Thursday, January 28, 2010

Get a real job

If you, or someone you know is looking to make a living out of something that doesn't sound like it should be a real job - maybe you should head on over to Miami. In the space of about a week, I ran across a bunch of ridiculous jobs here. First was while walking down Ocean drive in South Beach. There are a lot of people who dance for entertainment at restaurants. Mostly on tables. Some in costumes, some in not so much of anything. Some do particular styles of dancing, some just dance like you would at a club or something. So I started thinking - what a weird job. To just dance all night and have everyone stare at you. And I wondered if when they were little girls they said, "I want to be a dancer when I grow up!" And I wonder if that's what they had in mind? Dancing on tables every night hoping for lots of tips, people walking down the street stopping to stare. I kind of doubt it.

But it doesn't stop there. Then there were also guys dancing on tables. (It was a bit refreshing I must say after all the female flesh that hangs out on all the women dancers.) But it doesn't stop there either. Then there are guys dressed as women dancing. Yeah, we stopped and watched a pretty theatrical drag queen dancing and lip syncing to some Lady Gaga song or something. That one definitely draws a crowd to stop and stare. And while it was hard to take my eyes off him/her, I did manage long enough to scan the bar he/she was dancing at and realized, oh it's that kind of bar - a bunch of guys all paired off at the tables. Which I thought was even weirder cause why didn't he just dance as a guy rather than a girl if it's a bunch of dudes that like other dudes? Ugh. Then I realized I didn't really want to be thinking about it that hard. I highly doubt that's what he had in mind of what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Then we heard of a guy at a really popular restaurant in South Beach who makes a couple hundred thousand dollars a year just getting slipped some cash to get seated at the restaurant faster. Seriously. Why are we spending all this time in school when you could just land a gig like that and make that much money?! And for that matter, Ryan has way better legs than I do and I have to admit he'd look pretty hot in a dress. :) If that whole medicine thing doesn't work out....

Anyhow, a few days after that I was walking around Target when a girl near me saw some guy she knew in the store. They started talking and she was telling him about some bachelor party that was coming in town that weekend. She was getting paid $350 a day just to be a girl at the party - hang out at the pool, go dancing, that kind of thing. Seriously? Apparently it is possible to make a living just being a party girl.

Sorry Miami, but you really have a hard time scoring normal points in my book. But hey, at least the huge mural by our house in the design district of a naked couple - well, last time I drove buy, guess what - they had a baby! Isn't that, um, nice?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

hehe, you made me laugh... about the "nice" mural baby.

I did NOT know you could make a living as a 'party girl' or table dancer! But you know, those gigs don't last forever.. maybe a max of eh, maybe 10 years?

Ok, I'm joking, because it seems to call for it. But truly, someday they might wake up with wrinkles, sagging skin and no real job skills and then where will they be?

Katya

SuburbiaMom said...

Miama is known for it's hot night life--now we know why!!!

Anonymous said...

What will they think of next!

xoxocyh

Geoff and Bets said...

the garden of eden looking mural? wow a baby how nice. nice post jen

AnnaMarie said...

Weird, weird, weird.

Ty and Trista Swartzlander said...

Gotta love Miami even though it is a tad different. What a crack up that the naked man and woman painting had a baby.

LuAnn said...

I remember my little stroll down South Beach. More "exposure" than I ever wished to see in my lifetime. Along with other random things like the lady standing on a wall doing some modeling moves...guess she was trying to get a job???? Who knows? And the girl that walked in front of our car...carrying her pants...and a guy 20 feet behind her looking bewildered. I'll never forget that scene!

Melanie said...

Why do we call vegas "sin city!" Miami sounds way more crazy!

Sarah said...

Jen, did that couple really have a baby?? she sure had the hips for it ;) but I might need you to email me a picture of that. I'm so curious where they placed that baby... I'm dead serious.

even though it is the weirdest thing that a city can get away with that massive sized um.. art? on one of the busiest intersections of their city. ...And they wonder why there's so many "dancers" there