I was arguing, although he would say debating this past week with my coworker, that guy that resembles an energy drink in pants. I wasn't saying anything interesting in particular, except I miss working with an old crew. These were men, in my eyes. Our crew was our supervisor who I really looked up to and who had an interest in making me a better person. It is the only professional relationship which felt like the movies, I worked with him side by side, he gave me pointers on what to expect and let me make decisions on my own. He was gradually training me to become a supervisor like he was, but then our company collapsed and he was let go, and in order for me to survive, I jumped to my current group, which has been a good fit.
But I digress, for three years or so, I would hang with him, and the 4-5 maintenance technicians, these were the guys that kept the tools running, in their "shop". There were also 25-30 operators in the group. This crew made the etch team. There would also be an equivalent photo, diffusion, and implant crew. These are the main modules in a fab, just as a quick FYI. The operators were stuck running the tools, but the rest of us only jumped to work when there was a problem. From the shop, we had all sorts of computers and phones where we kept in contact with the operators, making sure the etch module kept running and didn't become the bottleneck for the rest of the fab.
As men eventually do, we started going to dinner as a group, usually to steak restaurants, and then if things were slow, sometimes we'd go hang in a strip club. This would happen once a month, towards the end of the three years. It wasn't an all the time thing.
Back to my coworker, this set him off. He was snapping that these places only serve to use women and they end up there because of the abuse they have encountered in their youth. For a man to enjoy this, he must then be okay with knowing that women are abused and accepting of this practice. If we simply boycotted these establishments, the women would go and find better jobs that didn't degrade them. My counter is that ok, but then the girls dancing don't walk out of that life and land in a cushy job like we have. They end up flipping burgers for minimum wage. He said good, at least they have their dignity. I said "Dude, that is not even realistic, how will somebody be ok with $7 an hour when they have been making $300 a night shaking their butts?"
I always argue I am a whore for my money. I will work as much OT as they will let me. If we get busy, I don't have a problem putting in 70 hour weeks. We are in a lab environment, there are chemicals, the tools have radiation tags on them. I am sure I am reducing my life time by doing what I do. Working nights, now for 19 years, is not good for me either. But I do it because it pays a little more. So, boo hoo, a stripper gets touched a little more than she likes. She does the job voluntarily, nobody put a gun to her head. Same with me, I could be a teacher, or something entirely different.
His logic is that he has four sisters and he respects women. I said good, I have a sister and I never went into a strip club thinking "I'm here whores, please me." No! I go in fascinated that this is even allowed. Some of those women might be the victims of abuse, but nobody is sitting in there looking sad and crying in a corner. Those women are working the men, squeezing them like dish rags, trying to get any and all the money out of them.
He then had some scenario that because guys go in there and treat women that way in there, they then come out thinking they can do that with any female. Strip clubs create the monsters of society, is how I understood that rationalization. I said, for a time, I went any chance I got, in college I'd even go because of the buffet they would offer, think shitty wings and some sad salad. But today I work mostly with women and they all seem to like me. I am friendly but professional. They bring me cake and cookies and all sorts of treats all the time. I am even getting hugged daily now, which I thoroughly enjoy, but I keep my hands up high.
I cannot agree that the strip club has made me any sort of monster. I honestly haven't been in one in probably ten years, and that is OK. I don't find that I miss them, but they were fun, way back when.
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