Karaoke Bachelorette Party

Karaoke bachelorette parties, while relatively tame, are not without their own drama. Consider the midtown studio I went to last night, located in a former brothel where you have to climb three flights of stairs to enter the small, shady establishment. It’s BYOB so people come hauling boxes and bags of alcohol and, if they’re smart, water.
Each group gets their own room with sagging couches, machines with only Korean words and instructions, and strict rules about jumping and microphone swinging. Apparently, some karaoke performers can get out of control when rocking the classics. But not the bachelorette and her sister during the song “Maniac.” No. They were perfectly well behaved.
Last night, there was a slight karaoke miscommunication (bound to happen) when the owner—gasp—double booked one of the rooms! The problem didn’t involve our group, so I was able to watch with nothing more than curiosity as the owner, a middle aged Korean woman who looked like she'd be equally likely to smack you down or give you a hug, argued over the phone with the unfortunate party. But at some point in the conversation, threats must have been made, because she abruptly hung up the phone and went tearing down the stairs, screaming “I call police!” I didn’t really sense a lot of imminent karaoke danger, so I just headed back to our room and sang Killing Me Softly.