I don't know about you all, but the getting busted part of the hobby has me thinking about it seriously and what the risk means.  Like in my case, for some hobbyists and providers, getting busted will have severe professional consequences.  In others, the personal consequences of getting busted are equally great.  Your boyfriend/husband finds out you provide or your girlfriend/wife finds out you hobby.  There is a lot to lose in many cases.  So, guys and dolls, what would it be like to stop?:

Guys, do you think it would be difficult to give up the variety and (mostly) hassle-free on demand services of women that you find attractive?  And having tasted it repeatedly, can a guy with a spare hour and $300 bucks ever really give it up?

Gals, even if its a business transaction that's mostly absent of feelings on each individual encounter, if must feel nice to have the attention of many, many men (that often belong to another woman) willing to pay your for your time because of your appearance, talent, and personality.  If you were to retire, do you think you would feel such a void from the attention that you would continue to hang around the boards desperately seeking attention from guys even at the risk of appearing like a pathetic, old hag to whom a graceful retirement is utterly inconceivable and whose social life must mostly revolve around contact with hobbying posters?

There are general questions that I am struggling with as, after the spitzer crap, whether continuing to hobby at the risk of getting busted is worth it.

uh..just wondering

MD,
You are right that the Spitzer blow-up, as overhyped as it has been, has to give all of us hobbiests pause. Surely the consequences for any of us who have professional lives is great if we were to go down. Wouldn't it be ironic if this incident actually brought some sanity to lives that have become (at least in one sense) out of control?

I don't usually mix it up in these things but your real intent and message was so thinly veiled, it's you who looks pathetic.  I'm sure we'll get the ..wha..wha..what did I say or do? now because your post was totally innocent and merely born of thoughtful introspective.  Get off your high horse for awhile.

seems like you're reading an awful lot into this (emphasis on the "reading" and not the "awful").

The issue I cite is universal, so although some aspects of this post may remind you of a person or persons, any resemblance to real persons, living or dead or retired from the hobby is purely coincidental.

-- Modified on 3/15/2008 9:28:39 AM

You raise a good point - one that I have pondered from time to time.  No one is safe from LE.  Of course the more you are in the public the more you are at risk for being outed.  If I were a senator, governor, or corporate high roller, I'd think twice these days about the "hobby".  Even if you're a relative nobody, it could still come back to you many years later.  Say, for example, you're 25 now and don't think of the future.  Ten years later you decide politics is for you.  Guess what?  Some girl sees you on TV and remembers your face, comes up with a compromising cell phone pic from her closet, and your career is over before it begins.  Also, don't think that any those tired old horses throw away their appointment books when they hang up their garters.  They keep them like souvenirs or for "security".  That's why I'm surprised more of you don't take it quite serious that the hag of all hags has retired.

Well this Spitzer case has put everyone on high alert; providers and Hobbyists alike. Moreover, us - Dolls did not get into the industry to blackmail a potential polictical figure.

Most of us get into the business with the intent to get ahead in life and somewhere in the future to have a regular life, ie... House,Husband children, career, etc... We to as providers worry about being outted , once we retire and start our true lives.

yes we will miss the attention, but I doubt that most of us will be keeping the little black book everyone thinks we have.

Remember it was NOT the agency that brought down Spitzer , it was Spitzer that blow us out the water !!!

But I don't say that to indict agencies. Could have just as easily been an indy.

I suspect the last thought of many is the tracking of financial transacations that goes on and most of us probably aren't working with the kind of funds both the agency and clients had. But what started it all were financial transactions by the agency which led an investigation deeper and deeper.

Here's an excerpt from a tech article that explains further:

"But what really snared Spitzer was a money laundering investigation that was flagged by suspicious activity reports (SARs) that banks have to file with the Treasury to surface everything from money laundering to terrorist activity. This network has been around for a while, but its importance escalated following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. According to the FBI’s charges the prostitution ring that counted Spitzer as a customer was investigated due to some shady bank accounts, checks and wire transfers with big totals ($39,000, $400,000 and others).  Spitzer, also known as Client-9, had his own share of financial dealings ($4,300 for future favors) with the prostitution ring, but would have never been caught (he shunned wire transfers) if the operation wasn’t under investigation and his transactions weren’t being monitored. ABC News reported that Spitzer was trying to hide transactions to QAT, the alias of the prostitution ring."


So to screen, screen, screen, I guess we should add watch your financial transactions.

transactions, and $$$$$$ movements for illegal activity.  Spitzer is/was reviled by ALL--(Dems & Repupubs. alike).

How the F*@# the providers "sing like a canary" as my Grandmom says, and tell the cops everything except "I want my Lawyer"!!!

