Lucky

I try not to talk about Jamie a lot at work. I don't like mixing those two. It's hard to talk about work with him because he hates my job. I hate it too, but sometimes I need to talk about it. I hate talking about him at work especially to the men. When I do, it makes me feel more like a whore than usual.

I bring Jamie up for two reasons.
-The first reason is used far more often. I bring up Jamie to distance myself from the guy. They start getting touchy-feely in the creepy "I want to date you" kind of way. So I bring up Jamie and how we're very, very, very serious and completely and totally in love. I also make sure to tell them that no man will ever even come close to comparing. With the this the guy has one of two reactions. The first reaction is that the guy gets pissed off and wants me to leave him alone. Which I am more than happy to comply with his wishes. Or the second reaction is the more common and the one that pisses me off "Oh... Well you make sure to tell him I say he's a really lucky guy." Here's the reaction that goes through my head: "I'm not going to tell him that! How dumb are you? Telling him he's lucky that I'm awesome, from a guy that is paying me because I'm a stripper. Oh my God! You're a genius. That's totally what gets him going. Being reminded that I take my clothes off for money." Here's my real reaction: "Thanks." I get up and leave cause the guys a douche.
-Second reason is to bring myself closer to a guy. I the case of a regular there comes a conversation, farther down the line where they want to know about my personally life. In order for them to feel like they have my confidence and are truly getting to know "me" I tell them about Jamie. I make up fake problems that we. They feel like they can help me talk through them. This allows us to be "closer" and then I make more money. I hate talking about Jamie, but in this circumstance all they get is his name. They don't learn anything about him. They still tell me "he's lucky."

Lucky. He's lucky that I make a lot of money because I take my clothes off. He's lucky that other guys get to touch me. He's lucky that I flirt for a living. He's lucky that thousands of men have seen me naked. He's lucky that something so personal is there for any one to see if they pay the right price.

I don't know how he deals with it as well as he does. He's special. He can keep living and keep loving me even through this job. He is stronger than most. I'm going on my anniversary of working at the club. Jamie and I have been together almost a year and a half. I have been working for twice as long as we've been together. It's hard for me. I don't know how it's not killing him.

You know Jamie is a real lucky guy.

Naked

I just got out of class. I should have gone into work, but I ran into two of my good friends. I ended up sitting and talking to my friend MJ. We have two more days left of school. Tonight she has her performance art piece. For the piece she is naked and wrapped in cellophane and walks down the aisle. At the end of the aisle she breaks out of the cellophane and walks back out of the room naked.

My reaction was: That takes so much bravery. I could never do that. It's weird because I'm naked in front of hundreds of people that I don't know. She's doing it in front of people that know her, support her, and love her. I do it in front of complete strangers that only want to have sex with me. I can't get naked in front of people at school...

For me there is a huge separation between work and my life. In life I am never naked and a prude. I'm actually somewhat conservative with the way I dress. At work, I show everything off. I separate work and life so much that I have no idea how any one can get naked in front of people. The moment I walk into the club though, it's different. I can show it all off, and walk around in underwear.

I'm naked. I'm naked at the club literally. In life I'm emotionally naked. No one can tell because I hide it well. But I'm always on the brink of crying when things get hard. And if I'm honest... They are always hard. Being naked in front of a crowd is easier than being emotionally naked. I can bare showing my body. I can't bare showing my feelings. It's too open. It's too raw. It's me. I don't want people to know me. If they do, it's too difficult to keep up the facade.

I compartmentalize. I have to. There's work, and there's life. I talk about work often in life, but it's with a touch of humor. I don't think about work much because if I do it is too much to bare. At work I talk about life but I don't think about it. If I don't compartmentalize my life into two distinct sections I wouldn't be able to muddle through. Half the time I think that's what I'm doing. Just surviving.

Friends

So tomorrow I have to go to work. :( Oh well. I have to get used to it because I will be in the club six days a week next month... Yay!

Anyways, tomorrow will actually be a fun day at work because my three best friends are coming! None of them have been to the club before, so they are all excited, but a little nervous. Vera is the most torn. She's excited, but she also knows that I'm going to be using her to make some money. She's not sure what I will be doing with her. So it's fun for me because she's a little nervous. I'm going to make Alexis take a couple shots before we go, so then she will loosen up and have a bit more fun.

I'm looking forward to it. It won't be as lonely. They will also understand more clearly what my job actually is. And they will get to know who my "club" persona is. They haven't seen it, and it will be nice so I won't have to describe it.

I'll let you know how it goes! But YAY!!! I get to share this part of my life with my friends.

Boredom

I'm so bored and I have nothing to do right now, so I thought I would write a post. I was just thinking about a regular that hasn't crossed my mind in about six months.

I live and work in Iowa. I wouldn't think that Iowa would be a huge business destination, but I have a huge number of clients that are from out of state. I tend to do really well with this crowd. I like them best of all too because it's usually their first time in and they don't know the rules. This means that they won't touch me because they think they will get in trouble. They're also more likely to be lonely and more interested in my conversation. They also have more money, on average.

I met this regular last June. He came in two or three times a month for five months. He was from California. Most the time he stopped in when he was in town for work, but sometimes when he had nothing else to do and wanted company, he would fly to Iowa just to me.

There's a turning point with regulars. They can go one of two ways. The regular forms an attachment that is of the romantic sort. You need to cut these regulars because these are the ones that will turn into stalkers. They can also go the way of friendship. These are the ones that come into the club that want company and just to talk. They  no longer get dances. These are also the ones that you can convince to help pay your bills. We keep these regulars.

Anyways my regular from California started going way of stalker. I eventually had to tell him I no longer wanted to see him any more. Because he lived in California I was pretty safe of never seeing him again.

