relaxed bouncer. He loves being stationed in the back during the weekends because he gets to listen to the live bands.
Matthew Kreuzberger is 31 years old and the head bouncer at Jax. He is friends with Doberstein and De La Torre. Kreuzberger loves to boast about getting $40 for every fake ID he catches.
Kreuzberger explains how when conflict arises, he is loud but reasonable when handling tense situations. “I am generally loud with people. I try to be reasonable,” Kreuzberger said. He went on the explain how Jax is not as popular with college students. It is mainly the older crowd he deals with. So these situations are few and far between.
All three of these head bouncers try to keep a cool head when working. “The most important skills a bouncer can have are having a good eye, patience, a thick skin, and a desire to be nice. Folks will come up to me and tell me they can handle themselves in a fight as their first skill when applying to be a bouncer. We aren’t working in an inner-city here,” Doberstein said.
These bouncers have rarely gotten into any fistfights. They remember that their clientele is mostly college students. Some of them get too drunk and make bad decisions.
They have all learned from their times as bouncers. “I’ve learned over the years as a bouncer how to make everyone I interact with feel like they’re important. I hope that 10, 20 years from now they’re telling stories about their time at Penn State, the Basement, and how that one bouncer was the best,” Doberstein said.
