Go On, Take the Money and Run
I've talked before about dancers who steal from customers, but Friday night was a definite example of role-reversal. No matter how many times you tell these ladies to "get the money up front," at some point in time they're not going to, and then they want us to try and force someone to cough up the money that we can't prove belongs to them. Friday night was no exception, and probably one of the largest rip-offs I've ever seen.
We were busier than I thought we were going to be, and the customers were tipping freely. Everyone was making money, having a good time, and so far, no one was getting out of control. I noticed that the strobe lights were on in the shower stage but thought nothing of it.
"Hey, Waitress," Miss Rita said as I was leaving the dressing room. She sells clothes to the majority of the dancers in my metropolitan area. "There's about six or seven girls in the shower stage, would you mind going and grabbing them some towels?"
"Yeah, sure, no problem," I replied. I went to get the towels and when I came back the girls still hadn't appeared.
"Wow, they've been in there for quite a while, huh?" I set the towels on the counter and started to head out of the dressing room.
"Yeah," Miss Rita looked up from the top she was sewing. "This is, like, the third song for them."
"Looks like everyone is making money tonight!" I smiled and went back to work.
It wasn't too long after that when I was waiting tables and one of my dancers, Texas, called me over to her table.
"Look over there," she pointed in the direction of the shower stage. "What the hell is going on?"
I turned to look and noticed a large commotion. One of my dancers, Karma, was having a strong conversation with some girl. It was apparently quite important because Karma was dripping wet, wrapped in a towel, and barefoot. This is a big no-no in the front of the house.
Right next to Karma were three gentlemen. Eve, one of my dancers, was in front of them again, engaged in a serious conversation. A little more to the left, in between the bar and the dressing room, were Boss and Peirce, involved in yet another intense conversation with another dancer, Victory. Victory seemed the most angry of all, pointing and gesturing furiously.
I could hear Victory yelling above the bar music.
"Possession is nine-tenths of the law, Pierce."
Pierce said something back that I couldn't hear from my position across the floor.
"Yeah, well, he's got it and it belongs to me!" She screamed this last part out. Pierce said something else I couldn't hear. Obviously the conversation didn't go to well, because she turned, punched the wall, and huffed back into the dressing room, slamming the door on her way in.
"What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know, but I already took my shoes off, just in case." Texas pointed to her bare feet and gave me a devilish grin. Dancers don't fight with their shoes on.
"Down girl," I shot in her direction before walking back to the bar to make my order.
Pierce was now involved in a conversation with yet another dancer, Antonio. She was crying and Pierce was leaned in, talking to her.
"That's why you get your money up front!" I could hear him say this to her as he shook his head.
"But, it's not fair, Pierce!" She hung her head and wiped the tears away that were falling on the bar.
"What the hell is going on Savannah?" Savannah lit a cigarette, took a drag, and shrugged, blowing the smoke in another direction.
I took a Bud Light to a guy sitting by the shower.
"Two seventy-five," I said, distractedly, as I placed the beer on his table.
"Man, those guys sure high tailed it out of here, didn't they?" He unfolded a stack of dollar bills and started peeling them apart.
"Mhh-hmm," I replied, still watching the bar.
"What happened?" I guess even the customers want to be privy to interpersonal club drama. Too bad I can't just tell them to read my blog!
"I dunno, honey." He handed me some ones and I stuffed them into my pants, already halfway gone from the table.
I went back up to the bar and was waiting on my next order when Eve came up behind me and put her head on my shoulder.
"Hey honey," I said. "What the hell happened earlier?"
Eve raised her head up and looked at me.
"Oh, well. These guys wanted a shower show with all six of us. Texas set it up. She told them it was $50 dollars per dancer, per song."
"Right," I said, doing the math. Each song would have cost the guys $300. Pretty pricey for a shower.
"So, Texas got the first three hundred up front. When the song was over the guys were all like 'keep going, keep going'. We told them it would be another $300 per song and they were all 'yeah, we'll pay you, just keep going.' Well, the second song ended and they wanted us to go again."
"Oh don't tell me..." I knew what she was going to say before she even said it.
