Not Talking at the Burlesque Theaters

I danced as a stripper at the Follie's Burlesque Theater for a few weeks then they put me on the road to dance at their other theaters in various cities.

My manager at the Follie's, John Ory, told me various things to do in order to "get by" on the road. He told me to save all my receipts. He said to get a paper sack and just put each receipt in it as I got them. He said I could use them as tax deductions at the end of the year. He told me that if any of the other dancers gave me any problems, to not argue with them. He said to just go tell the manager and let him handle it. He gave me a lot of other good advice that I cannot remember. But there is one piece of advice that I do remember that stands out in my head more than the rest.

At the time, I could not understand it, but now I do. It is really quite funny when I think back about it. He told me to not talk to anyone. He said, "If you have to talk, do it as little as possible". I really thought that was a weird piece of advice to give anyone. But I did what he said and stayed out of trouble and got by on the road without any major negative incidents which, as I look back now, was quite an accomplishment for a young, country, small town woman not even thirty years old who was going to all these different cities by herself with just herself to rely.

I am really glad that I had a person like John Ory to help me by giving various tips to survive on the road.

Several years later, I understood why he told me to not talk to anyone. I was so young and dumb back then that as soon as I opened my mouth, anyone who knew anything would be able to tell that I was this way. On the road, there are a lot of evil pepole who will jump at the chance to take advantage of a young, dumb woman as I was. John probably figured if I kept my mouth shut as much as possible and just did my job, it would cut down on the people who would try to take advantage of me or use me in some way. I thank him for this and all the other different kinds of advice he gave me.

I used his advice even after I learned the "ropes of the road". I use it still - all through my life - even after I have learned the "ropes of life".