'Anger bar' lets patrons beat up staff

[Grimmlok]

A bar in eastern China has come up with a novel way of attracting clients - they are allowed to beat up the staff.
The Rising Sun Anger Release Bar in Nanjing lets customers smash glasses, rant and even hit specially trained workers, state media reported.

The owner, Wu Gong, told China Daily that he was inspired to open the bar by his experiences as a migrant worker.

Most of his customers were women working in the service or entertainment industries, he said.

The bar employs 20 men who have been given protective gear and physical training to prepare them for the job.

Clients can ask the men to dress as the character they wish to attack.

Passers-by were divided on the idea.

"Pressure in today's society comes from just about anywhere, from family or from work, from your boss or your girlfriend. We get no place to vent anger," said salesman Chen Liang.

The idea of beating someone decorated as your boss seems attractive."

But another man, Liu Yuanyuan, said violence was not the answer.

"If people really feel angry, they should adjust their lifestyles or seek psychological treatment," he told the daily.

But Mr Wu can meet that need, too. For the most stressed-out cases, counselling is available from psychology students recruited from local universities.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5251952.stm

[equallydivided]

Liu Yuanyuan must be a psychologist.....afraid to lose clients.

Funny enough, we have a well known eating establishment called 'Dick's Last Resort' where being verbally abusive to the wait staff is encouraged. I wonder how much these walking punching bags are gonna be paid?

[pacific breeze]

There is a restaurant/diner here in Vancouver called the Elbow Room where staff are notorious for being rude to customers. I haven't been there, but it's pretty popular.

[Laurent]

I've been to a restaurant that encourages the customers and wait staff to be verbally abusive to each other. One customer actually insulted the waitress so bad that she left the table in tears. You need a really thick skin to even think about working at one of those places.

[twitchy]

I wish my bank would implement this.

[buttmunch]

Another notch down for the world. We really are going backwards. By the way, twitchy, that pepper continues to freak me out.