Dieter from the Curry Stand – or: Techniques for Getting Past Bouncers and Long Lines

 

Dieter from the Curry Stand – or: Techniques for Getting Past Bouncers and Long Lines

The University of the Arts in Berlin organized a legendary party every summer, where students showcased their art – but there were also plenty of great DJs, cold drinks, and delicious food. By now, word had spread throughout Berlin and the surrounding area that not only the students and their friends, but the whole of Berlin wanted to be there.

“Man, Veso – where are you?!” Lukas’s voice sounded excited.
“What’s up?” I asked in return. I knew he was always out and about and picked only the best parties.
“Get over here! To the University of the Arts ! Too many beautiful women! I’m going crazy! I need your help!”

Lukas knew how to convince me with just a few words.
When I arrived, I saw a line stretching from the university entrance almost all the way to the zoo.
I went straight to the front and saw that there was a high table with a guest list – and another entrance for regular guests.
“Lukas, I’m already here, but the waiting line is endless! Do you have access to the guest list?”
I knew he could always find a way to get into even the most strictly guarded events.
Once, he had told me how he showed the security at the Grand Prix in Monte Carlo his German health insurance card to mingle with the VIP guests. Another time in Ibiza, during the closing party, he had simply dodged a bouncer to get in for free. I admired the ease with which he did it.
“Yeah, of course!” he said.
“You just say you’re here to help Dieter from the curry stand – so you’re not here to party, but to work!”
“You think that’ll work?”
“Give it a try!”
I went to the guest list entrance. There was a boy and a girl sitting on barstools at the high table where the list lay.
“Hello, is this the student party?” I asked cautiously.
The girl nodded. She must have been about 25, with a beautiful round face, brown eyes, and dark hair tied back in a ponytail.
“I have to work here – at Dieter’s curry stand!” I added.
“Could you please let me in?”
“No, it doesn’t work that easily!” the girl replied.
“Dieter has to come here to get you!” added the boy. He was a good-looking mixed-race guy in a white shirt.
“But I have to relieve him! I don’t know how he’s supposed to leave the stand!”
“No, he has to come here!” the girl repeated.
I called Lukas.
“They want Dieter to pick me up at the entrance.”
“Give the phone to the people at the entrance!” he ordered.
I did as he said. The boy listened attentively and reached for a wristband.
The girl, however, stopped him and said to me:
“Just come with me!”
Then she led me inside and briefly explained to the bouncers:
“He’s here to work!”
I remembered a similar situation a few years earlier at the Press Ball in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel during the Berlinale and had to smile. Back then, another friend had had me introduce myself at the entrance in the name of Prof. Dr. Felix Zimmermann – and that had worked too.
The role you played in society – whether as a temp at a curry stand or as an invited future professor – was secondary.
What mattered was having good friends with creative ideas and be part together of life’s celebration.