Comments by FONDL (page 45)

Lotsoffun, I disagree with your reasoning. Strip clubs don't do well in NV rural counties for the same reason that they don't do well in rural areas in many other rural areas - there aren't enough people living nearby to support them, it has nothing to do with the presence of whore houses. Tourists will travel from LV to the rural areas for the novelty of vising a legal whorehouse, but they won't to visit a strip club because there are lots of decent ones in LV. The only way a rural club can do well is to be better than the clubs in the closest metro area.

Other than hoping to visit some of the good Canadian clubs because they are cheaper and high mileage, I don't have such a list. I've found over the years that it isn't the club that causes me to have a great time, it's the girl, and my odds of finding her in a shitty place are almost as good as finding her in a great one. Some of my best times have been in terrible clubs; some of my worst times have been in good ones. So as long as there is some contact allowed and there's an opportunity to sit and talk a bit and it's not too crowded or overpriced, the club itself doesn't make much difference to me.

Scott, you're comments to me also indicated a common problem that we've all had in clubs - you don't see a girl you like but you want to have some fun so you settle for a girl who doesn't do much for you, you hook up with her, and that's when you spot the girl of your dreams. That's a common occurance, we've all had that happen, it's part of clubbing and there isn't much you can do about it.

Glad to see that others have mentioned Nepals and McDoogals. Neither quite made my top 5 but both are great clubs.

I can't answer this question because I never remember the name of a truly terrible club, nor do I ever return so I have no way of knowing whether or not they're still in business. But if you go to the thread where I described a truly bad war story, that place would certainly qualify. One other place that comes to mind was a tiny rural club (if you can call it that) in western PA that resembled a small barn, and after finally finding the unmarked entrance I went in and there was an empty room with nothing but a crude stage - no food, no bar, no people, nothing. A fat girl came out to dance and I almost left then and there but I persevered. She was followed by one of the best looking strippers I've ever seen who turned out to be a really nice girl and a great dancer in private and I had a wonderful time. Who woulda thunk it?

Handling rejection - in this or any other business - is a learned skill, the good ones learn how to handle it, the bad ones don't. But I think the lesson is harder to learn in this business because (a) these are young immature girls or at least they start out that way, (b) they often don't have a high level of self-esteem or a lot of self-confidence, (c) at least when they start out they aren't used to being with older men and are often somewhat intimidated, and (d) as I said earlier, they are selling themselves, especially their appearance, not some product, so it's harder not to take it personally. All of that works to our advantage, it gives the customer the upper hand.

David, I agree with Chandler. And there isn't any downturn in the economy, that's bullshit.

Scott, I don't think you're dumb at all, I think you did exactly the right thing, you spent what you could afford and left. Spending more would have been the dumb thing to do. Chances are that as soon as you left this girl did exactly the same routine with the next guy, and he was probably dumber than you and spent way too much. And regretted it the next day. Don't ever spend more than you can afford in a club.

I agree with Chandler, I don't think the two compete with each other, the two appeal to different people. For all practical purposes prostitution is already nearly legal almost everywhere, just look on the Internet where the same girls advertise regularly for years. I don't think it has any impact on strip clubs. And I don't think the price would change if it were in fact legalized.

I think most strippers will tell you (and themselves) that they will never meet a customer OTC. I think most strippers make an occasional exception to that rule.

Chandler, there's another category - those who just don't give a shit. My ATF is in that category. It's a big part of her appeal.

Chandler, yes they are. Even if you're a dirty old scumbag. Especially if you're a dirty old scumbag.

No interest in a 3-some, either ITC or OTC. I'd invariably prefer one girl over the other and wish the second would go away and leave us alone.

1 - Pirate's Den, Key West, FL (no longer exists) - rating 9.9 2 - Teaser's II, Key West, FL (no longer exists) - 9.5 3 - Brad's Brass Flamingo, Indianapolis - 9 4 - Club Risque, Bristol, PA - 8.5 5 - Choo Choo's, Waldorf, MD - 8 The last requires a bit of explanation - it's where I met my ATF and has been very up and down over the years. Ten years ago it was near perfect, I didn't how how good I had it.

That's interesting, Chitown, because I had the same experience with IS. And that was a long time ago. I don't think club managers much care what customers think as long as they are making money. A lot of them probably think that they wouldn't make as much money if they made the kind of changes we'd all like to see (and in some cases they could be right.) I think the problem for us is that's it's too easy for clubs to make money in this business, which causes them to think they know it all. I once got kicked off of a club's discussion board (Gentlemen's Gold Club in Baltimore) for continually suggesting that they make certain changes (specifically lowering prices on dances during the day shift since nobody was buying any - duh.) The funny thing is that 2 years later they're starting to implement some of my suggestions. Maybe I'll stop in again one of these days. I wonder if my old fave is still there.

