She did her best under the circumstances

So you drive by Shooter's all the time on I-94, and you just know it's going to be a locals' place with cheap beer and tired dancers.

The vast empty parking lot makes me think that there might be some later nights when this relatively good-sized place gets going. I paid a $10 cover and was one of only three PLs at around 6 p.m. Good beers were around $5 and the bar, with about 20 stools was clean with a friendly bartender.

On this early Thursday night in December there were only two girls on duty, one was heavier than my type, the other older than my type. The older dancer, whose name I forget, had a good personality and was eager to sit and have a drink with me. She regaled me with tales of her days dancing in Vegas, but enjoying the slower pace of rural Wisconsin. She was genuinely nice to talk with and when we finished our drinks, she didn't ask for a dance, so I did.