WARNING: Long rant ahead.
OK it started on Thursday, when I invited my (fellow dancer) friend to go with me to Warped Tour. My first mistake was driving the old VW camper bus there. Because my friend got off to a late start, parking was full and we got lost several times trying to find parking. I was all freaking out because well, I wasn't quite sure if I'm allowed in Camden, NJ because of my probation. (People say that I shoulda called my probation officer and asked her, but I didn't because I didn't want her to say "no" and then be on the look-out to make sure I don't get spotted in NJ, and no way did I want to miss Warped Tour or Ozzfest. I'm bad, I know.) Finally we get there and we had some fun. Part of the deal for my friend to go with me to Warped Tour, was that I was to drop her off at the train station afterwards, just in time for her to take the train to AC and get to work. Then we had this "great" idea(yeah right!) that maybe I would come to work too, since it is a club that we both work at and I hadn't been there in a few weeks due to jobsearching and working my other club in Philly. So we try driving to the train station, but again we got lost and I started freaking out because I hate Jersey roads, esp if I'm not allowed on them. Finally, we decide to make a road trip out of it and I drive my VW all the way to AC along the side roads...second big mistake. But we had fun on the way, stopping at places like Wawa and a really good seafood restaurant.
When we finally get to AC, my friend is in no mood to work. She'd been having boyfriend problems and her live-in boyfriend kept blowing up her phone while we were eating dinner. We both realized that we were waaay too tired and sunburned from Warped Tour to work, and even contemplated just relaxing on the boardwalk and returning home. Besides, I had Ozzfest the next day, and no way did I want to miss that or be tired all through it. But then we thought, "Now now, we should do the *right thing* and go to work like we're supposed to." Goddam *right thing* to do!...the right thing never coincides with our gut instincts. So we go to work, my friend spends the first half hour crying her eyes out about her boyfriend, and the place is DEAD. Actually, the whole night was dead. And what's worse, is the customers kept reminding me and rubbing it in about how dead the night was and they didn't really do much to help me out money-wise. Look, if you're gonna say "gee, it sure is dead in here, this must not be very good for your money" then be prepared to take me back to the champagne court or something...otherwise, you look like a bully.
So here we are, tired and dehydrated and my friend being depressed, and it's dead. We didn't make much money. An hour into work, our stomachs started cramping and attacking us from all that salty fried fish-n-chips we ate earlier for dinner. That's when I realized how stupid it was for us to come to work the night before a big event I'd already bought tickets for. All I really wanted to do was go home.
Then my guy friend Brian called and told me that this bitch Abbie wasn't answering his calls, so that basically he didn't have a ride to Ozzfest and if I could pick him up. At first, I said that I might and then I realized how fucking retarded that'd be...I was in AC until 3am-ish, 80 miles from my apartment, and Brian was in Bethlehem, a good 1.5hrs or so from my apartment. Plus, I had the VW today and it goes reeeeaaalllly slow, esp since I avoid highways with it and opt for back roads. So I called him back and yelled about how I'm not a "volunteer taxi driver" and how I was so offended that yet again, my friends were trying to use me for rides. A few years ago when I was less assertive, people would step all over me and use me for rides, and then when my VW bug broke down because of it, no one gave a shit or even helped me get it removed from the road before it got sent to the impound lot. Last year when I didn't have a car because I couldn't afford to fix my bug, no one invited me along to Ozzfest even though I was very capable of taking mass transit and meeting them there, so I felt like I was useless to them because I was no longer a "free ride." So a year later, now that I have two cars, the LAST thing I wanted to hear was my friends trying to use me for a ride. So I got into this big cursing discussion with a few of my friends about this, venting to them about how unfair Brian was being. I figured "hey, it's dead, so it doesn't matter if I'm on the phone." Meanwhile, my friend was upset about her boyfriend. I really wanted to see Brian and them, because admittedly he is one of my closest friends and is generally better than that, but I wasn't going to drive a 5-6hr trip on no sleep at all, risk falling asleep at the wheel, and/or be tired all through an Ozzfest that I'd spent good money on tickets for. Yeah the *right thing* woulda been to give him a ride, but this time I trusted my instincts and I was happy I did...
