People Lounge

Loud music, weak drinks & puking frat boys put a damper on things

People Lounge (163 Allen St, NYC) is your typical Manhattan lounge. Low light, cushy sofas, expensive drinks, beautiful people and music. It seems like a nice enough place, but by an hour and a half into the night, I had had enough. Suddenly I was feeling old, cranky and outta place.

This revelation bothered me because I was there with a group of some of the best people I know. We were gathering for an early birthday celebration for my friend Jennifer and I was looking forward to having a great time–as I usually do with this group. But several things happened that made me realize how much these types of places don’t appeal to me.

First was the human lawn sprinkler who puked all over the entrance of the men’s room–not to mention the men’s room itself. I unfortunately didn’t realize this until my foot slipped on a particularly wet and chunky bit of flooring. The culprit was in the bathroom cleaning up, telling his friend, “I’m OK now. Let’s get another drink.” Thankfully he was not a part of our group. I nearly puked myself as I made my way out of that minefield and back to where the party was.

The high prices of the cocktails here didn’t really phase me. I’ve gotten used to all kinds of pseudo-swanky NYC joints charging $9 – $11 for a simple Jack & Coke or Vodka & Soda or whatever. What does bother me is when those drinks are unfairly small and weak. And since I didn’t even want to think what they would charge for straight bourbon, I did something that I rarely ever do. I switched to bottled beer. At $6.00, it seemed like a bargain.

The point where I felt myself being done with the night was when the music got so loud, that just trying to talk to any of my friends became an impossible task. After years of damaging my ears in front of loud amps in bands, there’s a certain point where the volume of the music, voices and ambient sound becomes nothing more than a painful buzzing spike to my eardrums.

Normally–if I know there will be such a blasting–I would put in ear plugs. But this is a small (really, really small), intimate lounge. It never crossed my mind to even bring earplugs, let alone think I’d need to wear them. Who would expect an area the size of the average NYC studio loft to pump the volume up to concert levels? I wanted to stay and hang with Jennifer and my friends, but I just had to leave.

It’s a shame when such a potentially warm, cozy place like this can turn me off so quickly. I can’t really blame it on the place. After all, it was filled with happy dancing, drinking revelers who I’m sure stayed long after I called it quits. And truthfully, I can’t really blame this on my getting older either.

As much as I’ve always felt (and acted) like a child, when it comes to overly loud music, weak drinks and puking frat boys, I have always been seriously old.

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People Lounge