I drank more when I was new because I used to see work as a big party. I felt obligated to drink especially when a customer ordered an expensive bottle of champagne.
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I drank more when I was new because I used to see work as a big party. I felt obligated to drink especially when a customer ordered an expensive bottle of champagne.
I'm only retired a few months so I answered "now" meaning at the end of my career.
I just found it harder and harder to work without being buzzed and that's when I knew I was just done.
Add in the fact that this biz just isn't what it was when I was a newbie and that's the recipe for the sterotypical drunk, past her prime stripper that people make fun of.
No way that was gonna be me.
neither for me
When I first started working, I did not drink. I was 18 and the club I worked in had a breathalizer and if they suspected you were drinking they would make you use it. From about 19 on I danced in clubs where I could get away with drinking, and I did. Then at 21 when I moved to Vegas I did not drink at all at first because I didn't know anybody and I was kind of scared and didn't want to be in a vulnerable position. Finally my friend Raquel and I ran into each other out there, moved in together and always worked together, so I was comfortable drinking. I still do. I wouldn't say I have to drink to be comfortable at work, but honestly, I do better when I have a cocktail or two. I know that sounds bad, and I don't over do it at all, but red wine makes me happy and giggly and relaxed. That said, if I am working in a club where you just walk around and say do you want a dance do you want a dance do you want a dance, I could give a shit if I have a drink or not. But I am more relaxed and less annoyed with customers after a few drinks... I generally only work 2-3 days a week, so it doesn't bother me that I do this, because for one thing I never actually get wasted at work.....second, I drink one to two glasses of wine a day anyway because I LOVE wine (I'm half Italian, a quarter Czech and a quarter Sicilian, I grew up drinking it) and if I have the wine at home or at work, who cares? I'm not drinking a whole bottle lol!
Same here! I'm taking a break from dancing right now, no plans to go back anytime soon. Over the past year I was getting sloshed at work way too much and I need some time off.
I voted "now" because I always drank at work, but I didn't drink heavily as a newbie. When I first started out, I would only have a drink if a customer offered me one. I would never ask for drinks and I would never buy them myself. I would watch other girls buy their own drinks and shots and run up bar tabs and think to myself "What a waste of money!", but I started doing the same thing about a year later.
When I was still fairly new to the business (about 9 months into dancing), I worked at a club where dancers weren't allowed to drink, even if we were over 21. It was a 2 story building where downstairs was a regular bar and upstairs (where the dancers were), it was N/A. After we sold 5 dances, we were allowed to go downstairs and have one drink, but that was it. A few nights I would have my one drink, but most nights I wouldn't. I worked totally sober when I was there, but that club went out of business, so I had to work elsewhere.
Shortly after that I started dancing at a club where most of the girls drank a lot. I started drinking a lot too, and started crossing the line from being just buzzed to totally drunk. However, the staff members didn't care because I was always a happy and fun drunk. In fact, they would encourage me to drink! I had a lot of fun, made lots of money, and had a good following of regular customers who really liked me.
Even though I was drunk at work a lot, I was still one of the top earners at just about every club I worked at. But besides myself, most of the other top earners either didn't drink at all or drank very little.
After awhile I noticed that it was taking me more alcohol than before to feel buzzed. I could now down 10 shots of Goldschlager or 10 Jager bombs within a couple of hours and just barely get a buzz. I started going through some personal problems and instead of being the happy fun-loving drunk I was before, I started being crabby and irritable at times. Plus it got to the point where I NEEDED the alcohol in me in order to dance smoothly. If I was totally sober when I did my stage sets, I'd feel uncoordinated and like I couldn't dance smoothly.
I noticed I was drinking way too much at work way too often. My only solution was to take a long break from the business. Trying to cut back wasn't working. Getting wasted at work was negatively affecting my health too. I'd wake up with dry blotchy skin on my face and feeling hung over. I didn't have the energy to work out or wake up early.
I haven't danced in over a month now and I don't have the desire to go back yet. If I ever do go back, I have definitely learned from my past mistakes. And believe me, I've made plenty of them! Wow, just realized how much I wrote. Didn't mean to write a book lol. ;)
Sadly, I see this all too often. THIS is why clubs keep alcohol and drug using dancers around instead of making them get help or kicking them out of the club. The club managers don't care that these women are hurting themselves as long as they keep earning money. What they don't realize is that everyone bottoms out eventually and the effect is worse for all involved financially than if they had just suggested she go to AA or suspend/fire the dancer for working under the influence in the first place. The bar/club I worked at would actually cut dancers off at a certain point. Oddly enough, the juice bars would actually be the ones encouraging dancers to BYOB in the dressing rooms on the DL. I guess they figure the girls "need" it to put up with the higher contact levels. Unfortunately, they are perpetuating and promoting a very damaging lifestyle.
I hope you are able to return to dancing when/if you are ready to, Blondehottie. I've worked with several dancers who are in AA and are successful in their programs, even though they work around alcohol. Whether or not you seek outside help, I think you would find that being sober gives you the upper hand in any business environment. It does for most anyway. Good luck.
I voted now, even though for obvious reasons I'm not currently drinking.
For a good while when I was new, I didn't drink at all. Then I started drinking and then...um...yeah...but once I got my head screwed back on straight and tight, I decided to only drink at work if I was in VIP. That means only drinking if I was making money. And I stuck to it!
When I first started I needed about 3 rum and cokes before I had the courage to go onstage. I don't drink at all now....except for the once in a blue moon when I sign out for multiple hours in VIP with an established customer.
I find that drinking makes me lazy, and instead of hustling I want to sit and drink more once I start.