REVEALED: Bouncer’s life of drugs, drunks
Former Toowoomba bouncer Peter talks about shocking things he’s seen on job
A FORMER Toowoomba bouncer has opened up about drugs, drunks and death threats while working in security.
THE BEGINNING - IT’S NOT LIKE THE MOVIES
IT’S his first week on the job and Peter’s (not his real name) adrenaline is flowing.
Yesterday was his 18th birthday. The nerves are building but so is the excitement.
It’s late but if he’s going to stick with his new job as a bouncer late nights are something he’s going to have to learn to deal with.
Everything’s going well in the first few hours. He’s putting on a tough façade and people are buying it.
That is until someone swings a pool cue at his head.
That was Peter’s first taste of what can go wrong as a bouncer.
His first thought? “It’s not like the movies.”
Since then, three years
have passed and Peter is a changed man.
He’s been punched, spat on, attacked with knives, threatened by bikies, glassed and had numerous death threats, both on the job and from those who
recognise his face in the street.
Now 21, the young man is back living in Ipswich after stints in Brisbane CBD and Toowoomba.
“Three weeks in I kicked three youths out right on
close.
“They didn’t want to finish their drinks and they were quite violent,” he said.
“I got them out, closed the doors, walked around the corner and they had just slashed the last of my tyres.
“One ran. The other two stayed. They both had knives and came at me with the intent to kill. You don’t have time to feel anything. It’s after that it all hits you. “It was full on.” Windows smashed, panels
❝
We were driving through the city and this guy who I’d thrown out two weeks prior tried to run us off the road.
dinted and tyres deflated, his car was a write-off.
Now he doesn’t park anywhere near venues.
“From that moment I changed as a person, completely,” he said.
I’M NOT A VIOLENT PERSON. I JUST HAPPEN TO BE GOOD AT IT
SURPRISING as it may be to some, Peter doesn’t consider himself a violent person, just someone who
has had to do violent things for work.
“Once I got someone’s tooth stuck in my hand and I had to pull it out and give it back to him,” he said.
“There was a 20-girl fight in an Ipswich club and I grabbed a girl and said ‘Come on, love’ and she bit down on my hand.
“I had to get tests done but they came back clear.
“I’ve had people put cigarettes out on me. But that’s just part of it.
“We’re not people, just the a**holes who didn’t let them in.”
Peter loves his job but it has severely impacted his personal life.
He’s been verbally and physically abused in shopping centres.
“It’s hard to maintain relationships. I don’t really have close friends any more. I keep to myself, it’s easier,” he said.
“I was going out with this one girl and we’d been dating for five weeks. We were driving through the city and this guy who I’d thrown out two weeks prior tried to run us off the road. “That was the end of that.” The most important thing Peter’s learned over three years is people skills.
“I learned sometimes you have to be as nice as possible. I can’t deal with a 50kg girl the same as I would to a group of guys,” he said.
“I haven’t punched anybody in a year and a half and it’s so much easier.”