Supply and Demand

I recently read a dancer post where she blogs about not liking regulars. This got my attention, since I am one of those dreaded regulars. She had some legitimate points. She didn’t like having to rely on regulars and she didn’t like the dealing with regulars who wanted to date them. In a nut shell, regulars are unreliable and are too much drama. It struck me that being unreliable and too much drama is two top complaints regulars have about their favorite dancers. I think it’s more an issue of supply and demand. The real issue is how many customer dollars are chasing the available dancers.

One of the major perks of dancing is it has probably the most flexible job schedule imaginable. Granted dancers don’t get paid when they don’t show up, but it’s difficult to think of another job that allows the same level of freedom. Dancers can take a month off, and be able to go back to work. If most folks don’t show up for work for a month, they might as well not show up at all. Getting back to the not showing up, not getting paid problem this is why dancer don’t like relying on a regular. One of the major reasons the schedule is flexible is because of the money they can make. If you can cover your bills by working two or three days a week you have a lot more freedom. This lets you literally work one week and take the next week off. Not only does this gives you flexibility in the your scheduling, it also gives you flexibility in your customer base. You aren’t dependant on any particular one.

This only exists if there are enough customers to guarantee she can make money. When you run out of customers the flexibility goes away. If you are not making money the job can become incredibly inflexible. You have to work, no matter how bad you feel or what is going on or your out on the street. Landlords don’t care if things are bad at the club. He wants his rent. In these conditions, money from a regular becomes much more important. I’ve noticed this from my own personal experience. The amount of money I tip at club really hasn’t changed much over the years. In theory, what I tip should actually be declining in value as the cost of living goes up. What you can buy with the $20 from a dance is much less now than it was ten years ago. Yet, what I tip has become an increasingly large percentage of what the dancer makes.

This results in the customer having more control over the dancer’s schedule. Missing when a regular comes in can really impact her income. It really sucks when the customer cancels at the last second or doesn’t show up at all. The ability to pay your rent may depend on if a particular customer shows up. A flakey customer can be the worst. Just like a flakey dancer can be the worst. Dancers have a (not underserved) reputation as being massive flakes but they can get away with it if things are busy at the club. If she upsets a customer by not showing up it’s not a big deal, as there will be more guys to take his place. However, if the club is slow the opposite happens. If the dancer doesn’t show up, there are several other girls there to take her place. It’s supply and demand in action.

I don’t think there is anything inherently flakey about regulars or favorite dancers. It’s about control. And the party that is in demand has the control.

She also complains about most regulars wanting to start up a relationship outside of the club. This is a very legitimate complaint. All the dancers I know have had to deal with unwanted advances from customers. It’s kind of the catch-22 of regulars. To get a regular you have to start a friendship, but not too much of a relationship. The dancer has to balance being flirty and having fun with enough distance to maintain safety. It’s hard to do one without damaging the other.

The customer side is a little different. A lot of dancers try to guilt customers into spending more money. They go on about there bills or about the latest crisis in their life. I don’t mind this with my friends but somebody who is ultimately trying to get money out of me gets irritating. It can be difficult to balance with some favorite dancers. I like having the trust of my favorite dancers but it’s hard not too feel to manipulated.

Dancers aren't always the only ones with customers showing up unannounced at their door. I’ve had dancers show up at my door on multiple occasions. The real scary part is when you’ve never told them your address. Granted this is a more rare situation for customers than it is for dancers.

While this isn’t as economically driven as the scheduling/flakey issue, it’s still the same problem for both. Somebody is taking their problems and forcing you to deal with it outside the club. Trying to be a limited friend is tough for both customer and dancer. There are a precious few dancers I really consider friends and I don’t mind dealing with their issues outside the club. The other vast majority either irritate me or creep me out. There is a very personal side to the strip club industry that is difficult for anybody to navigate. However, it's a lot easier to navigate when you are making money.