Purple Turtle

Well if the D.C. consisting of lace, leather, latex, PVC, uniforms, big hats, and roller blades didn’t prepare you enough for a night of lust at the Purple Turtle, the 60 sum year old gent carousing around in his evening gown was sure to clear up any confusion real quick. You have to give it to the old timer, when you’re that old it takes some big cahones to pull something like that off (some of our x-tra observant anthropologists can testify on that matter). It was good to get off the beaten path and experience a genre of locals in an environment new to many of us Americans. Ever seen the movie Euro Trip? I’m a little disappointed I didn’t see any little green men after taking the quick bullet of abstinence. Coming in to the night with an open mind to the any and all things lustful, you can see how the locals don’t just see the event as a one-night fling. A fashion show with a butt-iful motif might have been seen as simply erotic dancing, but it was truly a fashion show indeed. Any and all garments seen on stage could have been purchased by the CEO/designer of the clothing line towards the rear of the club. Its more than just lust to these locals… its fashion. Picturing a Clark Kent type scenario, my curiosity has me wondering what do these people wear during the hours when the sun is out. Poll dancers, rock stars, and acrobats, these are the super men and women of the Purple Turtle. Meeting people from all walks of life, you had to see past the eye appealing fashions to learn that they could be someone you work with everyday. You never know if your everyday Mr. Rogers grandpa could have an alter ego. The possibility is probably more likely than you realize. Not many know that the clean cut Mr. Rogers we grew up with as kids actually had full length sleeves of tattoos on both arms. Ah yes, there was a reason why he wore long sleeve oxfords for every show. With a night still blurry in my mind, its sad to say its ending was almost identical to the Disney story of Cinderella. Coming away with nothing more than a glass slipper, the intellectually appealing locals I met at the Purple Turtle will forever remain nothing more than a fairy tale.
My prayers go out to those for a healthy recovery.

Samuel Sandoval