[masraum]

I bartended in strip clubs for ~5 years so I got to see the environment from the inside and get to know the girls with their mask off so to speak. Most of the girls were your avg girl next door. Most also had issues (as do plenty/most that aren't dancers).

I can tell you that the girls would be happy to get some extra money out of the customers if possible. Also, most of the customers would happily get as much as possible out of the dancers and then not pay if they could. Forgive the pun, but the environment is pretty much everyone trying to screw everyone else as much as they can.

Honestly, it's a horrible place. Everyone is trying to screw everyone else. Most of the girls start out dancing "cleanly" and since they are new/fresh, the guys will pay them for that. But as the customers get used to them, they want more and more from the girls to fork over the money. As the girls see other girls doing more and more and are wanting the money, they start drinking which relaxes their inhibitions more so they are able to go a little further. As things keep progressing, they often end up drinking more and more and eventually using drugs, and by that time, they've changed. When they are sober they are at their core, still the same girl next door, but their self esteem has suffered to the point that they are more broken than they were before. They make a bunch of money doing stuff that they don't want to do. That makes them depressed, so they go out and drink/do drugs and spend the money to make themselves feel better. Then they are broke, so they've got to do it all over again.

The worst is when a girl comes in to be a waitress. They swear they'll never do that, and some don't, but if they are young and cute, many eventually do, usually after some guy has offered an obscene amount of money and they've gotten drunk. Often, that girl will then go through the same downward spiral as the rest. I used to call the business "Satan's armpit."

Sure, being a bartender or DJ or manager at a strip club has perks, but by the time I left, I hated the place. I haven't been back to one since I left, and I don't expect to ever go back.