As a provider, I understand there are risks you take, and it is my responsibility to SCREEN, and keep myself safe, and God Forbid I would get caught up in a situation, IT IS MY RESPONSIBILTY for eeach and every action I made!  Never, ever would I give up any info on the guys who have given us the wonderful lives we have because of them.  Nor would I ever deliberately destroy a clients family life, job or personal life by giving up the tapes, because I wasn't responsible enough to do things the right way.

It makes me sick to see these girls taking the easy way out because they are scared to go to jail or anything else.  If you are woman enough to post an ad, take a call, and do what providers do, over and over again, then you should be woman enough to take the rap if you get in a situation of any kind.

Keep your mouth shut, handle your business, and take what punishment you have comming, and when it's all over, I am sure those same guys will be there for you to help you get back on your feet, and even help you financially through the matter.

Us ladies have a lot to lose, but we also don't have the rright to break up someones home life because we were stupid, and didn't play it safe.

Am I making sense?  Jusst my .2  xo Jade

I can agree in general with what you say.  However, the money, not the nuisance factor, seems to be the key behind this.  And screening wouldn't have helped that.  Also, its probably easier to lawyer up and TOFTT with a local vice charge.  The Feds though, are an entirely different matter.  One whiff of those consequences and people may sing quicker.

Interesting.  A couple of months ago a traveling provider call me out of the blue when she was back in town.  i had seen her once, a  couple of years ago.  I didn't take the issue up with her, but her posts say that she doesn't save numbers, but i guess she does.  I mean, i am hot, but that hot, that she saved my number.

Also, one of the larger agencies, one that I would worry about attracting fed interest because of the number of girls they have and what i assume is lots of cash they make, must save info forever.  I used to use them regularly in i guess 03, 04-ish, but hadn't in at least two years.  I called not too long ago, and my cell has changed in this time, and after I gave my name for the light screening, they were increasingly pleasant and accommodated my odd hour request because I am "regular".  Damn near 4 years ago.  I tell ya, i loved the customer service part of it, but hated the rest.  Of course, the agency says they don't keep record either.

We've got 3 folks running for pres... none of which I would trust to drive my kids to church...

How do we wind up with mother..... elected officials... who are IMHO lower than dirt?  how does this happen.

they already had client #9.  HE brought attention to them... because of the bank account transfers...  large sums of money... laundered through different accounts... etc.

Had she lied or failed to cooperate... well, then they would have gone after her... the dude was cooked anyway... they already had him.

I know a local gal who was raided... not a pretty sight... they came in - confiscated her computer (step 1) and refused to let her make more than one phone call.... (to her lawyer).  then they sat there and answered the door as the guys showed up... easy no?!  nothing to give up - it was simply taken.  I know cause I had an appointment that day... but I cancelled due to the fact that she failed to answer her phone.. (wonder of wonders!) and I left a message saying I would be a no show.

you do make sense... but circumstances are not always the same...  I am always grateful if the gal destroys the evidence of my presence - but I do not count on it.  It is a part of the risk of this activity... and no one should be of the illusion that it is not.

we certainly could do WITHOUT this approach in the US.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/opinion/13kristof.html

Omerta. Couldn't agree with you more, Jade.

Remember that song by the Police, "Canary in a Coal Mine"

I guess many guys have blue balls over there now or they go out of the country to hobby.

"Some Swedish prostitutes have complained that the policy reduced demand and thus lowered prices, while forcing sex work underground."

A quote from THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams comes to mind...

"The major problem, one of the major problems for their are several, one of the many major problems with governing people is that of who you get to do it, or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize, it is a well-known and much-lamented fact that those people who most want to rule people are ipso facto those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary, anyone who is capable of getting themselves [elected] should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary, people are a problem."

(Taken from the 12th BBC radio serial)

I have major differences of opinion with him with respect to legalization.  He feels that it would lead to an increase in the trafficking of underaged girls, but does it help when the entire industry is forced underground?  I don't see why making it legal for two consenting adults to engage in sexual activity for money would make it any less risky for criminal gangs to smuggle underage girls.  They're two different entities.  If anything, it would free up LE to concentrate more heavily on this heinous activity.

Furthermore, he mentions how "up to two-thirds of prostitutes have been sexually abused as girls, a majority have drug dependencies or mental illnesses, one-third have been threatened with death by pimps, and almost half have attempted suicide."  This is, indeed, a serious problem but, if it were legal, then sex workers could be screened for such problems as STDs, drug dependencies and mental illness and be offered some much-needed help, and pimps could be removed from the equation.

Interesting read, though...

I do not see what the big deal is... the cops seem more concerned with the girls safety than anything else. There was a girl killed in KOP not too long ago and drugs often do play a role. It normally doesn't come down to telling hobbyists or providers families/friends.... just a warning. Spitzer was set up cause he was rich and famous... and a hypocrite. I think you're being a bit paranoid. And no, I wouldn't hang around on the forums to get attention... I'd walk into any wawa.