my summer with the triad

so for those of you who don't know...i am currently working at my local strip club as a bartender. however i don't get to serve alcoholic drinks. the money pays well so i'm not really complaining. i'm only working 2 days out of the week and i get the day shift. yes...apparently there are people who go to strip clubs from 11-7:30pm. so next time your co-worker says, "i'm going to lunch!" you can wonder whether they're really going to lunch. as for the backroom, i feel like i'm in some triad movie where the boss is this chinese dude who counts the money and calls out all the orders. all the employees are asian, all the strippers...are not. they have a money counter, a large safe and wads of cash. the manager sits behind a desk with his arms folded and awaits his payment from the girls. the girls don't work for the club, they rent "stage space" so the house gets a certain amount per dance, per VIP room, and they get to charge admission. i wouldn't be surprised if the walls opened up to reveal rows of guns if anyone ever tried to rob them. the girls tip us and i have to remember a whole list of stripper names like Destiny and Peaches. all in all, it is probably the shadiest job i've ever held, but then again. it's just another story to tell the kids i will never have. my first job after getting an undergraduate degree from Berkeley is bartending at a strip club.