Not really (obviously) (at least I hope it’s obvious).
But I was passing the local porn shop on my way to work, and noticed the big “Now Hiring!” banner on the front, and started wondering … do the people (men, I’m guessing, for the most part) who work there think “ooh, goody, porn shop” or “it’s better than Rite Aid” or “it’s better than unemployment”?
I know a guy who works in one, I can ask him. It’s funny hearing him talk about work, though, because it really is just work for him. He talks about “Yeah, we have some big sale this Saturday, so I have to work all day” and stuff like that. From what I can tell for him, the answer is “It’s better than unemployment”.
I’d think most people would take that as a last option gig (I know I would). I know there are plenty of perfectly normal people who dig porn, but I imagine there is the occasional Mr. Creepy who would give a female worker-bee a lot of bullshit. Don’t know if I’d want to put up with that.
A van full of us coming back from Chicago ( to Detroit) stopped by Porn Shop on a Sunday at 1pm.
The place was packed. I mean, packed.
Everything was very orderly, clean, well lit and organized very nicely.
I discovered porn that I never knew existed granny pron…shudder, giggled hysterically over the names of products and tittered over the edibles. I found the entire place to be a very positive experience. Dare I say I received more of a sex education in our time there than I did back in my pathetic Catholic Schooling days.
While I was checking out, the 20 something year old Young Rob Lowe looking guy working there took a wad of cash out of the till, counted it and locked it in the safe below.
We, being the nosybody’s that we are, all silently counted along with him. We all estimated he had taken in $700-900 in cash in the first two hours of business on a Sunday.
Years ago, I would have turned away from such a job because of the stigma.
Now. Hell. That place changed my entire outlook.
Like it or not, It’s just a business and sex always sells.
Didn’t there used to be a fairly popular online diary or blog from this girl that worked in a sex shop? I remember reading a little of it and it was pretty funny stuff. Anyone know what I’m talking about?
[QUOTE=Grossbottom]
Didn’t there used to be a fairly popular online diary or blog from this girl that worked in a sex shop? I remember reading a little of it and it was pretty funny stuff. Anyone know what I’m talking about?
[/QUOTE]
I remember it well. It was indeed very funny. Can’t remember what it was called, though.
A friend of mine worked in such a place. Unfortunately for him, it was one of those places with the “private booths” in the back. He said he learned things better off not knowing. From what I gather, the lure of the job was the pay. I think he also liked the “stigma” of working at such a place.
The worst part of working there? Cleaning up the booths after closing time. He wore those elbow length rubber gloves and never, ever touched the mop head.
My roomie and I once visited him there and it was…different. I’d been in porn shops before, but never with someone else. Trying to have a conversation with him while customers tried to buy stuff while attempting to become invisible was odd.
Portland radio comic Kristine Levine used to work in a porn store. If you google around you can find some of her stories (NSFW of course).
What? If it pays well enough…at least by retail standands…it’s a perfectly reasonable job. You have to get your sex toys somewhere.
I might not like everyting I sold someone in terms of porn, but then I despised much of of what I sold to people at the mainsteam bookstore. To each his own.
A friend of mine used to work as a clerk and taught classes at Toys in Babeland. She loved it. She’s all about porn and sex toys and sex as empowerment. TiB, of course, is a bit different from your local skeevy adult bookstore - it’s woman owned, women-centric and pretty damn cool.
[QUOTE=twickster]
Not really (obviously) (at least I hope it’s obvious).
But I was passing the local porn shop on my way to work, and noticed the big “Now Hiring!” banner on the front, and started wondering … do the people (men, I’m guessing, for the most part) who work there think “ooh, goody, porn shop” or “it’s better than Rite Aid” or “it’s better than unemployment”?
[/QUOTE]
The latter. Iworked in a porn shop for eight months in college back in the early 1980s. Most of the store’s revenue didn’t come from movies or books, but from the “arcade” – 3-minute film loops (this was before video was common) that ran in 16 cubicles. Mostly, the job consisted of dispensing stacks of quarters for the movies, although there was the occasional sale of 8mm movies, photo mags and so on. I basically got paid pretty good wages to study for eight hours a night. I got straight A’s those two quarters. But when a nearby newspaper offered half the money for twice the work as a correspondent, I jumped at it.
Lots and lots of stories – funny, sad, scary. I was held up twice, and I’m pretty sure I’d have been beaten badly once except that we kept Dobermans in the shop for our protection, and the dog came to my rescue.
[QUOTE=Grossbottom]
Didn’t there used to be a fairly popular online diary or blog from this girl that worked in a sex shop? I remember reading a little of it and it was pretty funny stuff. Anyone know what I’m talking about?
[/QUOTE]
I’m not sure if its considered safe for work (its all text and no pics,) but try Googling “true porn clerk stories”
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
A friend of mine used to work as a clerk and taught classes at Toys in Babeland. She loved it. She’s all about porn and sex toys and sex as empowerment. TiB, of course, is a bit different from your local skeevy adult bookstore - it’s woman owned, women-centric and pretty damn cool.
[/QUOTE]
That’s one of the things I don’t understand about porn. For those who are hetero, the following appears to be the pattern:
– Woman-centric porn stores that sell sex toys, magazines and videos = empowering, positive, proud-of-expressing-your-sexuality, “cool”.
– Man-centric porn stores that sell sex toys, magazines and videos = anonymous pits of depravity for losers who attempt to make themselves invisible while buying their creepy smut. Definitely “not cool”.
