As with all things, it is what you make of it

Disappointed that Candy, my previous go-to in Daytona, has been closed (land purchased by the city and slotted for redevelopment), I decided to hit up Lollipops on this visit. I had a nice time there a few years back with some friends and thought I'd give it another shot. I showed up late on a Saturday night, around 12:30. The door bouncer said he had 11 girls working, but I think that might have been 2 or 3 more than reality. Upon paying my $10 out-of-towner cover (I later learned from a girl that locals get in free), I walked in and found that the place was fairly sparsely populated, with about 10 patrons around the bar and another 3-5 at tables, so the ratio seemed pretty favorable. I took a seat at the bar and ordered a $4 Miller Lite and started to assess the situation.

Of the 8 or so girls that were visibly working (all white tonight) the floor, none were 10s, but a few were solids 8s and most came in around average or slightly above. About half had a few extra pounds on them, but still were sexy, and all but 1 or 2 seemed to put in actual effort on stage. As I sat and watched the room a bit, no girls approached me for at least 30 minutes. Instead most girls did their obligatory stage rotations and then seemed to go directly back to their regulators or chosen patrons if the evening. While under other circumstances this might have made me bail, compared to my local bar scene, $4 Miller Lites are actually cheap, so I felt like I was drinking at a discount while getting to watch dancers for free, so no harm no foul. Eventually I got bored with this, though and started tipping be at the stage.

At this point, I should note but that the stage tipping scene was weak AF. Several girls received no money while at stage, and if I threw 2 upon approaching, there was great appreciation and I suddenly became a center of attention. The DJ was trying his best to help the girls out, and I give him props. In fact, at one point a group of local college guys (about 8 of them) came in and took all of the front center seats at the stage and largely refused to tip. After a few songs of this, the DJ started sticking up for his girls and basically berated then until they left. Good on him. These girls are working hard, and if you are front and center, there's a certain etiquette to maintain.