Seeing as the link to the jump isn't working, I can only assume you have rendered Dan speechless. Nice work!

thx for fixing!

I would add that she ought to have a set goal or time limit. Make your $$$ and get out or only do it for x years. Don't make it a career. Your looks will fade and with it the money and if you don;t have any skills beyond sex-work, your future will look rather bleak.

Savage!

I never did sex work. I was way too inhibited, but I was just thinking if I'd had a parent or good friend like you growing up, I would have saved myself years of troubled self-consciousness and pain. Good show, ol' boy!

What about accepting referrals from existing clients she trusts? No one can fully know their friends/acquaintances, but it's still probably safer than taking business from complete strangers.

I'm happy NA has had a positive experience so far. Here's hoping it stays that way.

Oh, and get tested on monthly basis, right?

#3 got it right.

Read "The Seduction of Peter S." by Lawrence Sanders. It's a veritable handbook on how to do it right. Good luck!

@Jaydog, I love the avatar.

@9: I laughed so hard when I saw that -- care to make a version with two men, a 12-year-old boy, and a one-eyed poodle for me?

That's too funny! I was reading through this rather quickly and just assumed that was LC. I was surprised at "her" response. So, yes, Jaydog, great avatar, indeed.

That's too funny! I was reading through this rather quickly and just assumed that was LC. I was surprised at "her" response. So, yes, Jaydog, great avatar, indeed.

Jaydog, you are the shit.

Rock on Jaydog!

and best of luck to NA. Be safe.

LMAO! Thanks for the comments on my "Lovesmen" avatar. In Loveschild's case, imitation is the sincerest form of STFU. This was the second version. The first had the Gay Pride flag hanging from the cross. I may be agnostic, but figured why press my luck.

@Dan: I would give you my right nut, sliced, breaded and fried. So yes, I'll put together an avatar to your specs. Tomorrow. I'm going to play ping pong now.

How can I get into pimping? From what I've heard, it ain't easy.

I thought sex workers were created by listening to that funky new wave music. But maybe I'm just thinking of the classic 1985 film, "New Wave Hookers".

A... one eyed...poodle... o.O

Yeah, I think sex work should be legal ... but my claw hammer would be used on someone who suggested my kid work in the trade.

So you're a bigot and a hypocrite, is what you mean to say.

@22 - Read "The Commitment" for the poodle story.

Jaydog: "@Dan: I would give you my right nut, sliced, breaded and fried. So yes, I'll put together an avatar to your specs. Tomorrow. I'm going to play ping pong now."

Now that's the kind of guy I like!

Anyone considering sex work in Seattle should know about these two sites:

http://tnaboard.com/
http://www.thereviewboard.net/

Tons of information, reviews, social networking, advise, anecdotes, rates for different services, marketing opportunities, social events, etc. from the local community of clients and pros. Spend a couple days pouring through these online communities, and you'll have a much better idea whether this work is right for you, and if so, how to do it safe and smart.

@13 OMG, what happened to Pooper's eye?!

And Dan gets indicted as an accessory to prostitution in 5.4.3.2...

@21 - whenever the topic of sex work comes up, inevitably someone asks "would you want your daughter to do it?"

My answer is no, I wouldn't, but there are plenty of legal professions I wouldn't want for my daughter (or son) either, including marine, cop, anything in the food processing/oil/munitions industries, wet nurse, bouncer, bus driver, test pilot, chairman of the republican party, prison guard, professor of women's studies, life coach, and msw-level counselor. Seriously, any of these jobs would be just as hard for me to accept for my kids as prostitute, but that doesn't mean they should be illegal. And if he/she was happy in any of these professions, including prostitute, I would adjust.

Good point, seandr @ 29.

As for the letter writer, I hope that she has a good support system and people she can talk to in case she does have a bad experience or that guilt starts creeping in. Maybe consider seeing a sex-positive therapist who can work through it with her?

@29 - What the hell's wrong with being a professor of women's studies? That's a field that really *needs* to not be dominated by idiots. I've had some great ones and am immensely grateful for how they helped shape my understanding of gender, society and history in a way that was actually thoughtful and not just mindless bitching.

I consider myself pretty openminded, but I think it's a bad idea. Sex is too important to get paid for it.

When I read #13, i didn't notice it was Dan and thought it was from some Two and a Half Men fan.

True story.

Speaking of Loveschild... Has anyone seen her lately? I'm getting concerned. What if she fell into a vat of self-hate? Or is lost in the dark woods of her own twisted logic? What if she tripped over a tautology and sprained her ankle? Or, she could be taking her drag revue on the road and just hasn't found free wireless yet.

Be sure to re-view Pretty Woman so you know how good it all will be!

And don't forget to read a history of influential prositutes throughout history for examples of heroism, good works etc.

@8 -- ditto

@22, I think that should be -.O

@25: I forgot the marinara sauce.

I did read the "Seduction of Peter S" by Lawrence Sanders years ago. Great book. Can't say the protagonist was happy at the end of it but he'd come to terms with himself.

What happens when you're NOT interested physically in someone? Eventually as you age, there would be a point where the more desirable partners would be less interested and now you're hooked on the money and then what? Would you sleep with someone you don't consider attractive?

In response to the letter: "Are there going to be repercussions to my psyche that I haven't envisioned yet?"

-Take a good long look at yourself in the mirror, and repeat: "I am a whore." It is the societal definition. Has been for a really, really long time. Can you live with that? How about, "I was a whore"? Or, "I was a slut, then a hooker"? Lady, this is the world you live in, and as much as all the sex positive Civil Rights Leader wannabees stomp their feet and hold their collective breath, this is what your psyche will store up and unload on you at some point in the future. So, the question is a constant - can you say these things to yourself & truly know these things about yourself & be ok with it?

Down with sugarcoating! FYI - no judgment from my standing - I don't care what you do. Although, I hate when people fool themselves & allow others to help them perpetuate fooling themselves.

@21: I was a sex worker for years. Never got into drugs. Never had anything bad happen except I got ripped off once. (Once in 6 years isn't so bad I get ripped off more often waiting tables). I never felt guilty about it. And will go back to it once I live in a more sex positive area. Oh and about "those people" "not ageing well" or whatever you said. I got denied my pinot grigio today at the store because the manager thought I was 17 with a fake ID. So I think I'm doing okay.

This is the letter writer. I just came back and re-read the advice and comments once again. I'm a bit surprised at the level of bias in some of the comments, with the assumptions that I have no other skills, do drugs or have fading looks. I have one advanced degree and am in school for another. I smoke pot a few times a year. I'm nearly thirty but most people think I'm around 23. I don't have shitty self-esteem or daddy issues. I'm simply underemployed. So there. And I've had plenty of sex with people I don't consider physically attractive, just mentally so. One's body is often besides the point for me. And what in my letter says I'm a slut? Three people in a year is pretty abstemious, I think. And should I discover any of my nieces were doing sex work, I wouldn't be bothered by it, provided they have a healthy attitude about it and sex in general.

I'm happy doing sex work. I've continued seeing the same guy. It's not like I'm rolling around town now in a Benz--I can just keep my lights on and eat something besides Ramen while working another job and attending school. I'm not 'hooked.' My client is a bit socially awkward and nerdy, as well as having health issues, and according to him he's getting the best sex of his life. That feels good to me.

I've told a few of my more open-minded friends what I've been up to, and have received nothing but support coupled with wariness. I don't know how I'd go about finding others in the industry in this city, as it's quite liberal but it's not Seattle. So thanks for the support from those who gave it. I've got books on the way from Amazon. I'm happy, I'm safe, and I'm seeing my client again tonight.