5 Tips to Avoid Being in the Middle of a Bar Brawl

It’s terrifying, being stuck in an enclosed room when an out-of-control fight occurs. If you ever had to deal with emergency drills in school, you probably remember thinking it was all a bit ridiculous. Being interrupted during class to stand outside and wait or huddle under your desk. While earthquakes and your school burning down to the ground were rare or unlikely events, the possibility was there. It’s knowing what to do in order to stay out of harm’s way during a bar brawl may not be day to day useful but if it ever happened, you’d be glad to know what to do.

General liability policies for bars typically have provisions that will pay out to an injured person who was attacked in a bar brawl. Still, it may take a lawyer to get an insurance carrier to cough up a claim. It all seems like a bit too much trouble when you could just avoid the whole thing. Don’t let a party pooper ruin your night out, here are ways to avoid being caught in the middle of a violent situation.

1. Read the Signs

In a bar setting, there is usually one trouble maker that will get ridiculously drunk. They will likely start to stumble, their eyes demonstrate incoherence and they may mumble.

It takes some time before they start swinging punches or offend someone enough to start a fight. It takes just one person to start a bar brawl usually and that person gives off plenty of signs that trouble is on the rise. Be cautious around this person and keep your distance.

2. Don’t React to the Trouble Maker

While it may be enticing to talk back to a cheeky drunk person, it’s best to ignore them. Even if they sit down at your table, just keep socializing with your friends.

Someone looking to cause trouble needs to get a reaction from you, that is their power. Don’t give them any. If they won’t leave after you’ve ignored them for awhile, move tables in the least obvious way possible.

3. Give the Bartender the Heads Up

The last thing you want to do is try to be a hero in a situation like this. You may end up leading the brawl if you confront the party wrecker yourself.

Bartenders, bouncers or a bar manager have the best tactics to calm an inebriated patron down. If it doesn’t work, they kick them out. You can nip the situation in the bud without putting yourself at risk if you just let the right people working at the bar know what’s going on.

4. Move to Another Establishment

If you’ve managed to read the signs and believe that there is a threat, you may want to move your happy crew to a different watering hole before things get out of hand.

Do it in the right time of course as you don’t want the trouble maker to follow you. If they are sitting at your table and you all get up to leave, they will probably follow you. If you leave one by one and disperse yourself between the bar, bathroom and dance floor, they will find someone else to focus on. Once that happens, you can all quietly leave together.

5. Duck and Cover

If all other points failed and you are in the bar when a brawl breaks out, by all means, hide under the table. If you can, get to the bathroom or another room within the bar.

If you do manage to make it outside, leave the area so when the fighters get kicked out, you’re not in the middle of a worse situation outside. If you don’t want to end up being the innocent victim to a bar brawl, stay out of the way. It will break up quickly so you just need to find a safe spot for a short time.

Featured photo credit: Christian Birkholz/Pixabay via pixabay.com

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