Yesterday my sister and I went to the Islander game all the way to the Barclay center in Brooklyn. I don’t like driving to any of the boroughs so we had to take two trains to get there. I was a bit anxious but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. The transfer station is very clear on where to go. Brooklyn sort of has a bad rep but it’s been gentrified just like most of the boroughs.
Literally when you get out of the train station you cross the street and you are at the Barclay Center. My mother’s friend has VIP Box seats and since he couldn’t go he gave them to my mother who in turned gave them to me and my sister. Originally my mother and her boyfriend were going to go but he couldn’t. When we got to the VIP entrance one of the security guards gave my sister and I a double take and asked twice if we were sure we were in VIP. We showed him our tickets and he said, “Hmm okay then.” We get upstairs and another lady asks to see our ticket even though it was already scanned, mind you she didn’t stop anybody else.
The VIP room was really nice. Free sodas, free chips, two couches in the room, and free apparel. It was amazing. The suite was really nice. Of course as I am in the room while my sister is in the bathroom, security comes and asks to see my ticket again and I happily show her. Let me remind you in order to get into VIP you have to show your ticket. She was nice about it I guess but I gave her the side eye, I don’t want to say because my sister and I were the only person of color in the suite area…. but we were the only person of color in the suite area.
The game was good even though the Islanders lost to the Senators, the VIP area made it better because the seats were awesome. I didn’t like the constant stares from the staff and all types of security asking to see our ticket. It got to the point where we didn’t leave the suite together because we didn’t want to be locked out just in case.
My sister who is caught up in her own world 99% of the time thought that the staff was being racist. I kind of thought it was odd that they kept asking us to see our tickets but I also thought it was because we look young and we were in VIP alone. What do you guys think? Was it racist that the security kept asking to see our VIP tickets after it was scanned? Or were they being ageist? Or is it normal to get asked 6 times to see your tickets even after they have been scanned? Mind you, they didn’t ask anybody else. Let me know your thoughts. I am curious.
Rambling Kori 
That sounds over the top and out of order! Personally, I would have complained. And from your story – it was probably both, let’s be real. I’m annoyed for you to have experienced that (even though you seem pretty calm about it). On the ageism side: this is getting worse I find. People are now of the thought that young people are not allowed/don’t deserve to have/do nice things and they feel they must question it at every turn (unless you’re an heiress then you’re just a brat) and add that with any type of colour, people get downright suspicious. Even though I’m in the UK – that doesn’t seem normal to me, and it seems pretty ridiculous. (Sorry, I really did get annoyed >_<)
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It was ridiculous and the only reason why I didn’t complain because it technically wasn’t my suite and the suite owner is going to let us use his VIP again for a basketball game. I was going to complain and leave a nasty yelp review but eh, even though its annoying I had an awesome time which is why I am calm about it. There is no excuse for how the security is acting but I still enjoyed an awesome hockey game while they were walking around with mean faces.
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Not so sure if it was ageism because usually ageism discriminates against older people. I’m not sure though. It definitely sounds like racism. Some of the students at my university even have been asked if they actually go to my university. 😒 They had no right to treat you that way — I agree with the other commenter that you should complain.
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Yeah, I don’t want to complain because it wasn’t my suite, and I didn’t want to seem ungrateful. Also I liked the look of stupidity each and every one of those security guards had when they saw my ticket. If the suite was mine and I was getting treated this way I would complain to yelp, to their customer service page, to every outlet possible.
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Okay that makes sense 😊 Yelp does have its uses
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I was once asked to show my ID – twice!
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Geesh I can’t even type a proper comment without my fat fingers hitting submit while I want to select a word -_-
Anyway, I think it could be because of all kinds of reasons you were asked to show your ticket so many times, but in the end you’ll never know. Maybe the security people aren’t being consciously racist, but they filter out who they think are most likely to feign a VIP ticket or get in illegally. Having said that, I do think it’s over the top. If you get asked to show it once, that’s normal. Twice, okay. But three times and up is just ridiculous!
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I get what you’re saying but I mean my sister and I were the only ones constantly asked for our tickets, so it made me raise my eyebrows. The only reason why I didn’t want to cause a problem was because it wasn’t my suite lol
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Well, it’s certainly fishy they kept bothering you.
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It probably did have to do with your age, plus, VIP tickets… are they like season tickets? If so, the security guards probably have gotten to know their regulars, and you and your sister didn’t look familiar. I commend you for not causing a scene. In situations like that, people just need to bare in mind that security guards are only doing their job in such cases.
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I am not sure if they are season tickets. But the security guards knowing their regulars makes sense, I just felt like we were being judged.
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From the sound of it, rightfully so.
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