Safety Tips For Newbies

[Roulette]

this is a really good thread!! Thanks!!

[cameronfl]

In addition to saving as much as you can..have an escape plan. You cant dance forever. Even if you wouldnt mind being 50 and still shaking it..you never know when you will get sick or injured and cant dance anymore. Go to school, invest, start a side business...something that can support you when you stop dancing.

[Pretty_Penny]

pretty much everything i was going to say about physical safety has been said here. however...

i also suggest knowing a few general "get away" moves in case (god forbid) you ever get into that situation. i suggest ALL women do so, not just dancers. you don't -have- to take martial arts classes. there are websites with tips, free videos, etc. and you can always ask an educated friend some advice on self defense. my boyfriend is a black belt and he taught me a few things. prevention is best, but learning some self defense can't hurt.

also.. a little "mental safety" advice...

you might be dead set against doing extras for money, but clearly define what that means to you in your head. you might find yourself doing things that you aren't comfortable with because they are "the norm". just because it isn't blowjobs, handjobs, sex, (sorry, i'm being blunt) doesn't mean you won't regret it. the money is -never- worth the regret. trust me on that. if a guy fondling your breasts bothers you, work in a club where it isn't allowed or at least work somewhere that will be ok with you setting your own boundries.

you also might think you're super confident, have a healthy self esteem, etc. let me tell you something. this job can be very hard on you mentaly, esp. when it concerns your physical appearance. sure, you get tons of compliments, but you also (no matter how fucking hot you are) get some mean, pathetic, bitter guys who will try to put you down in the most personal of ways. be prepared for it. i'm no pussy, and -i've- been in tears before in the dressing room.

[A.n.a.l.a.]

Originally Posted by Kylea

You ladies have done a wonderful job with these tips!
Avoid using taxi services if you can. You never know who you can trust and it's too easy for them to pull over and attack.

so ummm what do non-drivers or people without cars do?

[oohdamnbaby]

This is a great thread! Maybe it can be stickied?

[Roxie_Rose]

A.n.a.l.a. I was wondering the same thing... I've got to take the bus home, or a taxi (at that time in the morning, most likely a taxi)

[Jazzi]

Hey!
This is a fantasic thread!
Thanks

[A.n.a.l.a.]

an added note about phones- tracfone starts at like $15.00 us dollars for a phone (before sales taxes) and comes with at least 10 minutes of airtime. get one of those little phones, keep like $10 or so on it at all times, and you're good to go. at least until you can get or want a non-prepaid cell... any prepaid cell should work, though.

http://www.tracfone.com

sorry for the plug/ thread jack. but i've used them, and the phones work fine.

[LaylaJo]

Um...crap. A few dancers asked me where I live and I told them what city. Is this bad? Its a huge city so I hope Im ok. And I told one girl my school.....shit.

What do I say if they ask me something and I dont want to tell them? I dont want to seem rude, though my safety is more important.

Should I come up with some fake story to start telling anyone who asks me, including dancers?

And should I be concerned when a dancer is realllly nice to me even before Ive started working?

[petitegirlxoxo]

great tips!

You really think taking a taxi home isn't safe?? That is my only way to get home, unless I'm lucky enough to catch one of the other dancers who lives by me on a night where we're both working.

[fifi]

It's probably better to get a friend to give you a ride, but really, how many of us can do that every night? I take cabs and I've never had a problem. I always carry mace with me when I ride though. In fact, I keep it in my hand or pocket. If you live in Oregon, don't use lucky cab. They've had a lot of problems with drivers attacking or robbing customers. Apparently, they hire a lot of ex-cons.

There are a lot of crazy cab drivers.
At one club I work at in vegas, the valet guys write down yoru name, the time, and the cab number if you are going to take a cab. That way, if you disappear, they will have a record of what cab you took. This was not started as just a precaution, it was started after a girl got in a cab and was never seen again.

I myself had a cab driver get very beligeret with me once because he was going to take Las Vegas blvd at 11pm on a friday ngiht. Anyone who's been here knows this is the dumbest thing you can do. We'd sit in traffic for hours before I got home. When I told him it wa stupid, and take the highway, he got very loud and nasty with me, to the point where I said, you know what, I'm out, please drop me off at the next hotel. He pulled into a back alley behind Treasure Island and told me to get the fuck outta his cab right now.

I was actually dropped off about a mile from the casino, in a dark back alley. Scary.
I was so pissed off, I forgot to get his cab number, so the company couldn't do anythign when I called to complain.

Yes. Avoid cabs if possible. Hire a driver for the same amount you'd pay th cab. Offer another girl you work with gas money to get a ride home, ask a bouncer to take you home....last resort is cab's.

[Habinairo]

Just for something of the drinks left out. Again, don't do it, my friend did that in a regular club, and woke up with RAPED carved in her stomach.

I have posted about this before, but I will post it again:

A really good friend of mine was hanging out downtown in Manhattan on New Year's Eve. She got really wasted and lost track of the friend she was staying with in Brooklyn. She also somehow lost her cell phone at a bar and didn't remember his number. So she gets desperate and decides to take a cab from Manhattan to her friend's house in Brooklyn. I don't know the exact sequence of events, but the cabbie took her to a strange, empty apartment in Brooklyn, violently forced her inside and brutally raped her. He might have murdered her, but he went to the bathroom and she ran like hell. When she finally made it back to her friend's house, she called the police, and they basically treated it like she'd had her bike stolen. The saddest part about this is that I'm pretty sure she was still a virgin; she's old-fashioned and wanted to save it for her wedding night. And the worst part of the story is that he's still out there, probably taking other girls to his empty rape apartment.

