Dance Hall Days

Dictionary.com sends out the Word of the Day to their subscribers. This was today's Word of the Day: eldritch \EL-drich\, adjective: Strange; unearthly; weird; eerie. It struck me since this is the last name of the lead singer of the Sisters of Mercy. Coincidence? I think not!!! Actually, I don't know if it's Andrew's real name or not, but how could I pass that up? Ah, it makes me wish my knees and feet weren't older than the rest of me and I could still dance the night away to Vision Thing, This Corrosion, Dominion/Mother Russia, Lucretia My Reflection, First and Last and Always, More, Ribbons, Black Planet, Temple of Love, and Alice.

No, that was not a listing of all their songs, just the ones that will get me on a dance floor faster than Celebration will get white people on the dance floor at a wedding. Unless it's at 3-D in 1995 and Davo plays More around midnight because the dance floor would be much too crowded with wienies to find space to move your head much less dance with the abandon required by the Sisters. Ah, those were the days, my heyday of dancing. Sometimes I really miss those days when I'd go the bar four days a week to dance. Wednesdays were my favorite because there'd be ten people in the place and I could dance to my heart's content w/o being pestered by wienies in their white Keds and pink sweaters. I mean, really who can dance in a sweater??? Even in the dead of a Michigan winter I'd wear a tank dress and fishnet tights because I'd be sweating profusely by 10:00 p.m. That's what happens when I dance nonstop. Maybe I put more effort and energy into my dancing that girls in pink sweaters.

Tuesdays was the busy night at 3-D and by busy, I mean insanely-surpass-the-fire-code-by-hundreds-and-make-enough-to-pay-the-bills-for-the-week busy. There was no cover and dollar well drinks before midnight. There would be a line out the door and down the street every Tuesday night and even when the windchill was -40 people would be standing out there waiting. I, on the other hand, would get there by 9:30, have my one drink/beer (when I was doing the driving) and be on the dance floor the second I liked a song. I've never needed to be drunk to get on a dance floor, but then again, I'm not a guy. Anyway, in the early days I would dance all night long except for songs I hated (i.e., anything by New Order would get me off the dance floor faster than the Hustle at a wedding), so I'd be moving from 9:30 until almost 2:00 a.m. The second These Boots Were Made For Walking would come on, you'd know it was time to go home – that and the lights would come on – and really is there anything sadder than a bar with the lights on? Or more disgusting? NASTY!!!!

Anyway, I'd be there Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays (although for one year I was the Door Girl on Friday nights). That got me in for free forever after that which was a bonus in my book. ;-) Sure, it was only $3 cover, but it's still a savings for as often as I went. I couldn't stand working there for more than a year though. Talk about rude people! I had people who would give me a $5 bill (remember the cover was only $3) and tell me that they were to get $2 back. I just looked at them. My bouncer, however, just growled at the morons, "She has a college degree. She can make change." A lot of people didn't like Chris, but I loved him. He was the best bouncer to have checking IDs because he didn't take shit from anybody. One time this big 50-year-old man walked in with his expensive leather coat and no idea. Now the rule was that we checked all IDs (except for the regulars who we knew because they were there 2-3 times a week) and so the Bouncer (it might have been Chris, but I don't think it was) asked for his ID. He got all blustery and in your face and said he didn't have it with him. The bouncer told him he had to have his ID or he couldn't let him in. The guy just got worse and started yelling and throwing a fit and making a commotion. The bouncer stood his ground even after Mr. Mid-Life Crisis told him that the ID wasn't in his car he had left it at home. Mr. MLC finally went to his car and got his damn ID and came back. His ID checked out so we asked him for the $3 cover fee and he pulls out this huge-ass wad and peels off a fucking hundred. Fuckwad. I told him I couldn't make change for a $100 (sure we had lots of people, but the owner wouldn't let me sit up front by the door with hundreds in my drawer) and he proceeded to be an even bigger fuckass as he took the $100 back and threw (literally threw) a $50 at me. And then he asked me to check his coat which I did and guess what? He did NOT tip me. Not that that was anything new. I could check up to 50 coats a night and get ZERO in tips. ALWAYS TIP THE COAT CHECK PERSON!!!! And the coat check I worked wasn't a nice room or closet. There were some bars hanging up the long area behind me (the cash register was set in the opening of this narrow (less than a yard in width) but ten feet long room. So, in order to hang up coats I would have to crawl under the first row of coats to get the second and third rows and the third row was actually over this pile of chairs. In other words, it was a royal pain in the buttocks to check more than 10-15 coats because I would come out from under the coats with my hair every which way from static cling. God, I so hated that coat check. I was actually smart enough to put coats on the second row of coats first, but inevitably I would be hanging coats on all the rows.

I tried go dancing two years ago (can't believe it's that long already) as the new owner of 3-D has goth Fridays and Saturdays. I'm always up for a good goth club, so I went a few times, but I couldn't dance all night like I used to and even after only a couple of hours I'd be quite literally hobbling to my car in pain. And I can't take Advil because I don't eat before I go dancing and Aleve apparently causes heart attacks. I guess I'll just have to concede that I'm too old to dance like I used to and that my old dancing days are probably the direct cause of my knee and feet issues. Ah, to be young and foolish!!! They were good days!!!

Off to the dept. mtg!!! Such fun and excitement!