Compared To DC Gay Clubs, Vegas' Are Like Kindergarten!

Not since I've left DC, have I been to a Gay club. Now,  for me and my friends, male and female, straight and gay, we had no problem hanging out wherever. Places like 1223, Chaos, or JR's, It wasn't an issue if that's where the gay guys wanted to go that night. The atmosphere was chill, folks were friendly, and most times the music was better than most straight places. So,imagine my excitement to be invited to go to Piranhas with some of my  coworkers.
Instead of seedy show of naughty decadence, I got Disneyland!!! Only 2 drag queens, 1 guy with his shirt off,people getting thrown out politely, not queen drama, and NOBODY doing drugs in the bathroom. But, I still had fun. Although, it was a little disturbing to see the people who I've admired for their freedom seem a bit stifled.

Was It REALLY Britney!!??? Or A Decoy!!??

While Kevin Federline was named "Father Of The Year", his former ex-wife Britney Spears was supposedly at Bare Lounge Pool, a topless adult pool at The Mirage Hotel and Casino. I say "supposedly" because some are saying the photo of her at Bare was phony!!! A hotel employee says the pic is actually Andriana Morletti, a Vegas dancer. Apparently, Morletti was seen earlier walking around The Mirage wearing the exact same dress. Whether or not she was hired as a decoy for photographers is unknown. Others have said they sat behind Britney at a Palms restaurant the same weekend. And we all know The Trainwreck likes to eat!!
I've been to Bare myself. It doesn't seem like the type of spot that needs to conjure up a faux Spears to generate more patrons. But, that doesn't mean that they didn't get suckered into it. Be that as it may, when you do come to Vegas, Bare is a highly recommended spot to get wet. Great place to see and be seen, tasty cocktails, and DJs that actually know to play M.I.A! Most folks are friendly, yet that all depends on how gorgeous you are...or on how much you're spending. Cabanas can go for $4000!!

No Black Strip Clubs In Vegas

...Then I Met Charisma

My first shift at Olympic Gardens as a cocktail server. I was told to come in on the day shift to train. White dress shirt, black pleated skirt, black fishnets, short black heels. I was ready to go. This day was going to be the highlight of my new life in Vegas. The first step to the opportunities that i couldn't find in DC. Unfortunately, when I stepped into the VIP room of OG, i immediately knew I wouldn't find what i was truly looking for there either.***NOT WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS***In my new hire packet, were about 2 pages of the rules. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the dancers were expected to remain at a certain distance from the customers while performing lap dances. No kissing, no touching between the legs, no simulation of sex. Way more tame than I initially thought. Imagine my reaction when I stepped into a room full of half naked strippers all dry humping and gyrating their paying guests. Most importantly, I noticed that my trainer, Electra, didn't appear to look like someone who made a good financial living despite the fact hat she had been working there for 10 years. Meanwhile, the dancers were putting on their True Religion jeans, folding wads of cash into their Gucci purses, and driving away from the club in their BMW's. I, on the other hand, had to pay $12 cab fare in order to get back home. So, my first week at OG taught me a few things.

1. Management will prefer to watch a baseball game on TV rather than catch a stripper giving a hand job.
   
2. My duties included taking drink orders, restocking napkins, and cleaning condom wrappers out of ashtrays.
   
3. A shift scheduled for 6 hours could easily be cut into 3 if it was slow
   
4. Only the veteran cocktail servers made money. Better shifts, better sections, bigger boobies.
   
5. I wasn't making any friends or future job networking connections.
   

By the second week, I also learned that I wasn't the only cocktail server who was broke, lonely, and new to Vegas. I met Charisma, and she wanted more for herself to.