I still take cabs sometimes, but you have to be careful. Just because someone is a cab driver doesn't mean they're not capable of rape and murder. Not to mention that the cabbie knows that you're a stripper and knows exactly where you live. If you run into a psycho cabbie, you're fucked.

A good idea might be to try to find a cab driver that you trust. Some drivers give out their cards, and I'm sure one would love to have a repeat customer every night who tipped a bit better than most. When I traveled to strip I had one cab driver I would always call. He was very reliable and would always show up within a few minutes of my calling. I tried to tip him a lot more than usual and he refused my extra tips. He always made sure I made it in my apartment safe as well.

Also, have mace, pepper spray or something like that in your pocket if you are taking a cab ride from an unknown cabbie.

NEVER LET SOMEONE TAKE YOU TO A "SECOND LOCATION" WHERE THEY COULD RAPE AND MURDER YOU.

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Last edited by sun child; 08-01-2007 at 12:10 PM..

[Taylorlila]

^^^

We have 2 cab drivers that almost all the girls use. Everybody knows them and trusts them, and from what I've heard, they've been catering to this club for years. So check with outher girls or employees at your club and see if they have a few drivers that are known and trusted.

[Alia_of_the_Knife]

This is a good thread even for veteran strippers!

Gotta chime in and agree with the cab warning. It's probably safer than walking, but it's even safer to get a ride you know and trust until you can buy your own car. There were a lot of girls who took cabs home from the Seventh Veil and I heard a lot of horror stories, about girls being sexually assaulted and threatened with worse. There was also a guy who would always try to push drugs or demand blowjobs for free cab fare or offer to pimp you to his friends. Even if you think you're tough enough to fight him off, who wants to deal with that after a night at work - especially when the cabbie is taking you home and knows where you live?

Plus..a cabbie is picking up a stripper after work. He knows she's got cash on her....probably a lot more than he made that night.....if he was crazy and desperate and wanted that money......

[Mai_kunoichi]

wow this is a lot of help

[Crow2]

Also, about the cell phone thing - good to have if your car breaks down on the side of the highway or street.

Also, cops are not always our friends. If you are stopped by a so called police officer at night, ALWAYS ask to see some ID.

NEVER, EVER get out of your car at night ( if your broke down ) to walk to where ever you need to go and never EVER stop on the side of the road for anything other than a legitimate police officer.

[miabella]

this is more of a general tip than one related to transport or drinks, etc., but i always tell it online or off to any girl looking to dance:

figure out exactly how far you will go and STICK TO THAT LINE. if you will do extras for 'the right price', determine that price and never accept a cent less. if you will do OTC, never deviate from clearly defined boundaries you've already decided you can live with. and so on and so forth.

it is very hard, because every dancer meets some customer who makes them consider bending limits, but hardcode your limits (to be computer-nerdy) anyway.

and that includes being prepared to go home in the hole/under $goal amount because you stuck to your limits. i saw the highest number of girls doing unsafe things because they didn't want to leave owing money or not make their target amount that night, even if it meant going somewhere after work, or doing whatever drugs with whatever customer, etc.

i saw a girl go from naive cute newbie dancer to coke whore in about six months because mostly she was afraid of 'not making money' and didn't really have a clear idea of what her personal limits were in the first place. and i saw plenty of other girls go to extras that left them weeping or shaking afterwards because they 'had' to make $target amount.

i guess to me, that is the most important thing, because having your limits pushed or broken is so incredibly damaging, and it seems like it happens at least once to every stripper. so i always say, be honest with yourself and choose your workplaces and hustle style accordingly.

if i had a penny for every newbie who failed to take that much advice, i'd be drowning in pennies...

[Fionaver]

Just a few thoughts -

#) If you need to stop on the way home from work, hold your largest key pointing outward between your index and middle fingers - if someone tries to grab you, punch them with that hand. I still carry my keys like that.

#) Don't drink while you're new. Those shoes are hard enough to balance in for newbies (and when drunk enough, everyone.) Plus alot of girls who start out this way can't cope at all at work without liquor.

#) Be really careful on that pole doing tricks. Accidents happen and you don't get health insurance from the job. Alot of the time you can't even get workman's comp, because the club didn't tell you to get up there and hang upside down eight feet off the ground.

#) Don't borrow another girl's g-string - ever! You don't know where she (or it) has been.

This thread should seriously be stickied.

[Taylorlila]

Originally Posted by Fionaver

#) Don't drink while you're new. Those shoes are hard enough to balance in for newbies (and when drunk enough, everyone.) Plus alot of girls who start out this way can't cope at all at work without liquor.

.

I think a girl I work with said it perfectly "Drinking at work is like having sex with someone only when you are drunk...when you finally do it sober it really sucks!"

[Taylorlila]

Here's a good one I learned from a friend....
~Keep a pair (or even one) of your old or broken stripping shoes in your car under your seat or something. It sounds kinda silly, but if anybody tries to attack you or anything...they're pretty dangerous weapons.
I guess one of this girls friends was attacked by another dancer while she was in her car, and she pulled out her stripper shoe and ended up breaking the girls collar bone.