The Strip Club Dating Survival Guide (4 page)

Now that we have some of the basic preliminaries out of the way, let’s meet a few of the people and players that have such an effect on the dancer you are pursuing, or planning to. The following people comprise the basic cast and crew of any strip club:

• ^Owner
  
• ^Manager
  
• ^{VIP Host}
  
• ^Bouncer
  
• ^{Bar Staff}
  
• ^{House Mom}
  
• ^{House Dancer}
  
• ^{Feature Entertainer}
  

There may be other players depending on what kind of club you frequent and where it is located such as valets, door girls, coat check girls, cooks and restroom attendants. For our purposes, however, these people will have far less impact on the girl you are seeking, therefore, I will simply categorize them collectively as
support staff
 and deal with them separately. And when I say,
deal with them separately
, I mean
ignore them entirely
. Just know that these people exist in many club environments and that you should handle them politely, with respect and remember to 
tip
, when appropriate.

OWNERS

There are quite a few strip clubs out there that might be what you call a
Mom & Pop
 operation. That is to say that they are owned and operated by a single person, usually a man, a married couple or perhaps a small, limited partnership. In some cases, the individual club is part of a small or regional chain operation, and there will be a district or regional manager taking the place of the owner who is running things from out of the area.

In a few instances, the club will be part of a national chain, and this can create all sorts of odd ownership arrangements. Some are partnership driven; some are licensing arrangements, and others are publicly traded on the stock market. In a club of this kind, there is no clearly defined individual owner as such, but there are quite a few people in charge with
VIP status
 and a certain amount of personal juice.

MANAGERS

You are unlikely to interact directly with any people representing ownership on a regular, ongoing basis unless they are the mom-and-pop type club. In this case, the actual owner is often on premise operating the business, and you may get to know them for whether you want to or not. In most cases, however, you will be dealing with ownership via their paid agents: the club General Manager and his or her assistant managers usually referred to as shift managers.

The
General Manager
 (GM)
acts as the primary representative of the owner and is the central authority in the day-to-day operations of the club. They can often be found inhabiting the day shifts at the club since this is what the rest of the world considers normal business hours. They are charged with all of the administrative tasks of the club such as labor scheduling, payroll, dealing with vendors, hiring/firing of staff, communicating with the ownership of the club, supervising the other managers, and directly managing the shifts that they are working on.

The
Shift Managers
 (there are usually at least two of these) are technically subordinate to the GM and cover the night and weekend shifts. While they may have some additional club-level responsibilities, the primary role of the shift manager is direct supervision of the shifts he or she is assigned to. They tend to handle most of the meaningful entertainer interactions, and are often responsible for scheduling the majority of the dancer shift appearances. 

Unless the club is set up in such a way as to require the GM to work or be present during prime night shifts, this territory will be the domain of the most successful and typically senior Shift Manager. This manager will be in direct control of the shifts with the most paid staff assigned, the greatest number of entertainers in attendance and the busiest customer traffic. It will usually also be these shift periods that are home to noteworthy events, contests or discount sales.

So, while the GM is the titular head of the club management structure, the night managers are actually in control of most of the employees, dancers, customers and promotions. This creates all sorts of tension within the management structure, and there may be some kind of factional infighting going on within the club social circles. Some club organizations recognize the issue and attempt to compensate for it, and some don’t. Either way, you should be aware that this kind of thing can exist at the club you go to, and you should take no part in it.

Strip clubs tend to incubate all sorts of dramatic behavior that you probably haven’t seen since you left high school. Juvenile, petty and hurtful things can happen in a heartbeat. Staying out of it is to your benefit. Remember that your purpose here is not to get caught up into some type of real life soap opera but to have a terrific time while meeting girls. Getting involved in gossip, taking sides, conspiring, and backstabbing all work at cross purposes to your own goals. Stay out of it, stay clean and keep your eyes on the prize: the hot ass chick in the flimsy lingerie.

If you are interacting with the GM of the club, act like it. He or she is the person who has been placed in charge of the club by its owner, and should be accorded a level of respect commensurate with that position. On the other hand, if you are talking to the manager who controls most of what actually goes on in the club by virtue of working the prime shifts, feel free to treat them according to what they are: the management employee entrusted with handling the strongest money-making time slots.

These people are necessary to the optimum operation of the club, and you should be on excellent terms with all of them, as well as anyone else involved in a management function. It honestly should not matter to you what these people think of each other, or if they are engaged in some kind of pointless internal power struggle. Just treat them all with respect, smile when you see them, shake hands firmly, and always look them in the eyes. Always treat people you meet in the club just as you would like to be treated yourself and you’ll be Ok.

VIP
HOST

While there will always be an owner, a GM, and one or more Shift Managers, the club you go to may or may not have what is usually referred to as a
VIP Host
.
This person is often an hourly or salaried employee but can just as easily be working on commission or even be acting as an independent contractor. The purpose of the VIP Host is to ensure a steady flow of high-value customers to the club and, at the other end, to make sure that those customers are receiving the best possible treatment, the most preferential seating, the best girls and a steady flow of overpriced bottle service, cigars, food or whatever else.

