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Your Server's Other Job: Hostess, Cocktail Waitress, Box Girl, Scribe

By dstoll

November 20, 2009 03:30

GIna Clover

If there's one thing Hollywood is full of, it's stereotypes. But dig a little deeper and you'll find that the people here aren't always as they appear: the hipster dreams of being a fireman; the town's most revered bartender just wants some time alone with his bike.

In this installment of Your Server's Other Job, we visit with Gina Clover who, in addition to working the door at The Varnish, lies in her skivvies inside a glass box at The Standard in Hollywood and blogs.

Whether you find the idea of a girl in a box titillating or terrifying, there's no denying it's fascinating. From Lynch's Boxing Helena to Ibsen's A Doll's House (not to mention the current TV show of almost the same name with a not dissimilar premise) the disparity of women being at once fetishized and revered is controversial. "My parents definitely think I'm a stripper. They're like, 'You're lying in your underwear in a public place? Uh...'"

Things you can do inside the box: read, write, watch movies, Facebook, sleep, text. Things you can't do: eat.

With monthly revolving installations, the girls must be adaptable, "This week I heard we have to sit in a chair, which we've never had to do before. I'm kind of nervous."

At The Varnish, Gina is decidedly outside the box, keeping a steady flow of people in check, wiping down tables, counting heads, "With the box, you're in a bubble; I can be removed at the same time as being an exhibitionist. The Varnish can be stressful, you're in the middle of the storm."

Gina isn't exactly living the dream, "I'd love to be in a writer's room for a TV show." A quote from her blog, which though recently sporadically written, is funny, clever, and painfully honest (like all the best comedy) "I am going to start a Society for Clover Advancement. I am also marginalized, suburban and have trouble getting laid. Please throw a party in my honor. I will also give out really good stickers."

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Your Server's Other Job: Hostess, Cocktail Waitress, Box Girl, Scribe

By dstoll