It's Wednesday (2/20) as I write this. The all too familiar persistent ring in my ears remind me that more than my liver and wallet suffer from these visits. I usually showed up on weekday nights until the volume and service got to me. One of the dancers I talked had been sending me texts asking me to go in. Bracing myself for the volume I head in on Tuesday. Just to prevent things from becoming to cumbersome as I write this, I’ll name the girls Larry, Curly and Moe.
I headed into the club and located a seat a bit out of the audio blast zone. The dancer who invited me in (Larry) joined me and we talk for a little bit. The dancer then headed back and got another girl I used to get dances from (Curly). This started out pretty cool, and then it went bad. I know both these dancers fairly well. They tend to treat me as much as a friend as a customer. This can backfire; both girls started talking to each other. After about five minutes they were deep in their own conversation, and I was watching TV. I'm not particularly sure why, but I instantly got annoyed. Being ignored will annoy pretty much anybody, but not instantly. I had decided to leave at this point. This really isn't anything new. This is usually what happened the last times I had gone in. It's a fairly natural thing, they are friends, they work together, and they have a lot more in common. Add to that they are comfortable around me and they end talking to each other while I watch TV. Just like being married without the tax benefits.
Much to my surprise a dancer was there I hadn't seen in a long while showed up (Moe). She sat down and started to talk to me, kind of weird situation. I've got two dancers sitting at the table ignoring me, a third talking to me. Larry started to get concerned that I was suddenly paying attention to the third dancer. She asked me for some dances to which I agreed. We got one dance in when she got called to stage. Yea. Larry and Moe were on stage, and I was done. I suddenly remembered why I quit coming in on weeknights. While I was waiting for Curly walked over and asked if I wanted some dances. I said no, that I was leaving. She kind of replied with I understand, and told me I could call her anytime. I replied with overly sarcastic "yah, sure". Not entirely nice on my part. At the time I believe she was really sincere, I also believe that at a later date, she'd probably just blow me off. When Larry got off stage I paid her for the one dance, plus a couple extra. Then I took off.
Sometimes I wonder if my expectations are out of line. I like the fact that they consider me a friend and talk to me as such. I don't get hustled, or listen to the fake compliments (What's a handsome guy like you sitting alone?). But then again, getting ignored isn't much fun either. To be completely cold about this, if I didn't tip them, they might stop by and say hello. But they wouldn't hang around. Ultimately, I'm still just a customer.
