It was slow. It was quite possibly *the* slowest Friday night that I've ever seen in a strip club. Ever. The dj claimed to have seen worse, but then elaborated that it was the first week this club was ever open, and they weren't even fully staffed yet. With two girls and only one customer all night, he shut it down six hours early and gave up.
By the end of the night, me and one other lovely lady dominated the dance board. Granted, it was still a very sad little dance board overall for a Friday night with about 15 girls. Most clubs have dance counters to keep track of how many dances each dancer does during their shift. I take notice when I'm among the top earners on the board (in reality can be a whole other ball game, but that's another story) on any given shift. Over the short time I've been dancing, this has traditionally been a rare occurrence.
In Seattle where I danced for two years, I typically put lower numbers on the dance board, towards the middle of the girls or lower.. Lately the trend has been changing. My stock has been going up. I've been learning, and, well, I've changed.
A few things set me apart and allowed me to succeed on Friday.
1. A good attitude.
2. Patience.
3. Luck.
When a night that's expected to be busy, and fun, and profitable, is dead instead, girls get cranky. Girls get very cranky. Very quickly. And it's just an awful vibe. It's contagious. Next thing you know you have a whole cluster of girls sitting in the corner drinking thinly disguised cocktails (full nude clubs are dry in Seattle & Los Angeles) giving the room an overwhelming amount of bitchface while talking mad shit about the girls they don't like, or in a pinch, the girls who are doing okay that night anyway. I've passed an awful lot of nights at work sitting in a corner just radiating hate through out the room. I like to keep to myself when cranky though, not be a hater. I like to make a real effort to be nice to everybody I work with. The more people on your side, the better, no matter what. But I digress.
The point is, I'd just written about the importance of being positive at work, and, I practiced what I preached. I took breaks to psych myself up when I needed to, focused on other things, and went out on the work floor with a smile, looking like I was having a good time. Guys have a very hard time suspending disbelief to get into the fantasy that a stripper wants to rip their clothes off when the girl doesn't even look like she wants to be in the room. They want to feel like just being around you is a fucking party they're going to take you home from.
It worked. I stood out. There wasn't much to work with, but I kept trying and I sold a very respectable number of dances. I have a number where I'm okay, a number where I'm happy, and a number when I feel I've reached serious stripper money. I turned this into a very happy night. But I only got that far because I was still out on the floor, ready to work, at ten minutes till close.
My club closes very, very late. Past last call at the bars. This night girls started giving up and leaving early. When the last half hour rolled around, almost everyone was on their way out. By ten till I was pretty much alone, and took it upon myself to make one last round to ask people waiting on their friends if they wanted dances, and boom, one customer jumps up and says hell yes. He buys a block of five songs. SCORE. Even better? He tips me 70%. There will always be nights that the last hour is completely useless. The last two hours even. But, you pay a house fee, for a full shift, so, why not make the most of it? Girls with better bodies, with better hustle, girls almost ten years younger than me, left with no dances on the board. A good attitude, patience, and luck. The next time I'm the one at the bottom, I have to remember nights like this.
Luck got me my money. But only because I put myself in a position to be open to it. You can't get lucky if you're not around when it hits.
For example. The next day. I very nearly didn't go in to work. When I was running later than I had planned, I was even more inclined to skip. But I decided to stick with my plan. It's silly to not go in on a Saturday night. It was the best shift I've *EVER* had. In terms of the experience, and the payoff.
We'll talk about that experience another time though. ^_^ I'm still basking....
("money" photo courtesy of 401k 2012 @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6869768383/ & "Good Luck" photo courtesy of Artotem @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/artotemsco/4696646765/)
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