"Yup, afterwards they didn't want to pay for it. They even tried to say that Texas lied to them and told them it was $100 a song, not $300. It's total bullshit."
"So that's what Boss and Victory were arguing about?"
"Yeah, they said they couldn't get our money because they couldn't prove anything." She rolled her eyes.
This is true. At this point, it's the guy's word against the dancers, and we can't prove what happened and what didn't happen. That's why we always stress to get your money before you start the dance. That way there's no complication afterward.
I know some of the girls don't like to do this, I think it's for the same reason that some guys don't like to stop to put a condom on. I'm sure they feel that it "destroys the mood". In either situation, if you don't take care of it before hand, it might burn for a little while afterwards.
"Well, honey, you know that's how it works."
Eve sighed. "I know," she said, "but some of the other girls are taking it really hard."
"I would too if I just got fucked out of six hundred dollars!" Hell, I get pissed when people order a drink and then leave, and I don't even have to eat the money on that--it's just a waste of my time. I can't imagine how I would be over six hundred dollars.
"Yeah, that's why I went up to them afterwards. I told them that I just wanted my part, I didn't give a crap about anything else, but for them to at least pay me. That was probably one of the best shower stages I've done... We put on a hell of a show."
"Way to look out for number one, Eve." I winked to let her know I was only half-serious.
"Yeah, they didn't pay me though." Eve shrugged. "Oh well, at least I got fifty from it."
"Yeah, fifty dollars for ten minutes isn't too bad," I replied.
"True, but one-fifty would have been a lot better."
"True." I couldn't very well argue with her logic. I was just happy she wasn't that upset about it. Like a trooper, Eve put on a happy face and went back into the trenches to make some more money.
She's a better woman than I.
We were busier than I thought we were going to be, and the customers were tipping freely. Everyone was making money, having a good time, and so far, no one was getting out of control. I noticed that the strobe lights were on in the shower stage but thought nothing of it.
"Hey, Waitress," Miss Rita said as I was leaving the dressing room. She sells clothes to the majority of the dancers in my metropolitan area. "There's about six or seven girls in the shower stage, would you mind going and grabbing them some towels?"
"Yeah, sure, no problem," I replied. I went to get the towels and when I came back the girls still hadn't appeared.
"Wow, they've been in there for quite a while, huh?" I set the towels on the counter and started to head out of the dressing room.
"Yeah," Miss Rita looked up from the top she was sewing. "This is, like, the third song for them."
"Looks like everyone is making money tonight!" I smiled and went back to work.
It wasn't too long after that when I was waiting tables and one of my dancers, Texas, called me over to her table.
"Look over there," she pointed in the direction of the shower stage. "What the hell is going on?"
I turned to look and noticed a large commotion. One of my dancers, Karma, was having a strong conversation with some girl. It was apparently quite important because Karma was dripping wet, wrapped in a towel, and barefoot. This is a big no-no in the front of the house.
Right next to Karma were three gentlemen. Eve, one of my dancers, was in front of them again, engaged in a serious conversation. A little more to the left, in between the bar and the dressing room, were Boss and Peirce, involved in yet another intense conversation with another dancer, Victory. Victory seemed the most angry of all, pointing and gesturing furiously.
I could hear Victory yelling above the bar music.
"Possession is nine-tenths of the law, Pierce."
Pierce said something back that I couldn't hear from my position across the floor.
"Yeah, well, he's got it and it belongs to me!" She screamed this last part out. Pierce said something else I couldn't hear. Obviously the conversation didn't go to well, because she turned, punched the wall, and huffed back into the dressing room, slamming the door on her way in.
"What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know, but I already took my shoes off, just in case." Texas pointed to her bare feet and gave me a devilish grin. Dancers don't fight with their shoes on.
"Down girl," I shot in her direction before walking back to the bar to make my order.
Pierce was now involved in a conversation with yet another dancer, Antonio. She was crying and Pierce was leaned in, talking to her.
"That's why you get your money up front!" I could hear him say this to her as he shook his head.
"But, it's not fair, Pierce!" She hung her head and wiped the tears away that were falling on the bar.