The Job Search

As soon as I got off the plane, I prepared for job hunting. My rent was gonna be due soon, and I didn't have much cash. I knew that my best bet would be to have as many of my cards as I could get. Here in Vegas, in order to work at a restaurant, nightclub, or strip club, you have to have a series of cards. The Sheriff's Card is kind of a FBI background check. You can only get this upon referral. A referral is a form that you must get from a potential employer. Basically, "Yeah, we may hire you, but go get this background check first to make sure you're not an ax-murderer or wanted for kidnapping". Anywhere there is gaming, slot machines, video poker, and the like, all employees must have a Sheriff's Card. Which is why there are slot machines at many grocery stores and 7-Elevens. The next important card to have is your Health Card. This card is need for work at a restaurant or anywhere food is served. For this, you must have an Hepatitis A shot along with watching a video on proper food handling. Some Gentleman's Clubs also have steakhouses, so if you cocktail there, you must have that card. Finally, the TAM, an alcohol awareness card. They make you sit through a 30 minute class while some guy tells the details of a book you're just gonna take home and not read anyway. It only took me a few hours to get the TAM and the Health Card, but at least I had them for my first interview.

Getting around town without a car was starting to get very expensive. The cards weren't cheap either. It was about 114 degrees and I didn't know how to get around on the bus. To tell the truth , I was too scared to bus it. I took a cab to Rainbow Bar and Grill, which is right across from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, for my very first interview. A new Gentleman's club, Minxx, was during an open call for dancers, cocktail servers, bartender, security, and management. The place was packed, and some local radio station was there helping with the promotion of the club. They gave me a bartender/cocktail server quiz which I, of course, passed with flying colors. While waiting in line to be interviewed, I was approached by one of the managers. "Are you applying to be a dancer?", he asked. I told him, "I don't think so. I can barely touch my toes sometimes.". I was getting that quite frequently. Did I look like a dancer? Could I really do it? In the end, the guy who interviewed me kinda blew me off. The whole thing was just PR and publicity for the club. I later found out that they already had everybody that they wanted to hire prior to the open call. Luckily enough for me, my next stop the next day was Olympic Gardens.*** JUMP TO PRESENT DAY. I'VE HEARD THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE THAT MINXX IS HAVING SOME FINANCIAL PROBLEMS. SOME EMPLOYEES HAVE HAD PAYCHECKS BOUNCE. OTHERS SAY IT IS ONLY BUSY ON THE WEEKENDS. SINCE THE SHOOTING INVOLVING PACMAN JONES, THINGS THERE HAVEN'T BEEN TOO GREAT.WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO SELL LAPDANCES ON EBAY, THINGS ARE BAD, Y'ALL!***"This is the FAMOUS Olympic Gardens?", I thought. It was kind of a dump. Actually, they were in the middle of remodeling. I got my referral, and returned it the next day. I was to start within the next couple of days. It was the beginning.

The Big Move: From DC To Vegas

After 10 years of living in Washington, DC , the nation's capital, I was done. Finished! I was tired of being lonely and single, being over worked, being in debt, and being unhappy. I really wanted to make enough cash in order to go back to school and get my degree. If I was going to continue being in the restaurant industry, my best tool to move up was going to be a degree in restaurant management. Since the only schools in the Metro DC area to have anything to with my field were in Maryland, without a car or a driver's license, I move to New Orleans, New York City, or Las Vegas sounded like a good idea. After doing some research, I decided that UNLV was my top choice. A top program in a top city filled with top chefs...How could in get any better than that? NYC would have been my first choice, but the living expenses were too high. My friends were so tired to listening to me complain about how badly I wanted to move, I figured it was time to put up or shut up.  AUGUST 23, 2006...My flight was booked!!  My friend Allie gave me a ride to the airport. She was incredibly supportive. Allie was the only one of my friends who didn't think that I was insane for moving half way across the country without any job prospects and with not much money. She also held onto a bunch of my things that I could not take with me cuz it wouldn't fit in my luggage. With a huge hug, she sent me off.  "Don't become a stripper!", she hollered as I walked inside to check in.  I hollered back, "I won't!".  I didn't realize that I was lying at the time.  If I only knew what would be in store for me. Was I gonna meet more available men? Could I possibly start really dating instead of one night hook-ups? Was finding sex when I wanted it gonna be hard? Would people like me? Could I get a good job? What kind of naughty things could I get away with if nobody knew who I was?  The answers to all of that and more were going to start within the next week: I got a job as a cocktail waitress at Olympic Garden's Gentlemens Club... a strip joint.  Thank God, my family didn't know (or care for that matter) where I was.