Have You Ever Been Mistaken For A Prostitute?

In My Humble Opinion
41

I’ve received, ehr, let’s call them offers from guys who knew perfectly well I wasn’t a whore but who thought they could buy any woman; apparently their notions of “seduction”, or maybe “negotiation”, include opening along the lines of “hey sweet cunt” or “yo, little whore, come make your pappy happy”. Those piss me off, if there was a Goddess of Falling-Off Dicks I would have gone to her temple after each and every one of those incidents to ask for her favors.

At one time when I was in college I was returning home at 9pm; I had to walk through the upper part of Passeig de Gràcia (Barcelona). There had recently been a “cleanup” behind Camp Nou and the working ladies had relocated to the upper part of the Passeig; the working “susprise ladies” were in the upper part of Rambla Catalunya. As I waited for the light to change, in my jeans and Tshirt and an armful of books, a car loaded with guys not much older than me stopped to ask for prices. Both I and the three ladies working that particular light were pretty confused; one of them reacted first and said “Jesus guys, can’t you see those are real books? She’s a real student! From the university!”

42

Here’s what Snopes has to say:

43

When velvet comes back in style, who will be laughing then? Eh? Eh?

44

What did you do, get one of Prince’s old suits as payment for services rendered?

45

At least twice, as an adolescent. I had long hair and fairly feminine features, enough so that a lot of times men would do double-takes and check the sign on the restroom door when they saw me at the sink. Once I was downtown on a Friday night, sitting on a low wall, when a tourist from another country came up and asked me how much. I was with friends, so I sneered at him and shook my head, and he left. It was irritating, but that’s all.

Another time I was a tourist myself, in Venice, sixteen and small and pretty. A large man followed me down an alley and made horrible little clucking noises with my tongue as he approached. I forget exactly what he said, but it was pretty frightening–if he’d attacked me, I don’t know if I could have done anything.

46

Every day. Who knew there were so many women eager to throw money at flabby, married 55 year old guys?

47

No I haven’t, but I like this list of sequential threads this morning:

  • Things to do in Madrid
  • Have you ever been mistaken for a prostitute
  • Bitcoins - still not realistic
  • Interview question: what is your greatest weakness?
48

Me - No, maybe a john.

Wife - Not even close. She dresses conservatively and has that sweet little girl-next-door look.

49

Yes, once in downtown San Antonio. My friend and I had spent the day at the Gulf of Mexico and I got horribly sunburned then went to Coyote Ugly and had a couple of drinks. While we were waiting at a corner for her husband to pick us up I threw up in a garbage can then leaned my back against the wall of a brick building because the bricks were nice and cool (it was a super hot night.) Some middle-aged guy walked by, looked at me and said “You want to party?” I was like “Huh?” He goes “You, uh, want to party, with me?” I went “No” and he kind of shrugged and walked away. I turned to my friend and said “That was weird… Oh my God he thought I was a hooker.”

50

If all of us ladies pray enough, do you think the concentration of belief will make Her appear? Cuz I’ve got a list.

51

Isn’t this a normal part of the female experience? I’m being serious here. If you are a girl or woman walking or waiting for the bus in the city, and you are not accompanied by a man, you will be approached. It’s pretty much as common as catcalling.

I was probably 13 or younger the first time a car pulled up next to me as I was waiting for the bus - sometimes the driver would say “hey” if I ignored him long enough, but usually he would just wait for me to approach the car and begin negotiating, then pull away when I didn’t. I didn’t realize till later when my mom explained it to me that they thought I was hooking. Heck, I remember my mom getting approached that way when I was with her, when I was littler. (And isn’t that creepy?)

So, um. You men who say your wife has never been approached by someone who thought she was in business - you’re probably wrong. Just because you weren’t there at the time, doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.

52

No, the Rodeway Inn. Don’t even know if it’s still there. It was a decent enough place in the late 70s, when this happened to me.

53

A few times, many years ago (like late seventies, early eighties).

I worked part-time then (was a college student) at a construction company that had an office on 53rd Street between First and Second Avenues. Those of you who are middle-aged New Yorkers like me will know what went on there.*

I had to visit the office from time to time, often enough in the evening or late, and I would be dressed for work – jeans, flannel shirt or t-shirt, boots. Just like lots of the other young guys hanging out on that street. Except they had a very different job from mine.

  • Dee Dee Ramone knew – he wrote a song about it.
54

Not I. But when we lived in South Memphis., my wife & stepdaughter–both slender 20somethings who appear white to the casual eye–got accosted on separate occasions while walking or jogging down Third Street, in the vicinity of some motels.

55

I’ve never had anyone else make clucking noises with my tongue so I can only imagine how frightening that must have been. :eek:

56

No, I don’t think this is a normal part of the female experience. I spend a fair amount of time waiting for subways and buses or just walking from one place to another by myself, sometimes even at night, and I have never been mistaken for a prostitute. I’ve also never seen another women waiting for a bus or subway approached in that manner, and I’ve never heard a friend or acquaintance tell a story about that happening. It’s not because I’m in some kind of small town full of upstanding citizens, because I live in New York City, and not even in an especially gentrified neighborhood. Has this really happened to most of the women you know?

57

I can’t remember if I told you about this one already, but here goes:

I have this friend. She came to town with nothing but a purse and a suitcase, and within 3 days had a room in a rooming house, and a job. I’m in awe of her resilience to this day (for other reasons too, which I won’t get into here).

One of the jobs she worked was at a sandwich shop. Not because she couldn’t do “better” - because she needed food on the table and money to pay the bills right away. She just did what she had to.

So she’s coming home from the sandwich shop. The sun is setting, and she’s still in her uniform polo and company-mandated color of pants. Her hair is frizzy, she’s got no makeup on, and she’s wearing athletic shoes.

And a car *slowly *pulls up beside her. Someone - a stranger - rolls down the window. “Hey.”

“Uh, hi,” she replies, probably still in work mode.

The man inside the car mutters something she can’t make out.

“Excuse me?”

He speaks a little louder. “I said, ‘Do you play?’”

Play? What the heck? She plays role-playing games with her friends, but surely no one’s going to stop her on the street for that. “What-What do you mean?”

“Do you play???”

“I apologize, I don’t understand–”

"Do you have sex with people for money!?"

She gasped. “Oh, dear me, no, I’m sorry.”

(I am not kidding. That is exactly what she told us and I have no reason to question her.)

The guy in the car closed the window and drove off.

In hindsight, this could have turned out very badly, but it didn’t. I think it was a good lesson for her and the rest of her friends though (including me)… Sometimes you shouldn’t be nice to strangers on the street - you should get the hell away. :smack:

58

Maybe we could convince Kali to take that up as a sideline? She’s already got the weaponry and enough arms to hold down the bastards…

59

There’s a market for that; just sayin.

60

I don’t see why not! She’s pretty badass to start with, and probably would love the role.