Strip Clubs Are Not What They Used To Be

Ever since I was 19 years old, I have been what you might call an exotic dancer enthusiast. I have never shared the reasons why. In spite of my Lower Ninth Ward credentials, I am pretty much a nerd. I have always been on the outside looking in when it comes to most ghetto affairs. I was hanging out around the block but I never sold drugs. I have never owned a gun. I have never been arrested. I have never wanted to do any of those things either. I lived that existence through the life of my friends. The only thing about that world I was always envious of was their women. You know the ones. The ones that only talked with the Honor Society brothers when they needed a report done in school to graduate. Those kind. The kind that used to wear clothes that were two sizes small and showed all of their "assets". The kind with a tattoo covering her three stab wounds and a bullet hole in her leg. The kind that used to win the P-Popping contest at Club Rumors. Even though I secretly had a crush on this type of girl, I never had the hood status to really keep one.........That's where the strip clubs come in.
Nintey percent of the guys at a strip club are working guys that would probably never talked to one of the dancers on the street. They bridge the gap for most of us who always wanted to experience kicking with a girl like that but never had the heart. These venues always made me comfortable. The smoke, the smell of sweat and body lotion, the fact that I just spent 40 dollars on drinks, tips and a table dance on a woman that never looked in my face one time. It was beautiful. Now it's not the same. I dont know if it's guilt because I have a girlfriend or its the fact that I am now a daddy. When you have a daughter, you see things a whole lot differently. When I was 21 and went to the club, the only thing on my mind was "I wonder if she does private shows" or " I hope she just got here and isn't too sweaty". Now as a 31 year old father, I look up there and think "Does her dad know she is doing this?" or "I wonder what happened to her to make her want to dance in front of all this strange people". It has really destroyed the whole effect and I think that's great. It's great because I am a strong believer in mental progress as a man. What would that say about me if I got the exact same thrill from watching those young girls subject themselves? I hope no one reads this and thinks that I am putting down the dancers or people that go. I am not going to sit here and say I am not going again. I am just writing this because I tried to go to one the other night and it didn't do anything for me.