Things have been getting slightly better. On Tuesday, the first day I was supposed to work for the agency, I got my period, so obviously I couldn't work. But this ended up being a good thing because I decided I didn't want to just lay around waiting for it to stop and doing nothing, so I went to the biker bar I mentioned a couple posts back. The manager hired me; I didn't even have to audition! He just told me to put on my outfit, and then he took a picture and told me to come back the next day (Wenesday) at 9.
I just have to describe this place because it is so completely random and hysterical, but I really like it. First of all, it is on the outskirts of town, and I mean outskirts. The only thing next to it is a gas station and an auto-parts store. Walking there my first night, it was dark, no one was on the streets except some homeless people, and it was lightning in the background. If I was in a Lifetime movie, I would already have been dead in an alley somewhere. Luckily, that didn't happen, and I made it to work.
The place inside is small and there are motorcycles hanging from the ceiling. The "lapdance area" is basically just an alcove with leopard covered benches and a curtain separating it from the rest of the place. I spent the entire night trying to figure out if the bartender/barback was a guy or a girl; I still don't know! And most of the strippers are either fat, old, or covered in tattoos (I think tats on girls are super hot, but the city clubs won't hire girls with tons of tattoos). As The Honest Courtesan described Big Daddy's, it is a place where strippers go to die.
Reading this, one might think, why would anyone want to work here? Well, firstly, I am not trying to sound stuck-up, but I was probably the most attractive girl there. Not that some of the girls weren't good looking, especially if you are into tattoos, but if you aren't into biker chicks, I felt like I ranked pretty high up there. Which obviously is a plus. Second, I made $130 on a slow ass Wenesday night by basically doing nothing. In the city clubs, you have to work work work hustle hustle hustle and compete with the 40 other Russian girls, and the Russian are sharks. They will hustle a guy out of his last bit of change, and although I am not lazy, I'm also not a super hustler. Here, the strippers don't hustle, a lot of them just sit at the bar playing on their phones. Of course it was a slow night, but even the manager told me the girs weren't hustlers. So I don't have to work my ass off and compete to make a measly $100. Third, the way the girls make most of their money is on stage. The sets are 15 minutes long, and every couple minutes they get off stage, walk around the bar and collect money from the customers sitting at the bar, and get back on stage. I thought this was weird, but it makes sense once you do it. Usually, the guy at least tips a dollar to be polite and if he likes you he'll give you more. So it's like they are obligated to tip. If you did nothing else all night except your stage sets, then you are probably going to make at least $100 on a fairly busy night (at least from the way I saw it). Fourth, I love that it is so laid-back. There is not cunt housemom, no ridiculous rules, and you don't have to wear ridiculous long gowns that make you look like a slutty 17 year old at prom. In fact, if you did wear a gown you would be laughed at. So I can wear whatever I want. And finally, NO HOUSE FEES! Yes, I mentioned this before, but it is nice knowing that whatever you make you keep. And it's a fairly easy commute (except for the scary walk) both from where I live and from school. I actually went to work right after class Wenesday night. So I don't have pay cab fare. And I like that it is friendly and has a kind of neighborhood feel with chill regulars. I like the atmosphere of it and that it has personality. The city clubs are like the dancers they feature: impersonal, cold, and out to hustle you for every dollar in the form of house fees.
Also, one of the dancers there is super cool. We'll call her Alyssa. She showed me some pole tricks and we walked to the train together after work, which was nice because I would not have wanted to go by myself. She gave me her number and told me to text her once I got home so she knew I made it OK. It was nice to have someone to talk to and be friendly with. I think one of the biggest examples of female comaraderie can be found in strip clubs.
There are three ways you make money here. Like I said before, the main way is stage tips, but there are also lap dances and selling these tiny bottles of champagne. It's kind of unusual the way they do it. Dances are $20, and the way it works is for $20 the bartender gives you a chip. At the end of the night, you cash in your chips with the manager and get $10 from each dance; the house keeps the other 10. Which I know in other clubs you keep the full 20, but for no housefees I think it's fair, and then the guy usually will tip you on top of your dance. Wens. the guy I was dancing for tipped me a 20. Although he was so drunk I'm not sure if he knew it was a twenty. C'est la vie!
The way the champagne works is that there are these tiny bottles of champagne the club sells, and if a guy asks you what you want to drink you say champagne. It's $20 per mini-bottle, and for each bottle you sell you get a chip, and like the lap dances, you get $10 off of each bottle you sell. The whole thing is unusual and a bit funny; I remember giving the manager a weird look when he told me about the champagne thing. He thought I was worried and tried to reassure me that I didn't have to sell champagne if I didn't want to (basially no one has to dance anything here lol).
The only bad thing I can find with the place is the issue of scheduling. See, they make the schedule a month ahead, and the month of October is full, so since I'm new they have to squeeze me in whereever they can b/c there are only about 12 dancers per shift. The next day I work is Monday b/c there is was an opening, and I told the manager I'd like to get on a regular schedule for the month of November. So hopefully I can stick it out for the month of October and after that if I still like it (and it is honestly the most promising thing I've had since coming to NYC) I can get on a regular schedule.
So that's basically it for the club. I don't think I will go back to the agency,even after I'm done with my period, as I am not fully comfortable with the idea of escorting. It is really good money, a lot better than this club, but I don't think I would be comfortable with it. Now that I've found another way to make at least some form of income, I don't think I will go the escort route.
Also, the other good thing is I got hired for this work-study program where I tutor underprivileged kids how to read. It is a very reputable program associated with the university, and will look awesome on my resume. Not to mention I am excited, although a bit apprehensive, about tutoring 4 year olds. The program runs through the entire school year, and you have to be able to commit a certain number of hours to it, but it will be a good way to meet people and will keep me busy. As I told the lady who hired me, I like school, but I want something else where I can feel fulfilled and like I am doing something meaningful. And I did mean this; to me, teaching is very rewarding.
My interview was the day after my first night at work, so I got off work at 4 am (drunk, I might add), was at home by 5 am, and then woke up at 8:30 to go the interview. I didn't even brush my teeth and was rubbing off smeared black eye makeup in the bathroom before the interview. Then I came in to the interview and one of the questions was whether I was organized. Meanwhile, I am carrying my notebook which has 8 million papers sticking out of it b/c they fallen out and I had shoved them in haphazardly before getting on the train. But I guess she liked my answers and the essays I wrote for my application b/c I got an email saying I was hired only two hours after my interview :)
Annnddd after my gender studies class that night, I was walking by myself lost in my own little world, when this girl from class just popped up next to me and asked what I thought about the class. I felt as though she wanted to talk to me, like she had been waiting to ask me a question (maybe I am looking too deep into this though). So we ended up walking and talking for awhile, and I friended her on FB. So last night I sent her a message with my phone number asking if she'd like to get together some time. I felt like I was being kind of forward, as I don't usually message near strangers with my phone number, but as my friend from back home told me, she might be in the same boat as me and I figured it was worth a shot.
Yikes, I just looked at the clock and it is 1 in the afternoon and I have a shit ton of reading to do and that was the longest post EVER (I have a tendency to babble and describe every little thing)! Yesterday I was at the library for, I believe, 8 hours straight and got home at midnight. And I have to do the same thing again today. Grad school consists of a lot of extremely dense, complicated reading that's for sure!