Naw, didn't go in. Friends started at 1 tippling. I'm probably paranoid but you do start evaluating body language and facial animations as a black guy. Usually, early evening on a Friday, the bouncer is inviting. They want to sell you now to drive business. Now, if it's 11 pm and a line is around the corner, you get no love.
But again, I do admit my paranoia. But thank you for acknowledging the perspective. It's weird; could be something or absolutely nothing. You become a facial animator detective; 'I see jaggies along his eye brows, something's amiss.' He might have needed to take a dump, I don't know.
The paranoia is legitimate but I think Philly may be a bit better about it than other cities, but again I can't speak because I don't experience it. For a place like Franklin Mortgage the dude may be just more surprised because I don't think they get a lot of black patrons. In my experience it doesn't seem like cocktail bars get patronized by black people often. I always figured it was because black people hated the phony white dude clientele, but now that I think about it from you perspective it could also be because they get hassled at the places by scummy bouncers.
I actually get really bummed out when new businesses open up and I don't see the old residents of neighborhoods embrace them. That's why places like say Heritage in No Libs or South in Spring Garden get a thumbs up from me. They are jazz places, so maybe it's a bit more stereotypical, but I really get happy seeing everyone in the community enjoying the spots rather than just yuppies and hipsters. I feel like a lot of places just don't even bother feeling the community out and seeing what they can do to draw in existing/old residents with the new ones.
I remember a few weeks back the bar Clarkville got tagged with anti-gentrification graffiti. I remember the owners saying something like "I wish they knew what we were about" or "they just don't get it" and "I'm not Stephen Starr, I have to work every day." I mean, yeah, you may really want to engage the neighborhood, but if they are not getting it it's probably your fault before it's theirs. If you're serving shit like "chicory salad" and "heirloom tomato pizza" in a neighborhood that gentrified and the old residents have to work two hours to afford your damn tiny pizza I don't think they are entirely wrong for being upset sometimes. It's a two way street.
I'm a big proponent of gentrification but I acknowledge there are better ways to go about it. I think Penny Giles in Francisville does a good job of balancing the concerns of all of the groups. It's funny, because I have heard both sides in Francisville say "she only cares about them". If both sides say you only care about the other side it's a good sign you are actually working hard to do best by both sides. Maybe some of these places should do things like work with the CDC to start job training programs for wait staff at restaurants to get some of the teens in those neighborhoods involved instead of just putting up a flyer in Northern Liberties and getting some english degree to wait the tables.
