Ah, the plight of a nightlife employee. When everyone else gets to party, the Sindustry is at its busiest. Getting the night off on a holiday is practically unheard of. Every excuse has been used, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

“I was working at Utopia and it was the Pimp ’n’ Ho party,” says Zee Zandi, a former cocktail waitress at the long-shuttered hot spot. “All my friends were in town, and I didn’t want to work.” Her plan to spend Halloween off-the-clock? “I broke the heel off my shoe on purpose thinking my manager, Ryan Jocque, would send me home for the night,” says Zandi. “But he gave me $100 and sent me to the Forum Shops to buy new shoes instead.”