Champagne Anyone?

So I was out at a lounge on Saturday night for someone's birthday. This place was called Taj - swanky and dim, high ceilings and buddha like statues around. They had small couches with pillows on the sides - and a little coffee table in front to put your drinks. We were a big group and it was Michelle's birthday so we decided to snag one of these tables when they opened up.

Now these are the "Reserved" tables. The days of being able to go to a club or bar and actually sit down, are over. Now the only way that you can have the privilige of sitting is if you are willing to take a table and order lots of booze. And that doesn't mean you can order rounds of drinks all night. That's not enough either. These tables come with a specific menu - containing only bottles of liquor.

Now, I've been at "Reserved" tables maybe twice in my life. Why? I can't believe that clubs actually get away with this. I understand why they do it - but my question is - why do we the consumer allow them to? On this menu, you can purchase champagne or a bottle of Vodka, whatever. And they'll bring you glasses and a bucket of ice and Coke and juice to go with what you order. But dude, the bottles cost like $300-$600 bucks. Now I'm no expert, but if I'm not mistaken, even a bottle of Grey Goose is $30 or $40 bucks in the store.

A few months ago I was in Puerto Rico. We were staying at the El San Juan, and I admit, me, Kim and Matt were all staying on our parents' dime. Now Mike and his entourage were down there as well, so one night we're all going to the club in the El San Juan - I'm blanking on the name. And Mike thinks we should get a table. So there's seven of us. And the deal we end up negotiating is to get a table and drinks for $60 a person. Now ordinarily I would never spend this kind of money to be in a club that is going to be dark and loud and irritating to me anyway, but as I mentioned I was already in PR on my parents dime, and I had just won about $150 in the casino - the first victory in a four day streak. So I parted with the money, and in to the club we went. For $420 - we were given a tiny round booth - but all of us could fit in it if we squeezed. We got a bottle of vodka, a bottle of barcardi, a few cans of red bull, a glass carafe of orange juice and a few cans of Pepsi. I think I had one Screwdriver that night - the $60 cocktail - by far the most expensive drink I've ever had.

Note to my generation: This "Reserved" table bullshit is a waste of time and money. Sitting at a table with a bottle of severly overpriced liquor makes you look stupid, not cool. This is just another installment of a series of complaints that I have which is called "What's fun about clubbing anyway?" I may need to start my own column on here about just that. :-)