7.b.i.
The After Hours Lounge was initially
established in the 1980’s when the typical businessman was typically male. Not only was the industry of commerce a
completely male dominated enterprise, but those males were of a variety whose
egos could only be stroked by a steady flow of objectified women and mass
amounts of cocaine. Therefore, when the
After Hours Lounge was commissioned, the only logical form it could take was
that of a lavish strip club with mirrored coasters and plenty of bathroom
stalls to powder one’s nose in.
Subsequent
generations have all but abandoned the notion of sex and drugs as their ego
booster of choice; their primary one at least.
Whether this is to be attributed to the influx of women into the
corporate environment, the steady emasculation of the male gender, or the
proliferation of twenty-four hour sports channels into popular culture is hard
to say. The After Hours Lounge, however,
has gone through similar changes. Gone
are the seedy accoutrements of the flesh trade, replaced by the glitz and hype
of the sportscaster set.
Where there
once stood a long stage, with dirty dance poles at either end, now sits a
repurposed bar area with a bank of plasma screen televisions. Each private booth, once the abode of
indifferent lap dances and other, less reputable jobs, contains a wall mounted,
hi-def flat screens. The bathrooms,
likewise, feature high resolution monitors on the backs of stall doors and
above urinals. The overabundance of
media screens were provided by management for the express purpose of catering
to its clientele’s desire to watch replays and play by play analysis of the
day’s trading.
These days,
the patrons of The After Hours Lounge would much rather watch themselves make
money than see their hard won gains disappear into the g-string of some cheap
entertainer.
