Stripping Again
By: KK
Copyright @2001

It is once again the holidays and once again we are broke. Owning your own business does not make a person rich by any means. In fact, sometimes it is struggle just to pay the bills. My husband works his ass off, but money is always up and down. Clients are naturally concerned with taking care of their own families and taking advantage of getting "free" legal service. Although I have my education as a paralegal I have only worked for my husband. To get a paralegal job a few weeks before Christmas would be pointless. I would not get my first check for at least two weeks and I would be lucky to make $10 an hour. So I have resorted to temporarily stripping to make the quick money for my kids to have any type of Christmas.

At first I thought, "I'm 34 years old competing with 20 year olds and there's no way I'm going to make money." For comfort and the fact that I could make my own schedule I chose a club that I had worked at almost ten years ago. I also went to high school with one of the managers and one of my best friends works there. How bad could this be?

I started on a morning shift so that my friend could show me around and introduce me to the bouncers, DJ's, etc. The club had been remodeled and some rules had been changed. The entire club, inside and outside, is monitored by video cameras. The girls enter the through the back of the building and have to be buzzed in. The locker room is ample, but the girls have to share a locker. Right at the door sits the house mom where we are immediately required to show our sheriff's card and hand over tip-out for our shift. Tip-outs range from $40-60 depending on the shift. A tip-out is a payment to the club to work there. We are considered independent contractors.

The club has two VIP rooms, a main stage, several small stages, a bar and the main room of the club is filled with overstuffed, comfortable chairs. The music is deafening, hard-core and impossible to lap dance to. The first VIP room is what I quickly labeled "the Skank" room. The only lighting are tiny red lights embedded in the ceiling. These little red lights are supposedly cameras that the management monitors in the office. The walls are lined with booths and it is pitch black. I have been informed by my friend that we are not allowed to chew gum but giving blow jobs is fine. Especially in this room. I vowed to stay out of the Skank room. Dances are minimum four for $100 in this particular room. Hard money to pass up.

The main floor and the other VIP room are used for the basic $20 dances. I use the term "dances" loosely. Grinding and dry humping are more appropriate terms. The Skank room is pretty much a no holds barred area. Apparently, as long as the police are not monitoring the place anything goes in there. I am a no-contact dancer and refuse to sacrifice my self-respect by providing sexual favors to anyone.

My first day there I realize that I do not have very much competition physically. I am still in good shape and do not look my age. I am fortunate that I have good genes. I quickly realize that my competition are the younger girls who have no respect or rules for themselves. I am competing with hard core contact girls. I spend the first day observing and feeling the place out. I made decent money for my first time back, but four days later the only thing I am earning is compliments on my looks. This will not pay my bills.

The men are not shy about telling me what they expect. Blow jobs, hand jobs and a lot of grinding. I can handle doing dances a little closer, but there is not enough money in the world for me to whore myself out. I watch other girls much younger than me lowering themselves below the level of self respect. I am disappointed that they are so jaded at such a young age. They will be old and worn out before their time. The art of burlesque and stripping is a thing of the past in this club and many clubs in this city.

This particular club is popular with the locals and Hispanics. It is the type of club that a girl needs to build up a solid clientele to make a decent living. The Hispanics claim to not speak English until they want sex. I tried to communicate with one Hispanic for over fifteen minutes to buy a dance. He did not speak a word of English until we went into the VIP room and he whipped out $500 and said, "fuck my penis". I not so politely declined and hustled him down to a $20 lap dance. After grabbing my hips and trying to get me to grind all over him, he got up and left half way through the song. Good riddens.

Another very drunk man drug me into the Skank room and proceeded to whip out his dick, talk dirty to me and insisted that I touch it and stroke it. He proceeded to grab my g-string and tried to remove it. I grabbed my $100 and told him to find a real whore. There are decent, respectable men too, but they usually just like to talk. Talking does not make a whole lot of money. It has been hard for me to get dances when the men are watching the other girls stroking and dry humping and they wondering why I don't do that.

When I went into this business in my twenties, these things rarely, if ever, happened. The girls were protected, there was not any contact by the men or women and the money was great. There were strict rules to be followed and if they were not, then the girl was fired on the spot or the man was thrown out.

I never had any intentions of going back into this business and after only being out of it for a little over five years, I am disgusted by the decline of class in this club. After four days I had a complete melt down and my own little pity party. I cried for two days worried about how was I going to take care of my children. Managers have even asked me why I am working there when I could be at a much better place. I stay because I have to be able to schedule around my time with my children. Other clubs won't allow that. There are only two or three other clubs in town that are "no-contact" and I know that I could easily get jobs there. But I home school and time with my children is top priority.

I will keep my self-respect and I will make the money I need. Even if it is only a small amount, it is better than nothing and my children have learned that families pull together in tough times. My kids have even voluntarily given up their allowances to help out. I have always been a stay at home mom. My leaving for work is a new concept for them and they understand that it is only temporary. They know that I dance (they don't know topless) in a bar and they understand that I am trying to help out the family. I am proud of my children for being mature, responsible and caring enough to pull together as a family. They have even stated that if they did not receive any presents at Christmas it would be fine with them. They are making a list of people that they want to make things for and give to this holiday season. I adore them.

 

Readers Respond

06.18.02

I read the part about stripping. I don't know how was Cheetahs when you
worked there (some time in the 80`s or early 90`s, I presume), but now
it`s the best club in Vegas, in my opinion. I like it a lot, because the
girls are friendlier and more beautiful than anywhere else I have been.
The club I`m talking about is the Cheetahs in Las Vegas; I guess it`s the
same as the one you described because you didn`t specify the city. I
haven`t been in the others in Atlanta and San Diego yet.
I liked the "rules of strip clubs", because you are right on the money:
that`s the way in which dancers see us customers.
I`m fairly new to strip joints, because I moved to this country less than
2 years ago. I like strippers for all the obvious reasons why american men
like them, but for me there is something more. I find the way they speak
english extremely sexy, and when they try and pronounce my name with their
lovely yankee accent, that`s so sexy too.
The "stripping again" part was kind of sad. By the way, what`s the name of
the sleazy place you described in that chapter?
As for the 9/11 part, I agree with Gordon Sinclair too. Don`t get me
wrong, I`m a EU citizen and I love my country, but I love the US as well.
The real situation is - if possible - even worse; however, America has
some true friends, who will never forget what you have done for us over
and over again in the last several decades.

Regards
Antonio