VIP hosts may act in the role of party planner, handle custom preparation of prime seating, schedule entertainers to ensure the highest level of VIP guest satisfaction, deliver flowers or gifts, run certain types of errands or act as matchmaker not only between guests and the entertainers, but as a networking conduit between the best customers. While the VIP Host is a terrific person to know, you should remember that most of what they do comes with a price whether it’s for the sale of a high-priced service or item, or a straight tip for services rendered.

BOUNCERS

The next three people to know about are the floater, the floor man and the door man. These positions are generally functions of the on-staff security as opposed to being specific job descriptions. The
Floater
 is the bouncer working the private dance area, watching out for the girls, making sure you pay for your dances and arbitrating any disputes that come up. This is the guy that you will tip to look the other way if you have an especially friendly dancer sitting in your lap during a private dance.

The
Floor Man
 is the bouncer that is walking the main showroom floor and patrolling the open areas of the club. In most clubs, there will be more than one person doing this job. The role of the floor man is to watch out for problems in the main public areas of the club and stop them before getting out of hand. If you ever see someone being removed from a strip club, it is most likely the floor men who are taking out the trash. Conversely, this is the person to go to if some kind of issue arises within the club and you require assistance. Whether it is some drunken asshole starting a problem, or just that you seem to have misplaced your cell phone, wedding ring, or wallet, it will usually be the Floor Man that will be there to sort it out.

The
Doorman
 is just what he sounds like, the guy who watches the door. This tends to be the bouncer on the low end of the totem pole, perhaps because he is new and inexperienced or because the other security staff members have trust issues with him. This guy also tends to get the short end when the tips are shared out at the end of the shift, so dropping a couple of bucks on him when you arrive at the club will make him a fast friend. Doesn’t have to be much, it’s the consideration that counts here.

BAR
STAFF

There will always be people operating some sort of bar arrangement, even if it is the kind of club that can’t serve alcohol (usually fully nude clubs.) In that case, there may be a single person acting as a
bartender/waitress
 serving you dramatically marked up juice, soda and energy drinks. Other places will be offering a full bar with all the amenities and plenty of bartenders, cocktail servers, and bar backs to make sure that you are never sitting there with an empty glass.

In any case, there will always be staff members assigned to take care of refreshments and provide service at your table or booth. These people will almost always have considerable information on the dancers that work the club so you will need to stay on favorable terms with them. This can often be a pleasant task since the bar staff is usually composed of attractive women in their own right. Information flows two ways as well, so if you act like an ass with the bar staff they are almost sure to tell the dancers. You should always remain on your best behavior since there undoubtedly is no need to make your life any harder than it.

Another thing you should probably know about the bar staff,
bartenders 
in particular. Just like the entertainers, the bar and wait staff are usually hot females who are making a respectable living off their looks. Also like the dancers, the bar and wait staff cultivate customers who they are prone to become territorial over. This can even lead to competition between the staff and the entertainers prized
money customers
 You may find dancers and bartenders taking turns gossiping with you about each other, making accusations, and generally trying to turn you against their rivals.

Once again, you must not allow yourself to be drawn into these soap opera games and intrigues. I can’t tell you how many customers get pulled into these things thinking that they have some inside information and walking around all flattered and “in the know.” They don’t know shit, trust me. Stay out of this kind of thing, always. Let them fight over you and anyone else that they want but don’t allow it to have any significant impact your behavior.

Stay friendly with the bar staff, be courteous, tip and focus on the dancers that are unquestionably the point of you being in the club in the first place. You may just find that if you simply treat the staff appropriately you will be treated better in return. With all the guys sniffing around the bar staff trying to get laid, just acting “normal” can tend to make you more appealing.

HOUSE
MOM

Another person that may or may not be present depending on the club you are at is the
House Mom
. Sometimes there are more than one of these, and they are occasionally male (referred to as a “Houseparent.”) The purpose of the House Mom is to handle issues in the entertainer dressing area. She keeps people from stealing, prevents fights, acts as the representative of management in the dressing room and sells odds and ends (Band-Aids, tampons, nail polish, Tylenol) to the entertainers. 

The House Mom also has a role to play in the way the dancers look as they enter and leave the dressing area. Dancers usually need to pass by the House Mom who will check their nails, hair and costume to ensure that they meet the appearance standards that the club requires when appearing before the customers. Some House Moms also make a reasonable living selling dancer clothes and shoes to the girls.

Since the House Mom hears almost everything that goes on in the dressing room, they are privy to a lot of “girl talk.” They will know about any customers of note, and have a clear line on who to talk to and who to ignore. You may or may not ever get the chance to interact with the House Mom under normal circumstances, but it pays to remember that she is somewhere in the back of the club both hearing
and
telling all. That’s just about everyone you’ll find in the average strip joint except for the dancers themselves, and they get their own chapter, next.

Chapter 2. Girls, Girls, Girls

Don’t laugh; your daughter might be working here.