How Sour ??

I hate miscounts and misleading things, but it doesn't usually sour it for me. If I had a "free pass" that they reject at the door because I'm outside the limits of the fine print, I just don't go in the door at all. New Orleans has a LOT of "hustle" style old clubs (not the newer ones; most of the Deja Vu /Hustler clubs are pretty much straightforward about what you get and for how much).

Like one that has a sign that says "topless, bottomless," by which it turns out that they mean the girls wear G-strings. Get it? The G-string doesn't have anything covering her bottom as in "her ass" but it DOES cover the coochie and hair-zone. So, you THINK it's "no clothing below the waist" but technically speaking ...

And several others have signs that say "No Cover!" Then you're charged a two-drink minimum at the door, and with each drink being in the neighborhood of $10, you're paying a fee at the door.

Or other clubs that state "Free Drinks!" but you pay money upon entry in exchange for two tickets for drinks that you exchange at the bar.

Most New Orleans clubs aren't all that bad. And the ones that are, are OBVIOUSLY and RIDICULOUSLY so, almost as though they're deliberately seeking to give the tourists an olde-tyme sleaze-joint experience. They're pretty easy to discern.

Then there's the dancers being "vague." I don't do vague. "You'll really like it" and "It will be an erotic, intimate experience" and "I guarantee you'll be impressed" I just turn away from. Umm, thanks. Goodbye.

Sometimes, though, you just have to take a hit for the team, print it up here on TUSCL, and realize that you can't always get what you think you're paying for. It's all a matter of managing expectations, and knowing what is reasonable and what isn't, and then getting as much as you expect and no more. Some people bridle at drink prices at strip clubs in many cities, not just NOLa -- "man! they charged me $6 for a dang beer!" -- but I just think of that as de-rigeur. Sure, it's more than at a normal bar, by a lot; but what were you expecting, CHEAP beer at a strip club? Geez ...

As I said on the other post about cost, I don't care what each specific thing costs, it's the cost of the overall experience that is important to me. I figure they're going to make money one way or another - some clubs do it with an entrance fee, some with high drink prices, some with high private dance prices. But when they do ALL of those things, I go elsewhere.

Although there's always a bit of the carny about clubs and strippers, I don't encounter those types of scam very often. Maybe because I visit a club because of good word of mouth, not free passes or advertising promotions, and I've learned to stay away from most chain-type clubs. I guess you could say they're so sour I can taste it without even going there.

Yeah, I know Deja Vu is notorious for the "free pass" scam. I keep a whole stack of free passes in my car but it still costs be $13 to get in (for the drinks.) But I foolishly continue to fall for the scam because my ATF is at Lansing. Although I do think they are being dishonest, I tell myself, it is just $13 and I am going to spend far more than that in dances and in the VIP, so who cares?