CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA - (LNS) Nine strip club customers who had been trapped in the VIP room of a club since Saturday night were rescued Sunday morning by a maintenance man who said he heard loud sobbing as he mopped down the floor of an adjacent lap booth. Governor Gray Davis said he was pleased with the safe return of the men, and that the company that owned the club would have much to answer for. "The families of these men want answers," he said, "and so do I."
The men became trapped when an unidentified club manager accidentally locked the VIP room door, believing he was locking an unused storeroom. "The map of the club was messed up," said manager Justin Case. "The room I was supposed to be locking was just 20 feet away."
At first, the trapped men were unaware of their predicament. "It just seemed like a normal night in the booth," said Stra Dawg, 32, one of the first customers to realize he was trapped.
"When we realized the door was locked," said Ten Free, 38, "at first all we could think was, 'Woohoo!' mileage city! But one by one as we ran out of money, we came to understand it was not all laps and roses."
Lapper Cow Boy, 36, describes the scene as he realized there was a problem. "I had noticed a lot of talking out in the hallway, but given who else was in the VIP room, I figured it was just the usual hassles with the bouncers. I tipped my dancer, and walked to the door, but it was locked... LOCKED! My life passed before my eyes.... It was pretty damn good."
In fact, J K, 35, had been pleased at first to realize there were no bouncers. "It was great," he said, "better than the ZCon. But when we realized we were trapped, we really wished we had some brawn back there. I've got an injury, but let's face it, the other guys just aren't that strong."
Customers P L, 37, and Tres Equis, 24, immediately turned their minds to getting the attention of club management. "We found a steel pipe and started knocking it with an old clip board we found at the floaters' station, but the damn music was so loud, no one heard us. We thought of punching a hole through to the men's room, but we realized if we missed, that water could come gushing in and drown us all."
Customer Sax Beat, 58, was least affected by the situation, falling into a deep sleep almost as soon as he ran out of money. "Huh?" was his comment upon being rescued.
When asked why they hadn't simply followed the dancers from the VIP room into the dancers' dressing room and left the club normally, the men gasped. "The dressing room?" they cried in unison. "We can't go in there!" By the time the men figured the dressing room was their only mode of escape, all the dancers had left and it too was locked.
The final two customers, identified as Z Bone, 60, and Q B G, 40, were not aware of being trapped at all. It is reported the two men lapped their way through the night, having exhausted neither their wallets or their stamina. "I wondered why the music stopped," said Bone. "Me too," said G. "I just assumed it was incredibly generous set of multiple 40-for-1s."
Doctors at the Holy Crap Hospital in Inglewood said all the men appeared to be in good health, and had not suffered hypothermia or starvation. "Stra Dawg wanted to snuggle for warmth," said Ten Free, "But we decided to tough it out instead." The maintenance man who discovered the grop slid toasted Pop Tarts under the door to help the men battle the extreme cold of the club, which was exacerbated by the slightly damp pants most of the men wore.
"We were supposed to eat those?" said Sax Beat. "I put mine down my pants!"
Lawyers for the club declined comment. |
