Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Gogo Boy


I miss gogo dancing.
I miss the attention and the extra cash. I miss the creative challenge of coming up with different looks, as much as I could, dancing in underwear. And I miss being able to feel taller while dancing on a box.
It was such a fun game for me, and I got such a natural high from dancing. I could stay out on a set for up to an hour, as long as the music was good.

One reason I quit was my age. I was still gogo dancing when I turned 40, last year. I mean, when does it start to get too ridiculous?
I went into self-imposed retirement shortly after my fortieth birthday. I was just about to finish school, then, and I had thought that I would be working full time soon enough.
More than six months had passed between graduation and getting hired for my very first desk job. I had started to panic about my finances about halfway through that half year period and I had briefly come out of retirement.

Another reason I quit, again, was the inevitable weight gain that comes with working at a full time job. Gone are the days of two hour workouts in the gym before a five hour lunch shift at the restaurant.
Now, I get in a little over a half hour of exercise during my lunch break, Monday through Friday. I could work out more before work, or even after. But there are dogs to feed and walk in the morning, and there is Domestic Partner to sit at home with at night, in front of the T.V.
I'm not complaining. I just miss it. But I am 41 now, and really, when does it get too ridiculous?

It's easy for me to be generous when tipping because people were always generous to me, whether I was gogo dancing or waiting tables. If you see a gogo dancer in a bar, male or female, tip them for me. Help me pay it forward. Be the first tipper, break the ice. And don't put singles in a dancer's g-string, but donate a least a fiver, or ten, even a twenty. Believe me, it makes a difference. A twenty dollar bill can make all the difference in a dancer's single night shift. They may be dancing for fun, or because they have a lot of self-confidence and think that they're sexy. But most of them are also doing it because they have to.

Support the arts!

5 comments:

Prince Gomolvilas said...

A twenty? Forget that! He's gonna have to do a lot more than dance for a twenty!

Peter Varvel said...

Cheap bastard!

Erin said...

40 is just a number! If you have fun doing something and you are able to be successful at it, then DO IT. I say: do not project what you THINK might be others opinions on yourself. Your life is your own. You are the only one who gets to be you.

the last noel said...

Gogoing when you're 40? You'd be considered a legend.

Peter Varvel said...

NOEL, thanks. I worried more about it being pathetic, rather than legendary, LOL

ERIN, you're right, of course. I'm going to dig out those crusty, musty g-strings!

PRINCE, gimme a dollah, you cheap bastard!