An ode to Leo...

I walked in grumpy, spotted a lithe young brunette who goes by Leo sitting by herself. Seemed like under a dozen patrons, maybe ten or fewer dancers visible, but Leo was sitting back from the stage, not in a typical cluster of dancers near the DJ or at the bar, but just there, in a chair. I said hi, she responded with a genuinely friendly hi.

I sat next to her, and started talking about the what goes on at Deja Vu Showgirls. I was focusing on which arrangements were most beneficial to the dancers, and she talked easily about it. The dancers pay $90 a night to work there, and so there are several ways to try to zero that out, for starters. The “drinks” that patrons can buy for dancers ($20 and $50 — man a $50 drink better taste amazing, I’m thinking) become tickets that come straight off what the dancers owe the club. So I can really nerd out on this stuff, I love knowing how things work, and so we hung out talking about this stuff. Twice waitresses came by to ask if I wanted to buy the nice lady a drink, and I always said, “Not yet,” explaining to Leo that I was still trying to wrap my head around how it all works.

Eventually, knowing that I’m in a club where I might end up with an air dance, I felt some affinity for Leo, appreciative of her honesty, and decided to go for a 15-minute private dance ($125) and a “large” drink, for a total (including a $22 cover charge at the door) of $197 out of pocket. Again, this was right around my budget for turning around my grumpy state of mind.