Watch your phone in the Sauna!

[msclelovr]

Many people report using the Google Translate app to communicate with guys in the sauna and so I feel that the answer to your question is bound to be Yes @LondonF4 

Clients often walk around and have their phones with them. The advice to keep a close eye on your phone (and any other valuables) is sound. 

[SolaceSoul]

37 minutes ago, LondonF4 said:

Do clients normally wonder around with phones?  Just from a discretion/vanity point of view I’m not sure I’d want to be caught in someone’s photo by accident!

Taking photos inside the saunas are strictly prohibited. Violators can get themselves ejected and even banned — especially if the subject of the photo is a client or a garoto. I suppose if you took a photo inside a private suite with the other party’s consent, that would be fine. The only other photos taken are the ones of the show participants -/ drag queens and gogo boys, thst end up posted on the sauna’s social media pages and websites.  

You can still carry around your phone to use translator apps, store contact information and send / check messages.  That’s quite common. 

[Latbear4blk]

2 hours ago, LondonF4 said:

Do clients normally wonder around with phones?  Just from a discretion/vanity point of view I’m not sure I’d want to be caught in someone’s photo by accident!

Out of all the saunas I explored in my few visits to Brazil, only one in Salvador had a very strict policy banning the use of cell phones. Not only taking pictures was banned, they would confront you if your phone was visible. 

In all other saunas everyone would go around using their phones, clients and garotos. I have taken pictures and filmed performances in both, Pointe and Club 117, and no one confronted me. I was not hiding while I was filming, and I was not the only one doing it. For instance, this gif is made out of a 45 seconds video I took in 117.

[Latbear4blk]

duplicated, sorry

[SolaceSoul]

18 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

Out of all the saunas I explored in my few visits to Brazil, only one in Salvador had a very strict policy banning the use of cell phones. Not only taking pictures was banned, they would confront you if your phone was visible. 

In all other saunas everyone would go around using their phones, clients and garotos. I have taken pictures and filmed performances in both, Pointe and Club 117, and no one confronted me. I was not hiding while I was filming, and I was not the only one doing it. For instance, this gif is made out of a 45 seconds video I took in 117.

No one at the sauna is going to take issue with only stage performers being filmed / photographed while on stage. 

My comment above was about snapping photos of garotos or clients being inside the sauna (unless it’s inside a suite).

a snapshot inside the non-private area of the sauna could (whether intentionally or not) also capture background subjects that can be identified. With facial recognition technology having been almost perfected, it’s obviously a major privacy concern. 

At least one of the major Brazilian saunas has (or had) a notice on the wall prohibiting the use of cell phones for taking photos. 
 

 

[Latbear4blk]

4 hours ago, SolaceSoul said:

My comment above was about snapping photos of garotos or clients being inside the sauna (unless it’s inside a suite).

Uh...

My comment above was not intended to refute your own comments. I was just sharing my experience.

[Guest]

I wouldn’t take my phone out in a sauna & have never a language problem making my desires & payment terms clear.  I typically offer payment upfront in Brazil & Spain once in the cabines so there is no question what has been agreed to.  Sometimes I write it down at the bar.  I don’t speak Portuguese, but know basic phrases and can communicate in broken Spanish.  That said, way too many phones in too many places.  Why bother going out somewhere (sauna or otherwise) when you just stare at a phone ?  Unfortunately, phones  have become a crutch for many in an uncomfortable or unfamiliar social situation - just start playing with the phone to look occupied.  How very boring. Try learning a bit of another language & engage with people in real time.  You know, the people you flew 4500 miles to see.
And, no I wouldn’t photograph anyone or anything in a sauna space.  It’s just not necessary.

[vinapu]

54 minutes ago, Slvkguy said:

Unfortunately, phones  have become a crutch for many in an uncomfortable or unfamiliar social situation...............

Try learning a bit of another language & engage with people in real time.  You know, the people you flew 4500 miles to see.
 

you got that right !

[Riobard]

1 hour ago, Slvkguy said:

I wouldn’t take my phone out in a sauna & have never a language problem making my desires & payment terms clear.  I typically offer payment upfront in Brazil & Spain once in the cabines so there is no question what has been agreed to.  Sometimes I write it down at the bar.  I don’t speak Portuguese, but know basic phrases and can communicate in broken Spanish.  That said, way too many phones in too many places.  Why bother going out somewhere (sauna or otherwise) when you just stare at a phone ?  Unfortunately, phones  have become a crutch for many in an uncomfortable or unfamiliar social situation - just start playing with the phone to look occupied.  How very boring. Try learning a bit of another language & engage with people in real time.  You know, the people you flew 4500 miles to see.
And, no I wouldn’t photograph anyone or anything in a sauna space.  It’s just not necessary.

I am neither a phone lover nor at all umbilically tied to mine beyond the basics of postmodern convenience. Or necessity, eg Über in Brazil. But if you haven’t been to, say, 555 on a Friday night prior to the late evening stage circus you haven’t experienced the equivalence of essentially watching paint dry when you could be catching up on written word news, other reading, etc. If you haven’t laid eyes on your new obsession, IMHO these environments are among the least interesting and stimulating settings I have encountered. Of course, there can be exceptions where at times things get more dynamic, even outside the tricking component. But phones are the new books at those times a Plan B comes in handy while biding time. And I am someone that can happily sit on a nice park bench in a regular square for long periods of time without being glued to my device.

[Latbear4blk]

Do not blame the phones. They are an amazing tool even in the sauna. In crowdy days we text each other with the garotos, we exchange WhatsApp, Instagrams, they are part of their life and I am trying to adapt to the new times.

[SolaceSoul]

Sign prominently displayed on a door to the indoor bar room at Club 117 (where the shows take place). This is current, but it’s been there for years.

It translates to “No filming or photography.”