A Response...

This post began as a response to a comment by Jspin but it started to get rather lengthy, so I decided to put it here instead.

Jspin wrote:

I do the same thing, try to help people live "normal" lives and I don't know why I do it. Like you say it's disappointing when you see these people fail that you see so much hope in. The ones that go back to what they were just about to escape. They're just about to be free and they give up hope and fall back into the pit they once were. I wish I could help them all. Just pick them up and be like here, stay out of the hole, and look around this lovely place. But, I've realized that people need to do things to learn. You can tell a person everything there is to know, you can lay out the perfect plan for 'complete happiness', 'success', everything a human could want and yet, they won't follow it. They'll do what they want to do no matter what you say. It isn't because they don't want to listen and not because they don't care, I think it's because it's human nature. We all must do it. We all must experience things to learn about them. Maybe if we can implant memories and functions into the brain like in "The Matrix", we could 'save the world'. ;p

You're absolutely right, Jspin. Even though it's a mostly losing battle that I fight to "save these souls", (See Post "Little Miss Know It All"),  I'll never stop trying because the satisfaction I get when once in a great while one of them "makes it", it makes it all worth while. I'll never take credit for anything, for people truly have to want to be helped in order for them to help themselves and ultimately, they have to do all the work. Thankfully, I have had the joy of witnessing some girls pull themselves out of the depths of self-destruction, be it from drugs, alcohol, abusive partners, depression and suicide attempts and all the insidious side effects from the above mentioned.  Some of those who've "made it" are still working with us and others have moved on to do other more "normal" things.

We've had the pleasure of seeing several of our Entertainers and Bar Staff graduate from college or technical school and that is a truly wonderful event for all of us on the management team.  We prefer to just be a stop along the way for some women on their journey of life, not the end of the road. 

Interesting, as I was writing this, I got a phone call from one of my former Entertainers. "Lolita" is one of the girls that I think I had a hand in helping to move away from the "Stripper Mentality." She is an accomplished Burlesque dancer, a headliner of shows actually and she for years, fought a mostly losing battle with low self-esteem.  It was a daily struggle for her just to come to work.  Now, "Lolita" is not only focusing more on burlesque, she is also a talented photographer with her own business.  She stopped "stripping" about a year ago in order to devote herself full-time to her photography business and to travel all over the country as a burlesque headliner.  A success story, for sure.

It's the Lolitas that keep me going when I feel like I'm not having much of a positive impact.