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Un-Amateur Night.
The club I now apparently dance at requires each girl to perform at amateur night, which was last night, before being put on the schedule. Taking into account my previous experiences with my city's strip club circuit, I began the dreaded process by showering twice, sanitizing my dreadlocks, caking layers upon layers of makeup on, and slipping into a nice silk kimono an ex-boyfriend's mother gave me. And, of course, dusting off the ol' stiletto heels my ex-roommate gave me.
When I got into the club, though, I was greeted by two girls I went to high school with who were delighted to see me. Surprisingly, they were wearing very little makeup and had their own adorable outfits on -- and wore boots instead of heels! There were girls wearing "traditional stripper garb," however much or little makeup as they cared to put on, and some girls even wearing your everyday consumer panties. One girl even had glasses on. When I asked how naked I was supposed to get, I was answered, "As naked as you feel like."
?!
I explained to the bartender, who was also a club co-owner, that I liked wearing boots and I liked drinking whiskey. My dreadlocks were well-received and I made $53 after two hours. All the while, girls were doing whatever they damn pleased and custies were loving every minute of it. A friend of mine incorporated hula-hooping into her act, which was actually really impressive. And the customers, albeit taken aback by my looks, didn't affect a "LESS TALKY, MORE TITTIES!" vibe.
I was put on the schedule before I even danced. The co-owner warned me, "Don't fuck this up -- I don't have a lot of faith in new girls." Later on, one of my friends explained that this was because another ex-roommate of mine came in, briefly danced, and couldn't handle it after too long. This was because the bartenders & bouncers take to a sort of "hazing" process to see if new girls can handle even the rudest, most outlandish custies. It's not, from what I hear, unethical or questionable or violating -- but if a girl can't handle a bouncer making her feel dumb, the idea is, she'll never be able to take criticism from a customer.
All in all, I was really taken aback. I made better money than I'd previously expected -- after this week, I should be able to pay my boyfriend back for the rent & utilities he's fronted me amidst our financial mini-crisis -- and found a club where I can actually be myself and still make money doing it! Needless to say, I'm taking into account the fact that I was an amateur, and that I'll certainly need to get my hustle on -- but there's really no incentive for me to be lazy here. The regulars are all really friendly, the girls took me in and complimented my looks, and the management actually takes care of its staff.