# Have you ever been mistaken as a prostitute? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 13, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632 "2014-01-13T03:03:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/41 "2014-01-14T02:42:09Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Damned. Beat me to it. > > As = is > > Like = similar to > > For = in the place of Wow, I didn’t know that. I knew reading about prostitutes would be educational! > [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I have been asked by two different people on the street outside my house recently if I could sell them weed. Apparently, I look like a drug dealer. And this is a nice neighborhood! I wouldn’t even have a clue about where to go to buy weed around here, and I certainly don’t have any. And if I did, I certainly wouldn’t sell it to some random doofus on the street. > > I have no idea what is up with this, as I was operating under the assumption, apparently mistakenly, that I look like a regular, upstanding citizen. Well, I do wear a hoodie, so maybe it’s that. You should have sold him a bag of oregano. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/42 "2014-01-14T03:00:59Z")
Yes, although it was a bit confusing and I’m not sure who thought who was a prostitute. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/43 "2014-01-14T03:06:28Z")
Yep, but [the circumstances weren’t exactly typical.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=3407521&postcount=4) ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/44 "2014-01-14T03:15:53Z")
Yes, a few times, many years ago, when I was in my late teens and early twenties. Many years ago (like thirty or more), a young guy standing at the corner of 53rd Street and Third Avenue in New York, in scruffy jeans and a leather jacket, after dark, would definitely have been assumed to be a hustler. I wasn’t, I just worked in the area, in a totally legit job, and that’s how I dressed. The same with some streets (back then) in the West Village. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/45 "2014-01-14T03:25:02Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > In my defence, it was the 80’s and Cindy Lauper was my fashion icon. > > Maybe he thougt that a bike prostitute (if there was such a thing) would offer a really quick service (in transit) so the price would be reasonable. I’m sure you looked lovely. Didn’t mean to offend. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/46 "2014-01-14T03:28:00Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > There was that one time in Memphis when I was wearing a really short skirt and high heels. > > No wait… that didn’t happen. > > So… Ummmm… No. The same thing didn’t happen to _me!_ That is too weird. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/47 "2014-01-14T03:39:33Z")
When I lived in Maryland I absolutely had a couple guys drive real slow next to me while I walked down the street, trying to find out if I would get in the car with them. Not sure if they thought I was a hooker, or just trying their luck. Strangely, mostly only happened in MD! I did have one incident in New Orleans, where a guy tried the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/48 "2014-01-14T03:57:51Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Many years ago (like thirty or more), a young guy standing at the corner of 53rd Street and Third Avenue in New York, in scruffy jeans and a leather jacket, after dark, would definitely have been assumed to be a hustler. I wasn’t, I just worked in the area, in a totally legit job, and that’s how I dressed. The Ramones even wrote a song about it, “Fifty-Third and Third”. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/49 "2014-01-14T05:21:46Z")
Yes. My med school was a block away from the red light district. The hookers used the dorm bathroom on the first floor. No students stayed there more than a semester. Anyway, I was walking from student parking to my ENT rotation at about 4:30 AM and I passed a couple of guys who asked “How much?” I politely declined, being late for work and all. The other students and I decided that getting up at 4 AM to hire a hooker wasn’t that much worse than getting up at 4AM to be abused by a surgeon. Anyway, I hear that the T now goes directly to the hospital so no more walking through the Combat Zone to get to work. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/50 "2014-01-14T05:25:00Z")
To me, no. But it _did_ happen to my aunt. My very elegant, aristocratic aunt. She had been at a black-tie charity event, and was headed to the airport to meet my uncle’s late flight. The airport is in a skeevy part of their town, and she got lost. So she pulled into the parking lot of a motel to turn around - and was promptly stopped by the police. They were running a prostitution sting, and seeing an elegant white woman, in a gown, late at night, in a rent-by-the-hour motel, who pulled out immediately after she presumably spotted them…weeeell, it wasn’t an altogether unreasonable assumption. My family has derived much enjoyment from this story over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/51 "2014-01-14T06:34:44Z")
I was undercover in occupied France, WWII, stationed in a small town outside Bordeaux when the Germans mobile infantry rolled through. Till this day I have no idea why my unit commander had assigned me the undercover identity of Chloe, the common French slut at the local drinking establishment. I was a 32 year old hirsuit man, at the time. I think the commander harboured a dislike of me, but can’t swear to it. Jerry got quite a bit more than they bargained for that night, I’ll tell you. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/52 "2014-01-14T06:56:06Z")
Santa always calls me one. ---
**Author:** ![amijane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@amijane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amijane)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/53 "2014-01-14T09:34:47Z")
At university, the only place to park was above the campus in a red-light area. One sunny afternoon I was leaning back against the car waiting for my husband to show so we could drive home. Apparently I’d waited too long as a woman around my age marched up to me and told me I had to move it on, as she was working that area. I took it as a compliment. A pro thought I could charge for sex! Who needs college? I explained about the car and my husband. She clearly didn’t believe me, but luckily he showed up five minutes later. When I was fifteen, I was another one mistaken for a homeless runaway who might be desperate enough, waiting in a London train station known at the time for prostitution. The friend I was meeting was running was over an hour late. An older guy who looked like a business man brought me a cup of tea over, asked if I had anywhere to sleep that night and said he’d be happy to put me up in a hotel if I wanted to be friendly. I politely turned him down several times before he’d leave me alone. This is one of the reasons I’m teaching my daughter she doesn’t always have to mind her manners. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/54 "2014-01-14T14:42:17Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Yes, a few times, many years ago, when I was in my late teens and early twenties. > > Many years ago (like thirty or more), a young guy standing at the corner of 53rd Street and Third Avenue in New York, in scruffy jeans and a leather jacket, after dark, would definitely have been assumed to be a hustler. I wasn’t, I just worked in the area, in a totally legit job, and that’s how I dressed. > > The same with some streets (back then) in the West Village. My first apartment in NYC was at 53rd and 3rd. When I was moving in some of the hustlers started trash-talking in front of my Mom so I made them help me carry boxes up 3 flights of stairs. Nice guys, really. I was mistaken for a hooker a few times. Once I was waiting for a bus in the rain after work and some guy in a limo offered me a ride…kind of puzzled when I found out what he thought because I was working in a machine shop in those days and was wearing not clean overalls and a tee-shirt. Still, I got a few G+T’s in the limo and a ride home. I was also mistaken for a paid hostess by a few guests at the machine shop’s Christmas party. I guess they didn’t equate hot chicks with machine shop employees. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632/55 "2014-01-15T00:45:18Z")
Heck no!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-mistaken-as-a-prostitute/678632.md?page=2)