PRINTOn the job: Bouncer
Q&A with Trent Kesterson
IVY ASHE
Trent Kesterson
June 17, 2009 | 12:00 p.m. CST
What does a bouncer do?
Basically you’re a babysitter for a bunch of drunks. They’re like little kids.
How did you become a bouncer?
I needed a job, and I had a friend I went to high school with that worked up at Willie’s. He got me in and got me an interview, talked to the manager and he liked me. The owner of Tin Can, I met him at the bar one night, and he asked me if I knew any people that might be interested in working for him. I told him that I was interested.
Why haven’t you left Columbia?
I’m from here. I was born in Columbia. I just decided that going to school here was the easiest plan. Hopefully when I graduate, I’ll leave here for somewhere with a beach.
What is the funniest thing that you’ve ever seen happen while on the job?
Pretty much every night there is something that is funny. I don’t know really how it started. This girl fell on her face and broke her nose. All of her friends surrounded her crying. I had to walk away because I was about to laugh. My buddy is pre-med, and he was yelling at the girls telling them they were doing it all wrong, that they were going to mess up her nose. He had to be restrained by another bouncer. Another night I had to walk somebody out, but he walked into the glass window. There is also a lot of bro love at bars.
So why do you do it?
Basically it started out just as a job. I enjoy being able to talk to people; there’s a lot of interesting people you’ll meet doing it. I like the people I work with so that helps a lot, too.
NAME: Trent Kesterson
AGE: 22
WORKS AT: Willie’s, Field House and Tin Can Tavern
AT JOB SINCE: February 2008
COMO RESIDENT SINCE: Birth
SCHOOL: Senior at MU, Nutrition and Fitness major
What’s one of the scariest things that has ever happened to you?
I’ve been threatened by a lot of people. People think there’s a fight every night. There’s not a fight every night. I have a fight maybe once every month.
Do you drink on the job?
No, never have, never will. Both places tell you not to. If I do, I lose my edge. The fact that I’m not drunk is the reason I can move around someone who is bigger than me. If I do drink, it defeats the purpose of me being there.
Anything about your job that bugs you?
It’s fun until you get the people that badger and yell at you, like with cover. If my manager tells me to charge cover, I have to charge it. It’s interesting what people will try to do to not pay the cover. I’ve had people tell me that my job sucks and they have better jobs than me. They tell me who do I think I am and that I’m not important. I just tell them that I’m the guy keeping them out of the bar tonight.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Hang out with friends. I like to go play sports. I play volleyball, I mean getting outside, going out to the farm, going fishing. Nothing too exciting, I’m not a crazy party person. Working in a bar you don’t want to go to a bar; it’s just like going to work
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