Seems to be similar pretty well everywhere (not that I’m an expert on such things, just a subjective impression). Don’t understand why, though.
Having worked in one, I can say you do get your share of weirdos, but probably no more than anywhere else.
It is a job much like any other retail job. You do get to watch a lot of porn though, and god does it get boring after a while.
Hrm. Mebbe it’s a job dispensing free samples to customers, complete with hair net, kinda like the nice lady at Giant supermarket. 
[QUOTE=danceswithcats]
Hrm. Mebbe it’s a job dispensing free samples to customers, complete with hair net, kinda like the nice lady at Giant supermarket. 
[/QUOTE]
**pictures dwc in a hairnet and tray of “samples” **
grabs brain bleach
[QUOTE=Malthus]
That’s one of the things I don’t understand about porn. For those who are hetero, the following appears to be the pattern:
– Woman-centric porn stores that sell sex toys, magazines and videos = empowering, positive, proud-of-expressing-your-sexuality, “cool”.
– Man-centric porn stores that sell sex toys, magazines and videos = anonymous pits of depravity for losers who attempt to make themselves invisible while buying their creepy smut. Definitely “not cool”.
Seems to be similar pretty well everywhere (not that I’m an expert on such things, just a subjective impression). Don’t understand why, though.
[/QUOTE]
Thank goodness we’ve evolved beyond sexual double standards! 
[QUOTE=Malthus]
That’s one of the things I don’t understand about porn. For those who are hetero, the following appears to be the pattern:
– Woman-centric porn stores that sell sex toys, magazines and videos = empowering, positive, proud-of-expressing-your-sexuality, “cool”.
– Man-centric porn stores that sell sex toys, magazines and videos = anonymous pits of depravity for losers who attempt to make themselves invisible while buying their creepy smut. Definitely “not cool”.
Seems to be similar pretty well everywhere (not that I’m an expert on such things, just a subjective impression). Don’t understand why, though.
[/QUOTE]
Well, we could go on at length about the repression of women’s sexuality, politics and postmodernism.
Or we could go inside these two stores. While I’ve only been in a dozen of them in my life, what I’ve observed is this, without exception:
Women owned and marketed to women: Clean, well lit. Everything is within reach of the customer, not hidden behind a counter. Customers are encouraged to try the floor model - not on their genitals, but with their hands. The clerks are friendly and open and required to “test drive” much of the merchandise, so can offer…uh…hands-on tips and recommendations. Classes are held regularly on topics ranging from choosing a vibrator to better oral sex, with no-nonsense instructors who make it all entirely fun and normal, with no creepy vibe. There are no wank-booths, or guys skulking shamefacedly in and out.
Male owned and/or marketed to men: Dirty, dark and dank. Smells funny. When you walk in, the guy behind the counter pretends you’re not there, or nods his head and grunts before going back to watching something unidentifiable on a 9 inch tv screen behind the counter. There’s a scary looking doberman sniffling around or barking in the back room, or just lying behind the counter. The shelves (or hooks, mostly) are a jumble, packages torn, faded or otherwise look like they’ve been there since the Eisenhower administration. At least one skeevy looking guy is rushing past you towards the exit, coming from behind a dark (and dusty) curtain - you KNOW he’s just wanked and probably hasn’t washed his hands, yet he uses those hands to push open the same door you just touched. Ew.
I don’t know, it could be because I’m a chick, but I just always feel like an invader, and unwanted and unfortunate nuisance, in male oriented sex shops.
The True Porn Clerk Stories I recall reading was very funny and interesting, but it seems to have fallen off the internet.
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
Well, we could go on at length about the repression of women’s sexuality, politics and postmodernism.
Or we could go inside these two stores. While I’ve only been in a dozen of them in my life, what I’ve observed is this, without exception:
Women owned and marketed to women: Clean, well lit. Everything is within reach of the customer, not hidden behind a counter. Customers are encouraged to try the floor model - not on their genitals, but with their hands. The clerks are friendly and open and required to “test drive” much of the merchandise, so can offer…uh…hands-on tips and recommendations. Classes are held regularly on topics ranging from choosing a vibrator to better oral sex, with no-nonsense instructors who make it all entirely fun and normal, with no creepy vibe. There are no wank-booths, or guys skulking shamefacedly in and out.
Male owned and/or marketed to men: Dirty, dark and dank. Smells funny. When you walk in, the guy behind the counter pretends you’re not there, or nods his head and grunts before going back to watching something unidentifiable on a 9 inch tv screen behind the counter. There’s a scary looking doberman sniffling around or barking in the back room, or just lying behind the counter. The shelves (or hooks, mostly) are a jumble, packages torn, faded or otherwise look like they’ve been there since the Eisenhower administration. At least one skeevy looking guy is rushing past you towards the exit, coming from behind a dark (and dusty) curtain - you KNOW he’s just wanked and probably hasn’t washed his hands, yet he uses those hands to push open the same door you just touched. Ew.
I don’t know, it could be because I’m a chick, but I just always feel like an invader, and unwanted and unfortunate nuisance, in male oriented sex shops.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that’s pretty well it. Doesn’t answer my question as to why it is that way, though.
Were are the clean, well lit, ‘nice’ stores for hetero guys who want porn ‘n’ stuff, but don’t want to feel like low-life scuzz buying it? I would think there’s a market for such. Why isn’t that market niche catered to?