LUST

"Lord, grant me chastity and continence, but not yet" 
	-- St. Augustine, Confessions 8.18

She was so incredible. I was going through SOAR, an orientation
program for all the neophytes at school, and as I walked toward the
class registration table, there she stood. Blonde hair, gorgeous
smile, and long legs, she was the stereotypical California girl. The
wind was blowing ever so gently, her cotton summer dress pressed
against her perfect body. I'm really, no, REALLY, going to love this
school. 

Her name was Lori. She said she was a second year student, helping all
the little freshmen like myself. That's great! It's cool that you like
to help people. "I do it to meet cute boys", she said. Oh. So it
wasn't quite philanthropic, I still liked her anyway. Like? Okay, I
lusted after her. She was a Goddess, and that's with a capital G.

ENVY

"I envy people who drink -- at least they know what to blame
everything on."
 	-- Oscar Levant

A boyfriend? Why does she even have a boyfriend? What a bastard. What
did he do to deserve her?  She should be mine. I wanted to own her. To
possess her. How can I take his place?

How about dinner? At the dining hall! Wanna sit with me?  "You're not
really going to eat those vegetables are you?", she said with a
grimace on her face. No, no way, I don't even know why they put them
on my plate? Sheesh, those jokers.  -  I really liked those
vegetables. But if Lori didn't like 'em, I sure wasn't going to eat
them. 

She finally lost that boyfriend. Sure took long enough.

Let's go party! "I can't, I have to work", she seemed to say that a
lot. And she never got home before 3am. Oh, what do you do? Are you a
waitress? "Sure, I'm a waitress" - It didn't matter much to me,
because that month was a good month. I wanted her so badly. I must
have finally did something right, because she started staying over
three, four nights a week. My non-existent roommate dropped out the
second week of school. The room was all mine, and hers...

"Hey, we're going to a tittie bar, come with us", my buddies yelled.
Sure. How old do you have to be? Okay, Let me get my fake ID.  When
they spotted her, they were real quick to blurt out, "Heh heh, isn't
that your girlfriend?" Oh, ya, I knew that she worked here the whole
time. She just didn't want me to say anything, you know how it goes.
-- I was as shocked as Lori when she saw me. But we played it off. It
actually turned me on after our shouting match later that night. I'm
the one she comes home to, right?

SLOTH

"That indolent but agreeable condition of doing nothing."
	-- Pliny the Younger

Lori used to sleep all day. I used to sleep all day. After all, I only
had 6 units my first semester. I started with 15. I didn't even go to
class that often. She danced almost every night during the week. I
went to class a couple times a week, if I didn't hit the snooze bar
one too many times. Sleep, sex, and eating. That's about the extent of
my life. It was good, and simple. Oh yeah, there was studying for one
of my two classes once in awhile. I still don't know how I ended up
with only a 2.5 GPA that semester. Well, maybe I do.

GREED

"man shall not live by bread alone" 
	-- Deuteronomy 8:3

I loved the stuff she used to get me: cool surfer shirts, zippy
leather shoes, and Swatch watches. This was the 80's, mind you. I even
got a leather bomber jacket. Having a girlfriend who made a lot of
cash was a good thing.  Not that I didn't treat her well, but, hell, I
got a lot of cool shit. 

Christine was Lori's friend. She was also pretty damn good looking.
Brunette, dazzling green eyes, and another pair of long legs. I don't
know why she always flirted with me, but I flirted back. That can't
hurt, right?  She said she was a waitress too. Sure, just like Lori, I
kidded. "Ha ha, so you know then? I'm surprised she told you", was her
response. Well, she didn't have much of a choice. Having me know
seemed to loosen Christine up a lot. Is that good or bad?  That all
depends on how you look at it. In the short run, I thought I was the
shit. In the long run, well...

GLUTTONY

"No man in the world has more courage than
the man who can stop after eating one peanut."
	-- Channing Pollack

Tuesdays and Thursdays were the nights when Lori worked but Christine
didn't. 

Let's see other people. "Are you sure that's what you want? If so,
that's okay with me", Lori replied in such a cool manner. Too bad I
was too entranced with images of boffing multiple women to even see
the truck coming on my blindside.

After some romper room time with Christine, it didn't take even me,
the rocket scientist, to realize her deck was missing a few cards.
But, hey, I'm doing a couple of strippers. What a stud, right?

PRIDE

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."
	-- Proverbs 16:18

Who cares. No big deal. Why even bother getting mad? After all, she
only slept with my best friend. But hey, I'm a big boy. After all,
we're not committed right?  I did sleep with her friend. All is fair,
right? Heck, they were drunk. And I am man enough to handle this. I'm
not some sensitive schmuck who can't deal with having an open
relationship. It was all my idea in the first place, right?

Who the hell was I kidding? I was pissed as hell. So I was being a
hypocrite, but I was pissed nonetheless. Who the hell did she think
she was, fucking my best friend?  I mean, it wasn't as if Christine
was her best friend. She was just some gal who worked with her, right?
In a sick, illogical way, I even believed that I was right then. What
I did was completely justifiable, whereas what she did was
reprehensible.

She wanted to talk. I shrugged it off. We're just friends, right? No
worries! There was no way I was going to show her that it affected me.

WRATH

"Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame."
	-- Benjamin Franklin

So I threw some parties and invited a couple more of her friends that
I knew didn't care much about anything. Within a couple weeks, the two
had stayed over at least a night each. Vindication? Not really. It
didn't make me feel any better. In fact, I felt like shit. I sure
didn't like them. I still wanted Lori.

But, Lori stopped talking to me. Obviously.

You either learn, or you go down in flames. It's too bad I got burned
along with my bridge with Lori. Unfortunately, I know I burned her
too. She was one of the nicest girls I ever knew. It's too bad I won't
ever be able to be a part of her life again.


LMR
--
Las Vegas Strip Club Review
http://www.stripclubreview.com/lasvegas/