Hero For a Day

Saving the girls from a bust

photo by author (Unfortunately, this was not one of the girls offered me.)

Years ago when I sold advertising to an army of New York’s hookers, the police pursued the girls with a vigilance that defied logic. If a woman offered a service — and a guy wanted to purchase that service — and nobody was coerced into anything in the deal — why would the authorities care?

Regardless, prostitution (of the sexual kind) is illegal and up until a few years ago when Cy Vance Jr. finally realized spending all those police man-hours on victimless crime was a waste of resources, the police played an ongoing cat and mouse game busting the “therapists.”

As a guy who was in and out of their places of business constantly, it was a matter of course that I was in brothels when the police came charging in to arrest the girls. Though it was never a comfortable situation, I always (on the five occasions I got caught in the loop) knew what to say to avoid arrest. (“I’m not security, the owner, or a customer. I sell advertising. I’m not breaking the law.”) And it worked.

Having “been there and done that” a handful of times, I grew to have my wits about me when the long arm of the law reached out. Panicking at the situation was a ship that had sailed.

So one day, I was hanging around a shithole of a place with nasty girls who didn’t interest me in the least, just waiting…