LETTER OF THE DECADE--THE INTERVIEW
Dear Readers--Our selection of, and publication of, our 2010s "Letter of the Decade" set off an avalanche of reader response. The most voluminous category of responses were protests--after all, many wrote, Jennifer's letter didn't describe any ACTUAL fights or even preludes to fights. Many of you recalled 2010-2019 fight letters which left an impression on you. But, another category of replies, more reflective and (hint, hint) effective, noted that Jennifer's letter was written at the start of the decade, and pondered her whereabouts today, and how her decade progressed. We at TABSK are pleased to report that Jennifer's circa-2010 @aol.com email address was still in use, that she responded to our query, and that she agreed to sit down with us for a phone interview. We publish it for your reading pleasure. TABSK
TABSK: Jennifer, thank you for taking the time this afternoon, and thank you for a decade of loyal readership.
Jennifer: My pleasure. Thank you for all the years of providing a forum for strong women.
T: So, we'll get to your story in a minute. We've got to ask, though. As you read your September 2010 letter now, with the passage of time, how does it stand up?
J: Quite poorly, in many respects, I've gotta say ....
T: Really? ..... how so? .....
J: So, the thing is ..... as with much initial use of new technology .... those of us filming those early YouTube girlfights were really dumb in a lot of ways. To start with, we usually filmed them outside at regular, long-standing girlfight spots. A public park, in my town's case. But I noticed with other girlfights, skate parks, or under bleachers, a mall parking lot, clearings in the woods, or, .... oh, well, this one was classic, .... I remember one in some sort of concrete aqueduct or flood spillway .... it must have been in Los Angeles or something .....
T: .... Really? an aqueduct?? .... and this was a problem because?....
J: It was a problem .... as mistake ... because, as soon as a really good fight got posted and "went viral", someone narked to the cops or the school principal or to busy-body parents about where all the good girlfights were happening in town, and that place was immediately patrolled. And sometimes even closed. So it ended up making it harder to catfight.
T: Fascinating. Not the last time technology would have unintended consequences. In what other way did YouTube change catfighting?
J: Well, ..... and this was a big one .... it showed that most .... not all, but many, many ... girlfights end in draws. What I mean is .. unless the beef between the two girls is really serious ... like a bad breakup, or ... uiu know, something really beyond just gossip ... then both girls are happy to get a few slaps in, pull some hair for 30 seconds, and then either hope the crowd jumps in, or to jump break themselves up, and never re-start Round Two. They would just walk around, walk away, really ..... with this, "Aren't I great? I was just in a YouTube girlfight" strut, their friends high-fiving them. And I'd be like, "Uhhh, but who won the fight?". I guess, after 50 or 100 of those kinds of fights got posted, it just sorta got old.
T: And you're suggesting it wasn't like that before YouTube?
J: I'm suggesting that YouTube made it easier to start a fight but not finish it.
T: Let's turn our conversation to you and your fights, Jennifer. First, what have you been doing with yourself since high school?
J: Oh, this and that. Ok, you're gonna make me put my foot in my mouth now--here I pontificate for 5 minutes, but I admit my life isn't where I'd pictured it.
T: Don't beat yourself up. You're stil young. 27, right??
J: Uggh, thanks for reminding me. Anyways, so yeah .... I graduated high school ..... I tried college .... engineering, big mistake ....
T: Engineering? Wow.
J .... well, ya, wow, until I failed freshman chemistry .... I came home, tail between my legs, in debt ...
T: Ouch.
J: Yeah, so ummm, I started dancing ....
T: Stripping?
J: Stripping, yeah ..... did that for 4 years, actually ..... not ashamed, but not proud either ... it's sorta degrading sometimes .... we could do a whole interview, by the way, about how technology changed that business .... but I digress ... so I quit that, around 2016, I guess .... tried to live off what I saved ... still am, actually ....
T: Really?? For 3 years.
J: Well, yeah, I was saving over 100k a year. All cash. The bad part is, I can't invest it or deposit it anywhere .... but I should probably shut up about that .... anyways, where were we?
T: One final question, Jennifer. Some of our readers criticized our selection of your letter for its absence of any actual fights. And, we notice we've skirted that topic in reviewing wbat you've been up to. Your implicit criticism of the mutual-draw style of catfighting can't help but pique our interest as to whether there's any fights, perhsps one in particular, where you were one of the combatants?
J: Ok, well .... I've never told this story to anyone, and thought I never would, .... but, now or never, right? .... When I was dancing somewhere around Greensboro in 2014 I guess it was, I noticed one night that this customer had brought his own personal dancer ... this bitchy-looking blonde .... to nurse drinks with him all night, but more importantly, to give him a lap dance during the parts where the dancers would go out into the crowd. He was doing it to save money, to resist the temptation of buying a lapdance from the house. Which meant he must have had cash on him, and also was too impulsive to otherwise resist. So, I got the idea into my head, wouldn't it be exciting to sidle up to the blonde, dance next to her, and have him whip out his sallet and choose me?
T: A lapdancing duel?
J: Yeah, you know ... and humiliating her in the process, too, right?? Well, I did it, walked up to them and started dancing ... she could tell right away what I was thinking, and shot me this death stare snd mouthed "F U" to me over the blasting music. Well, it was on between her and me right there, I knew I needed to fight her. Well, it was mutual, because her man couldn't resist, and bought ... I don't know, ... 5 or more lapdances from me. And his blonde hit the bar and started doing shots .. liquid courage. Because she met me in the back parking lot after closing, and asked where she and I could go and have it out.
T: Sounds like she shares your fighting philosophy.
J: Apparently. Well, we drove to a nearby private alley I'd heard other dancers took customers for sex .....
T: Wow....so, an alley fight ...
J: A real, actual blonde-on-blonde alley fight, can you believe it??
T: And, so, was this a fistfight? A catfight? A streetfight?
J: I'm actually lucky she didn't have a gun or a knife ... she was pretty drunk .... one of those angry drunks, too .... but she wanted to fight. So did I, truthfully . . I love fighting ... did you notice that?
T: We suspected.
J: Anyways,.... we squared up and were swinging fists for, I'd say, a good three minutes. But once the first clinch happened, our hands got in each others' hair, and we were on the wet hard, ground. We were both using our elbows, our knees, our legs ... . our nails, too, scratching each others' faces. It was a catfight at that point, no holds barred. She bit my fingers I remember. I think the biggest thing that saved me is I was sober and she wasn't. She was strong as fuck, but I got on top. I started scratching and pinching her face, neck, and chest .... ya know, under her top .... anyways, I made her give. Which was even more of a rush then getting cash from her man. Pretty much a successful evening, wouldn't ya say?
T: You're a piece of work, Jen. Thanks for sharing. It occurs to us . .. we don't pay much, but woild you ever consider a job at TABSK?
J: I just might take you up on that.
T: Great! To another great decade!
