Monday Manners: Stripper Tippers

I've been known to visit a strip club once in a while. I was actually at one on Saturday night—an excursion I'd been planning with a female friend and our significant others for quite some time.

Despite what Pacman Jones might make you believe, strip clubs are usually pretty low-key—or at least as low key as any place can be when there are exposed breasts and alcohol involved. I've never seen a brawl break out at a strip club. I've never seen anybody drunkenly solicit a dancer for more than a dance—at least not without getting thrown out by a bouncer before he can finish the sentence. I've never seen the dancers touched inappropriately or the cocktail waitresses asked why they're not dancing.

What I have seen at strip clubs, though, is some really rude tipping. Not the waitresses or bartenders or even the nice girls who dry hump you while pouring watered-down shots straight down your throat. They usually do just fine. It's the dancers themselves who are often the subject of the un-mannerly tip. There were two different but equally rude tipping methods I observed on Saturday, and because strip clubs tend to do a brisk business this time of year (escapism, perhaps?), it seemed like a good time to examine each of them.

Stage-side Seating
Clubs get crowded. Often, the non-VIP seats and the barstools fill up before midnight, so late arrivants either get to stand or they take the seats at the stage—a serious no-no if you're not planning on tipping every dancer performing while you're there. Or, if not every dancer, then at least a good number of them. Sitting at the stage nursing your over-priced beer and keeping your ones safely tucked away in your pocket is just plain rude. It's like going to a bar and only ordering water or going to a restaurant and only eating the free bread. If you're there, you should be paying for services rendered. Your cover charge does not count.

"Making It Rain"
Hey big spender! Everyone at the club—the dancers included—is really glad you want to blow some cash tonight. You're tipping your favorite dancers ten dollars, when everyone else goes for a buck or two. But they'd appreciate it a lot more if you tucked a ten in their g-strings rather than "making it rain" with ones. That's right fellas: throwing a handful of crisp one dollar bills over the stage is rude. More than that, it's demeaning. Each dancer only gets a few seconds to gather her clothes and get offstage before the next featured entertainer comes on, and having to scramble around the stage to pick up stray ones (not easy on the slippery floor, it seems) is nothing less than inconvenient and puts the girl in a position that's insulting: having to crawl around on her hands and knees and scoop up the money you so graciously threw at her. It's a heartbeat away from begging.

You may be asking yourself why it matters if you're checking your manners at the door along with your coat and camera phone, when the dancers chose that line of work. The answer is simple: no matter what it is they're doing on that stage, those women are still working. You wouldn't want somebody to come into your office and disrespect you, right? Right. So next time you're at a club, don't be a jackass. They may be taking their clothes off for money, but strippers are people, too. And they deserve better than that.

Image Credit: Flickr user Jukebox Design.