The other night, I had just finished watching an episode of Without a Trace where a girl who made her living turning tricks had disappeared and by the end of the episode, you found out she'd been desperately trying to get some money ahead, a job, and a nice apartment so that social services would let her have her little girl. In short, she was trying to change her life. A daunting task to any of us, and harder for a girl who didn't seem to have anyone to care about her or to help her. (The landlord reported her missing because she owed him rent and he was expecting sex from her.)
So, anyway, I finished watching this show and I'm lying in bed just sort of drifting and I hear this conversation between two women, one quite young and one older. The younger one said something about a career as a prostitute and the older one came back with a pretty sage assessment of that method of learning a livlihood. It went something like this:
"Honey, prostitution is *not* a career. A career is job you can work your whole life and learn and grow and develop. Have you ever seen an old prostitute? Well, other than the toothless joke that you find in comedies about trailer trash? Or in some small town somewhere where there's absolutely no competition? How many guys want to pay some woman as old as or older than their wife/girlfriend when they can pay some teeny bopper pretending to be a little older just a ways up the block. Or even someone your age? Nope. There's no future in prostitution.
"Prostitution is *not* a career. It's a temporary part-time job to get back at your boyfriend after he dumps you telling you you're no good in bed when the truth is you don't remember the last time he wanted you when he wasn't so drunk/stoned that he passed out before you got much of anywhere. Prostitution is what you do when you get all of his buddies to pay to sleep with you and then give them the times of their lives so they brag to him and all of their other friends about you and he realizes just what he lost in you. Then you move on before it gets hold of you and you have nowhere left to go."
Kind of a cynical woman, isn't she? But I kind of like her manner. I don't know if this is based on some memory from some book I've read or some movie I've seen but it was just so intense, I decided to share it somewhere.
Disclaimer: I, personally cannot fathom any situation in which I would advocate prostitution to anyone for any reason. Just because I like the character doesn't mean I want to be like her.