Work was horrible! This one guy asked about the champagne room, then after I went on stage and came back to him, he suddenly got kinda cold and distant and said that he wasn't there to spend much money, just to get a few beers. Was it my dancing that turned him off?...Keep in mind that my stomach was literally in pain the whole time, so I put in all this effort into dancing my 3-song set and now this asshole was being cold to me. Another guy and his friend came in, and I gave his friend 2 dances, but the guy only had a $20 on him. So the guy took his friend up to the cash register to buy "funny money," and when he realized that there was a $60 funny money minimum plus a surcharge, he got all pissy and demanded his money back. He claimed that his friend was "mentally retarded" and didn't know any better. Well then, why didn't HE lend his friend the $20, or be there to monitor his friend as he got the dance? And if his friend was mentally retarded and unable to handle life, then why did he have his own credit card?? The owner told him that he could get his money back but they'd be kicked out immediately, so that's what happened. But where the fuck is my $20??? I didn't get it at all, and on a dead night, I needed it.By the end off the night, both my friend and I only had 4 dances(well, I had 5 but only got paid for 4), and after tipping out $47 to house, DJ, and housemom, left with less than $40!
That barely covered gas. If I knew that was gonna happen, I woulda been better off going home early and getting adequate sleep...the payoff woulda been greater.
So we drove home, and I didn't get in the door to my apartment until 6:30am. I got 3.5hrs of sleep, and only because I slept later than intended. Luckily my friend Brian and his friend talked their female friend to give them a ride to Ozzfest for $100(see what I mean about me feeling used by people??? Brian never offered ME $100 to give a ride, and I was in a worst set of circumstances than his female friend). This time, my friend M--k and I took the train to the concert because I wanted to avoid the parking problem that my friend and I had encountered yesterday...good thing I did this. So we all met up at Ozzfest and it was a great time. That is the good part of this story. But then when we all get back to my apartment, my roommate is in a bitchy pissy mood and angry that my friend Brian was using the shower. Usually my roommate is fast asleep at that time, but oh not tonight, he's battling severe work stress, insomnia, and PMS. So we're kinda forced to leave, and I drive them home in the VW bus...only 1/3 of the distance there, the accelerator cable snaps at fuckin 3am! Dammit! The accelerator cable is NOT a major repair at all, just an annoying inconvenience. I've had this happen to my VW bug before, too. If you have a spare cable and know what you're doing, you can put in a new cable in under 10mins...but we didn't have a new cable, and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere at 3am. Ironically though, we happened to be near a go-go bar. I called the cops to notify them of my car's breakdown and to ask if they knew any towing services. The cops were extremely friendly, and after I realized I couldn't afford the rip-off tow truck("$85 plus mileage!"), they used their cop car bumpers to push my VW into the go-go bar parking lot and they even let us sleep there overnight!(my VW is a camper, after all!) The next morning as we were trying to call friends to see who could help us out, the managers at the go-go bar came over to help. The one guy was able to rig the accelerator cable by placing an extra link in the chain, something to help me temporarily until I could locate a new cable. They were very nice, and I tipped the guy for helping me.
I knew it was a bad idea to pick up Brian and his friend for Ozzfest!Now what if I DID agree to give Brian a ride on Ozzfest day? Probably the same thing woulda happened, since it was the same exact route & amount of mileage...the accelerator cable woulda snapped, and then Brian woulda STILL been stranded with no ride. And then I woulda been stranded and cranky and angry, too. The go-go bar managers were there to help us at around 11am, but if I'd been driving up to Brian's town at like 7am the day before, no one woulda been there to help me and I woulda been stuck and unable to get to Ozzfest or at least miss most of it. Good thing I trusted my gut! And another thing...if I *had* trusted my gut about AC, and NOT gone down there to work, most likely the accelerator cable wouldn't have broken so quickly. But yeah, 160 miles of driving to AC and back can probably do that to the cable. So what I learned from all of this is, not to pick people up if I don't want to. Also, I learned that I should NOT go to work at the strip club if I do not feel up to it, especially for a club that is known to be kinda dead. Because my money is dependent upon hard-hustling, I wouldn't be up for hustling if I was sick/tired, resulting in making barely any money, and therefore there is no real purpose in going to work. I'm not driving all that distance to AC to make peanuts!
And this isn't the first time that I didn't made much money, either. Maybe I will check out the go-go bar that my VW broke down at(they offered me a job by the way, lol) or I will stay at the club in Philly. It's not worth the time, stress, gas expense, and wear-n-tear on my car!


By the end off the night, both my friend and I only had 4 dances(well, I had 5 but only got paid for 4), and after tipping out $47 to house, DJ, and housemom, left with less than $40!
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