"What the hell is going on Savannah?" Savannah lit a cigarette, took a drag, and shrugged, blowing the smoke in another direction.
I took a Bud Light to a guy sitting by the shower.
"Two seventy-five," I said, distractedly, as I placed the beer on his table.
"Man, those guys sure high tailed it out of here, didn't they?" He unfolded a stack of dollar bills and started peeling them apart.
"Mhh-hmm," I replied, still watching the bar.
"What happened?" I guess even the customers want to be privy to interpersonal club drama. Too bad I can't just tell them to read my blog!
"I dunno, honey." He handed me some ones and I stuffed them into my pants, already halfway gone from the table.
I went back up to the bar and was waiting on my next order when Eve came up behind me and put her head on my shoulder.
"Hey honey," I said. "What the hell happened earlier?"
Eve raised her head up and looked at me.
"Oh, well. These guys wanted a shower show with all six of us. Texas set it up. She told them it was $50 dollars per dancer, per song."
"Right," I said, doing the math. Each song would have cost the guys $300. Pretty pricey for a shower.
"So, Texas got the first three hundred up front. When the song was over the guys were all like 'keep going, keep going'. We told them it would be another $300 per song and they were all 'yeah, we'll pay you, just keep going.' Well, the second song ended and they wanted us to go again."
"Oh don't tell me..." I knew what she was going to say before she even said it.
"Yup, afterwards they didn't want to pay for it. They even tried to say that Texas lied to them and told them it was $100 a song, not $300. It's total bullshit."
"So that's what Boss and Victory were arguing about?"
"Yeah, they said they couldn't get our money because they couldn't prove anything." She rolled her eyes.
This is true. At this point, it's the guy's word against the dancers, and we can't prove what happened and what didn't happen. That's why we always stress to get your money before you start the dance. That way there's no complication afterward.
I know some of the girls don't like to do this, I think it's for the same reason that some guys don't like to stop to put a condom on. I'm sure they feel that it "destroys the mood". In either situation, if you don't take care of it before hand, it might burn for a little while afterwards.
"Well, honey, you know that's how it works."
Eve sighed. "I know," she said, "but some of the other girls are taking it really hard."
"I would too if I just got fucked out of six hundred dollars!" Hell, I get pissed when people order a drink and then leave, and I don't even have to eat the money on that--it's just a waste of my time. I can't imagine how I would be over six hundred dollars.
"Yeah, that's why I went up to them afterwards. I told them that I just wanted my part, I didn't give a crap about anything else, but for them to at least pay me. That was probably one of the best shower stages I've done... We put on a hell of a show."
"Way to look out for number one, Eve." I winked to let her know I was only half-serious.
"Yeah, they didn't pay me though." Eve shrugged. "Oh well, at least I got fifty from it."
"Yeah, fifty dollars for ten minutes isn't too bad," I replied.
"True, but one-fifty would have been a lot better."
"True." I couldn't very well argue with her logic. I was just happy she wasn't that upset about it. Like a trooper, Eve put on a happy face and went back into the trenches to make some more money.
She's a better woman than I.
posted by Jennifer at 2:07 PM
8 Comments:
SOME OF THE BEST LESSONS IN LIFE ARE LEARNED THE HARD WAY!!! nothing sticks to you memory more then being burned...
yikes.
that really sucks..
and that's one expensive shower.
You would think these girls of all people would know that all men are bastards!
All men are not bastards. Don't generalize.
But they should know that there are very sneaky people out there.
Hard lesson, but they'll never forget.
Wow, just finished the archives. (Got here from Subservient Worker's blog.)
Great job, and keep writing. Especially that dictionary. Titty tape? Sounds...interesting...
i was a dancer for a short time 10 years ago and ALWAYS got the money after. this was in a major city. Now even in BFE you still have to prepay for gas. People seem to be getting progressivly suckier
the only time you let the band play on is when you are holding their credit cards in your garter.
once bitten, twice shy.(terrible 80's song!)
what really sucks is that those guys think its OK/funny to screw these girls out of earned money.
some folks have no class.
questionable ETHICS???? if so, I have a rant!
lol
GJ
boobs, post a link please? TY
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