So, here are the basics. My name is Francesca, I just moved to New York City to start my Master's, and I am trying to make it as a stripper in NYC in order to pay my rent/tuition/groceries/whatever. I stripped for about a week in New Orleans in the club that I used to waitress at for a year. Dancing in NYC is alot different than dancing in NOLA, let me tell you.
But whatever. More on that later. Actually I got off work not too long ago, ate some Ramen, and I'm drunkkkk. It's my third night working at the club I got hired at when I first moved here, and it sucks. Mostly because of the house fees.
You see, dear readers, strippers are "independent contractors," meaning they are not employees of the club they dance at. They don't get paid salary and usually are not required to stick to a specific schedule (a lot of dancers will dance at one club and the next night dance at a different club). They are self-employed; independent contractors. Therefore, they are required to pay the club they are dancing at a base rent in order to "rent" the club for the night so that they may ply their services at aforementioned club.
And in NYC, base rent is insane (tonight, a Monday, it was $150). And that's not all. After the $150, dancers must tip the DJ ($20), house mom ($10), and VIP host, if the dancer is luck enough to sell a champagne room ($20 minimum). And THEN there's the fact that I take a cab to and from work, $13 there, $13 back.
Soooo, back to me. Tonight, my third night, I did around 5 lap dances at $20 a pop. Then I did a 15 minute room where I got paid $80, plus a $60 tip. Including a $5 tip, I made around $250. Not bad for a Monday, eh? Think again! I gave around $200 of my money to rent, tipout, and my cab fare. So basically I made around $50 for eight hours of grinding on guy's cocks, shoving my tits in their face, listening to booorrring stories about whothefuckknows with an interested smile on my face, all the while trying to breathe through my mouth to avoid the smell of ciggies and beer on the dude's breath.
Is it any wonder I'm drunk? No, not at all. Drinking makes it easier, more fun. So should I stick it out and see how it goes or go back to waitressing? Hmm....who knows, but I'm stubborn as fuck and hate being bad at something, plus I'm getting to know the people I work with, who are actually pretty cool. I'm scheduled to work on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Hopefully I can hustle my ass off and actually make a living doing this. Because I know there's money to be made, I just gotta get good at it.
Anyways, lovies, that's enough for now. I'm drunk, I've satisfied my late night drunk cravings with Ramen, and I gotta go to school tomorrow to get my schedule straightened out. Off to bed I go!