Except for starting to work out regularly, my fave didn't change her look while she was a dancer, she changed it (frequently) after she quit dancing.

I've probably said no to more girls than I've said yes to, because I rarely buy a dance unless the girl really turns me on. But I can understand why some girls take it personally, after all they're not selling some product or service like a typical sales person is, they're selling themselves, they are the product. So it would be pratty hard not to take it personally. I agree that they should learn to be polite about it, but let's face it, a lot of these girls don't have much in the way of people skills. I once ended up being a regular of a girl who I turned down the first time she apporached me. It pays to be polite.

The other thing that happens is that, once you become a regular at a particular club and some of the girls get to know you, they'll sit with you and talk to each other using their real names. Once I got to know my ATF that often happened and I got to know all her friends by their real names. The stage names seem to be prinmarily for guys who they don't know at all. I guess that makes some sense.

But to be serious about this, put yourself in the girl's shoes (which is probably all she's wearing.) She spends an hour fixing her hair just so, choosing the sexiest outfit she can find, and otherwise prettying herself up, then goes out onstage and gets naked under spotlights. Then because he makes eye contact she flirts with some disgusting old scumbag who if he said hello to her in a normal bar she'd tell him to fuck off. Then she gets off stage and goes over and talks to him and tries to convince him that she finds him really attractive in spite of his bad breath. Then she offers to go off in private and rub her naked body all over him and let him feel her up while he has an orgasm, all for a lousy $20. And he says no he's not interested. Seems to me that's a whole 'nother level of rejection, way beyond what any normal salesman would ever encounter. I think a young girl would have to be really self confident and well adjusted or extremely hardened not to feel some hurt by that experience.

My ATF changes her hair style and color regularly. I've seen it short, medium length, and long. I've seen her with brown hair, red hair, blonde hair. Last time I saw her it was very short, black, and kinda spiked - very cute. The only look I don't especially care for on her is when she gives her natural brown hair a red tint, which she used to do a lot. For some reason it makes her look Hispanic. She used to joke about it when she worked at a restaurant where all the kitchen help was Hispanic - they'd do extra favors for her because they thought she was one of them (she can speak some Spanish because her first real BF was Hispanic.) I've also seen her body change a lot - when we first met she was about 145 lbs and out of shape, she's now about 125 and very fit. I like 125 better. She also had some multiple ear and a tongue piercing which she mostly ditched as she got older.

How do strippers feel about rejection? I assume some of them feel rejected. And I agree with Chandler.

DougS, I am far from Indy but I used to travel there on business once in awhile and have been to BBF half a dozen times. It's one of the best clubs I've ever been to. But it's been a long time. I reviewed it but too long ago. If you ever get to the Philly area, Club Risque in Bristol is the closest thing to BBF that we have. It's not as good but then neither is anything else in this area.

Thanks for the votes, guys. Just to complete the story (which I've written here before but it was a long time ago) about 11 or 12 years ago I had my first ever regular. She was really gorgeous, went by the name of Snuggles, which obviously wasn't her real name (her real name was Brenda but I'm not supposed to know that.) And one day just for the hell of it I made up an official-looking letter naming her "Dancer of the Year." The letterhead on the document said "Friends Of Naked Dancing Ladies" and was signed at the bottom Cosgrove C. Cosgrove, Executive Director, FONDL. (If you ever get an email from me it will say it's from Cosgrove C. Cosgrove, which is also a made-up name although I think there actually once was such a person if anyone cares to Google it.) Anyway I gave the letter to this girl as a joke. I thought about making up business cards for Cogrove C. Cosgrove but never got around to it. But I kept using the name FONDL because I can only be that creative once.

I can see dancers not giving out their real last names but I've never uderstood the reluctance with first names. I don't think there's any logic to it, it's just an old custom. And customs change. There have always been dancers who didn't bother using stage names. My ATF was one of them. She danced in her home town and figured half the customers knew who she was anyway so why bother with a phony stage name? I think it's partly a function of the type of club. I think the more casual and local the place, the more likely the dancers are to use their real names for the same reason my ATF did. That's probably especially true in clubs in small isolated towns and rural areas that don't draw many out-of-towners, either dancers or customers.

I had the same problem. I thought maybe they were making changes to speed things up but it's still very slow.