Tip Jar: paypal.me/oakleavesandonions The story about the one and only time I've ever been drunk at work. (The one and only time I've ever been drunk, actually.) Hope you guys like it. :) Minds: www.minds.com/OakLeavesAndOnions
Your stories are interesting...and as a man who used to be a "regular" at strip clubs many, many eons ago it is really interesting hearing "the other side". I also don't drink and similar to you, I don't like the taste nor the effect of alcohol. I had a cousin that used to frequent the strip clubs as well...He started drinking when he was in his 30s. His choice drink was Absolute vodka and a lemon wedge. I noticed how people "relaxed" if they just "thought" you were drinking. Looking at the drink, vodka being clear, I realized how much water and lemon could fool most alcohol and drink "Promoters" (I swear sometimes I thought they worked for a hard beverage firm....all of them). So I started ordering water with lemon or water with ice and lemon or cranberry juice and lemon and I asked the bartender to put it in a "rock" glass. Once the "promoters" SAW the drink, they would never mention me having a drink. They just assumed I was drinking...and now everything in the world was fine because they THOUGHT I was drinking too....smh. I was introduced to the politics of strip clubs in a non-alcoholic chain of strip clubs (Deja-Vu....don't know if they are still around but they were nationwide at one point) ....and they were "nude" since they did not serve alcohol (nude on stage). The dancers had dance and drink cards and if my memory serves me well, they needed to have 10 drinks minimum bought before the end of the night. The waitress would punch their drink card for each drink purchased. Dancer drinks were more expensive than the patron's drinks and all of them were non-alcoholic. I got so sick of conversations being interrupted with the waitresses hounding me to buy the dancer a drink. So I got in the habit of just asking within a minute of talking with the dancer if she wanted a drink. I carried this practice with me into the regular "topless" strip clubs. Since I was always drinking something "soda, juice or water with fruit" if she wanted a real drink, great and if she did not...that was cool too. The drink was sort of the "cost" of her sitting there. Definitely a different business model and therefore a different politics in topless/alcoholic strip clubs. Sidenote: with the totally nude club... Nude on the stage and then a lapdance was nude but she had to dance on a small platform (like a small stool in front of you) ...and if she was going to touch you, she had to some type of underpants on and you had to sit on your hands or they had to go across the back of the couch (if you wanted a "couch dance") and then she would be "topless" and she could then come off the stool. Both "nude" and "topless" were the same price, customer's choice. It was legal for them to touch you, but you could not touch them. interesting channel....subscribed! Hmmm...I will add this... In the "inner city" the strip clubs only served alcohol unlike the suburban strip bars which did carry non-alcoholic beers. I went to a strip bar in Detroit and I tried to order an O'Doule's and the bartender just looked at me. She then told me we don't carry that. I said ok...let me have a cranberry juice on the rocks. She asked, "what do you want with it?" I said, "Nothing". Again...she looked at me (not smiling either). I then said, I will have a glass of ice water and I will pay the cost of a "real drink". She continued to look at me. Finally another bartender poured the cranberry juice. A few months later I was telling a waitress I knew from another club about the incident (she also worked in the city).... She told me that police officers will usually not drink if they are on duty and undercover they may have feared the possibility of a raid since they did not know you. The wonderful world of NOT-DRINKING has lots of drama to it....smh.
A social reporter back in I think the thirties would be working these social events where everyone was drinking. He had an arraignment with the bartenders, his martini would have a cocktail onion in it to distinguish it from a regular martini. Thus the Gibson was created, water with an onion garnish.
