• 04 Aug 2008 at 8:48 AM

Strippers On Wall Street

We love Overheard In New York, the website that reports overheard private conversations between New Yorkers. It’s a great window on the psychology, linguistic tropes and day-to-day habits of those in the city. So it was only a matter of time before Wall Street’s troubles started showing up.
Today we came across a conversation that took place at the Cheetah strip club between a first time stripper and a patron. To find out what all this has to do with Wall Street, follow the jump.

20-something girl to stripper: Wow, it’s really your first night?
Stripper: Yeahh. It’s pretty cool. Just gave my first lap dance.
20-something girl: Oh my god! How exciting!
Stripper: I mean, I gotta pay the tuition bills. My summer internship at Goldman Sachs doesn’t pay so I had to make some cash somehow.

Of course, right now you are asking yourself the obvious question: was it really her first night stripping? That’s something strippers say to the more naive customers on a regular basis, hoping to score some sympathy points by making themselves seem as lost and alienated in a strip club as the customer.
We’re assuming the Goldman Sachs bit isn’t true either. (But if we’re wrong email us.) But the very fact that strippers know enough to complain about getting underpaid on Wall Street demonstrates how far the crisis on Wall Street has penetrated into the psyche of New York.

Plus, It’s a Unique Résumé Bullet
[Overheard In New York]

Comments (32)

  1. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 9:15 AM

    last time i went to the west side scores (rip) one stripper told me she used to work at GS, and told me it would be in my best interests to stay in touch with her because she could hook me up with a job

  2. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 9:22 AM

    where’s the post re: cayne’s sickness…

  3. Posted by MGR | August 4, 2008 at 9:31 AM

    or the post about Meredith Whitney being on the cover of Fortune

  4. Posted by John Carney | August 4, 2008 at 9:48 AM

    Working on both now, guys. Sorry for delay.

  5. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 9:53 AM

    2/3– if you already read the stories, why do you care?

  6. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 9:57 AM

    I hope Bess is writing the Whitney post so we can hear her opine on the full zebra skin on the wall!

  7. Posted by GinNTonic | August 4, 2008 at 10:00 AM

    Isn’t Cheetahs in Atlanta?

  8. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:00 AM

    lame story. not funny.

  9. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:02 AM

    7-
    Cheetah’s in Atlanta is the best! Nothing like having a pair of strippers cut and feed you your steak. NYC needs a spot like that!

  10. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:10 AM

    Da skrit clup? Woooorrd.

  11. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:22 AM

    I can’t understand why this is news. I may not be an iBanker, but, as I understand, these internships don’t pay. How can you pay the expensive NYC sub-leases without a salary?
    Moreover, I would imagine that some superb iBanking networking could be found at these places.

  12. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:25 AM

    Associate pay? Anyone??

  13. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:30 AM

    actually, one of my high school friend’s sister who is insanely hot and whose post graduation job at BS obviously fell through is currently interning at GS…hmmm.

  14. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:39 AM

    13: what was she planning to do at Bear Sterns?

  15. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:42 AM

    @10:22 What do you think parents are for?

  16. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:43 AM

    mayo

  17. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:43 AM

    15: my parents don’t live in NYC, sorry. And I don’t think they’re interested in subsidizing my summer at one of the most prestigious iBanking firms in the world.

  18. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:48 AM

    The recession hasn’t penetrated New York’s psyche if she admits that she’s employed. The more pessimistic answer would have involved something like, “I was working at BS, but now I have to do this.”

  19. Posted by MuniShe | August 4, 2008 at 10:55 AM

    GS Chicago pays their interns very well.

  20. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 10:55 AM

    Same thing happened in Houston when Enron collapsed – plenty of strippers giving guys their sob stories about losing all their retirement dough in ENE stock and being relegated to spinning around a pole.

  21. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 11:03 AM

    20: excellent point. Most of these clubs gave out 401(k)s that were heavily invested in ENE.

  22. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 11:04 AM

    19: So? This is NYC.

  23. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 11:15 AM

    The mayo comments are more interesting than this story.

  24. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 11:48 AM

    Anything a stripper or her customer says about themselves falls into the category of “It’s not a lie if you yourself believe it to be true.”
    Which explains the ratings agencies *completely* by the way.
    Maybe Standard & Poor’s could use some poles in the office, right there alongside the cubicles.
    -DK

  25. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 11:53 AM

    Goldman needs to merge with Cheetah’s in order to survive

  26. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 12:05 PM

    Plenty of Ho’s from different area codes dropping their taint on the dance floors of NYC clubs. Just go on Craig’s List and look at all the females looking for cash in exchange for their services.
    Nothing like giving an educated HO and Angry Dragon.

  27. Posted by american bandersnatch | August 4, 2008 at 12:12 PM

    #24 – Excellent – Seinfeld references are always welcome.

  28. Posted by Anal_yst | August 4, 2008 at 12:53 PM

    @ 11
    Very few (if any?) of the big banks do unpaid internships, some boutiques do though.

  29. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 1:10 PM

    being at Cheetah club in atlanta is like being a kid in some big candy warehouse…you don’t know where to look when the 75 girls come out all at once looking like some some beautiful naked marine unit storming the beaches of normandy..
    gold club too (where the knicks got in trouble for fucking some of the strippers/hookers a few years back)

  30. Posted by GinNTonic | August 4, 2008 at 1:13 PM

    wealth management does unpaid

  31. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 3:01 PM

    11, 30 – official internships at major banks are all paid, including i-banking, s&t, and wealth management. Most boutiques are paid as well. However, a few of them will give an unpaid internship to an MD’s neighbor’s uncle’s son or whatever if there is no structured internship progam and he needs something on his resume.

  32. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 4:11 PM

    just goes to show you we’re all whores

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