To Sing Or Not To Sing

I'm not sure when I started adopting Karaoke as a hobby. Definitely after college, when I was settling back into New York, and finding affordable things to do that didn't take too much of a toll on my aging body became a necessity. Tonight (it's only Wednesday night?!), I once again fell into the trap of "nothing-to-do-but-too-early-to-go-home," and ended up in a new place to sing in claustrophobic rooms with non-stick wipe clean furniture. This den of sing, aptly titled Sing Sing, can be found behind a darkened, tape-stained glass wall on Ave. A at ground level, not to be confused with the newer, cleaner, more modern, upper level Sing Sing on St. Marks (not that I frequent both on a regular basis). If you ever dare to venture in to the Ave. A Sing Sing, take the time to read and be aware of the following:

• When it feels like you've stepped in something, it's the floors, not your shoes. From the doorway to the restroom, the floor is coated with what must be a sticky, 3M slip-resistant surface, most likely for the safety of their patrons.
• "Sound proof rooms" don't account for the ventilation system which connects the rooms to each other, where it sounds like there's a party in the ventilation shaft... a party you weren't invited to.
  
• Watch out for small animals living in their songbooks. In our case, a roach crawled out from between the pages when we opened the book. I imagine different books have different animals, depending on what language the book is in.
• Wash your hands after touching the books. Like the floors, the pages of the books are also treated with a sticky, slip-resistant surface, most likely for the safety of the animals that live in them, so they don't accidentally fall out and hurt themselves.

On the bright side, this place is a buck cheaper per hour than any of the cleaner, surrounding Karaoke places. And they have a full bar!