“That was the jankiest, grossest, most disgusting place I have ever been to in my entire life.”
These were the first words I spoke out loud when I returned from one of the most difficult reporting jobs of my journalism career. For the assignment, I ventured to a place I had honestly hoped to avoid during my time at UT: Cass Bar.
It is no secret Cass Bar is a hot spot for students, especially each week on Tick Tock Tuesday.
When I walked up to the bouncer I noticed every girl in front of me looked about my age, 19, if not younger. It did not occur to me to look at their IDs until I noticed they all received the “21 and up” wristband. I peeked over the shoulder of the girl in front of me in hopes of getting a better look at her ID. It was from Hawaii. And the back of the ID was blank.
So that’s all it takes?
I almost giggled when the bouncer looked surprised to see a real ID that was for someone under the age of 21. He had to go dig for the wristband for the younger folks. Did I mention the “wristband” was a black plastic zip tie?
The next stop was a woman at a register collecting the cover charge. She made note of the permanent marker “X” on both my hands and asked me for $15. My stomach churned. People do this every week? My heart lept at the thought of things $15 could get me. Gas, groceries, Taco Bell.
As soon as I rounded the corner I was surrounded by people, booze and cigarette smoke. Each step I took further into the madness the louder it got and the stickier the floor became. I noticed a girl I recognized from class. I recalled her discussing the plans she was making for her 19th birthday as she chugged from a beer can.
I took one loop around the building and decided to camp out at a table closer to the dance floor. I realized as time went on the radius between me and the buzzed bar-goers grew larger. It was as if I had a plague no one wanted to catch. A plague called sobriety.
As the hour dragged on I grew curious as to what was so enticing about this place. The proximity to campus? The accessibility to alcohol? I didn’t get it. I made my way to the outdoor area thinking it would be quieter. Wrong.
A techno mashup of “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction blasted so loud I could feel the floor buzzing under my feet. I watched a girl make her way to a barstool, climb on it on her knees and reach up to a ceiling fan, as if it was a carnival ride she couldn’t wait to grab on to.
Not wanting to witness a decapitation, I turned my attention to another girl who decided to practice her heel stretch while wearing a miniskirt.
As 11 p.m. rolled around, I took one final loop around and decided the end of the hour could not have come soon enough. I called it a night, proudly handed the bouncer my wristband, and allowed him to remove the zip tie.
For those of you that weekly “tick-tockers”, more power to you. For those of you that are wondering what you are missing out on: not much.