I don't know why I thought of him today, but I did.

21

I am preparing myself...

To turn 21.

I should be excited about this, but I don't know. This number holds so much weight in society. It's the "Congratulations you're finally an actual grown up" Birthday. For me it's just another day. I'm not huge on celebrating Birthdays, at least mine anyways. I love celebrating other peoples. My own just seems so over rated.

I've been planning my 21st birthday for almost fourteen years. I was seven and out to dinner with my family. Another table had ordered a bunch of umbrella drinks. My seven year old self was very much attracted to these umbrellas and wanted one of those drinks. My dad told me they were for grown ups and when I turned 21 I could have one. I asked him what it was called and he told me "Mai Tai." I told him "When I turn 21 we're going to have Mai Tai's together." My dad laughed and said he'd be there. Here I am the day before my 21st and I will be leaving to go home tomorrow morning. I'm going on a double date with my younger brother and his girlfriend for lunch. For dinner, almost fourteen years later, we are going back to that restaurant and my dad and I will each have a Mai Tai. I'll go back to school and probably do homework. I'm sure it's one of the more laid back 21st Birthday's, but it will be nice.

The other day I had been teasing Jamie that on the way back from my parent's house we should stop by the casino, that is on the way. That way I could get my first time gambling out of the way too. I was joking because I don't like wasting my money. He's taking me serious and we will be stopping on our way home.

Unlike Jamie, I will remember my 21st Birthday.

Minimum Wage

It's May and it's a really bad month to work... or be in need of money. It's finally warmed up outside, so everyone wants to be outside doing outdoorsy things. They don't come into the strip club.

Up until this month, my worst day ever had been when I made $60.00 in a six hour shift that is still ten dollars an hour. This month, I have left three times making less than $25. That's less than minimum wage. I get NAKED!!! I should be making far more money if I have to get naked.

People always think that strippers make lots of money. Most the time, I do make quite a bit of money. There are lots of days when I make minimum wage.

UGH!!!

Saturday Night

I haven't worked a Saturday night in over five months. Last night I did... And it was awful. Usually the club is packed with upwards of 500 people. (Five hundred being a slower night.) There might have been 250 people in at its peak. No one made any money. I went home with $200 and that was a lot better than what most people made last night.

There were 52 girls in last night. I have never seen so many. I went up on stage once, and I didn't get a single private dance. It was terrible.

Last night was interesting though. I had a few realizations. First, there aren't many girls working that have been there longer than I have. Out of the 52, there were only five that pre-dated me. A lot of the new girls know who I am, but they've never worked with me. Everyone was commenting that they were happy to see me and were very surprised that I was there. During day shift everyone treats eachother pretty equally, but at night there is a hierarchy. Last night I was given the respect of a veteran, and that felt weird. I feel like I just walked in a few weeks ago myself. Second, I found that I don't know how to work a night shift anymore. It's been so long, I was having a hard time. Third, I realized I am very convincing and determined.

I've been wearing the same clothes at work for a year now. Pretty boring and basic. Nothing special at all. Since I work a lot of day shifts, I don't need to be flashy and new and sparkly. I can wear a tight t-shirt and boy shorts and everyone thinks it's grand. At night, you have to be better than that. So, with the very little money I had before work, I went shopping for three new outfits. If you get to know me outside of work I wear lots of bright colors, but at work it's a lot of black. Well I bought a green outfit, a purple outfit, and a white and black polka-dot outfit. People seemed to respond well to it. ...If only there had been more people.

I got to work at 8:30. My make-up was already done so I was on the floor by nine. At ten I ran into a guy I haven't seen in a few months. He doesn't get dances, which is fine because I enjoy talking to him. He left at 10:30 and I had $40 in my pocket. I didn't make any more money until my stage set at 1:30 in the morning. (Normally on a Saturday night, I would be on stage two or three times.) My very first stage there was a bachelor. I went over to him. His friend said "Beat his ass." I wasn't in the mood so I said no. I said congratulations and gave him a kiss on the cheek. As I did, he hauled off and hit my ass. It hurt. Immediately, I open handed him on the side of his head as hard as I could. He was stunned and said "What was that for?" "If you hit me, I hit you harder." He kept trying to put dollars on the stage and I ignored them. He got pissed and told the bouncer I hit him. The bouncer knows me well and asked "Well what did you do to deserve it?" When I got off the stage I had a medium pile of ones. I was sitting and sorting them when I guy came up to me "Hey you're rich you can go home now." I looked at him "Look around. It's crap. I am barely making minimum wage." He looked at me "It's not how much money you make it's how big the pile looks. That's all that's important. It's not like you have anything to buy but drugs and alcohol." I walked away.

After stage and putting aside tip out and house fee, I had $100. Remember, I did not have a single private dance and only one stage set, and yet I went home with $200. How did I make that extra hundred you ask. Well that is determination. A few days ago I had been told that I should tap into my blue eyes. Well 3:30 hit and I still only had $100. That was not enough I said.  I needed more. I sat down on the guy's laps. I smiled my dimply smile and looked them very squarely in the eye. Not in a "stare down" way but in a "I'm so enthralled with what you're saying I can't take my eyes from yours." After a few minutes I would say in a whispy, meek voice "Would you like a private dance?" While slightly raising my eyebrows and widening my blue eyes. No one had money at  this point. But everyone grabbed their wallets to check. "I don't have enough for a dance..." I would look down and then up saying softly "Well that's alright." As I would motion to go they would hand me all the money in their wallets "It was so nice talking to you." I would kiss them on the cheek and say good night. I did this until I had $200. I feel a little bad about taking their last money, but I never suggested or asked. They gave. I need to use my eyes more.