From the Los Angeles Times
COLUMN ONE
In this economy, even sex doesn't sell
At Donna's Ranch, a brothel in Wells, Nev., most of the customers are long-haul truckers. High fuel and food prices have drained them of 'play money.' So the working girls sit and wait.
By Ashley Powers

November 4, 2008

Reporting from Wells, Nev. — The women at Donna's Ranch are crowded around the kitchen table on a warm summer night, dining on stir fry, tugging at thigh-high dresses, griping about depleted bank accounts. At this northeastern Nevada bordello, which marks a gravel road's end, they woo grizzled truckers and weary travelers for a single reason: money.

Lately, the women don't go home with much.

Amy, 58, once bought a $32,000 Toyota Tacoma in cash; now her $1,200 mortgage saps her dwindling pay. Some weeks, she could make more flipping burgers than flirting under a made-up name. Marisol's daughters think she works at a resort; she struggles to keep up the ruse. It now takes months, not weeks, to bring $5,000 back to Southern California.

"Marisol," one of her regulars tells her, "it costs me in gas what it takes for me to spend a half-hour with you."

Tonight, she tries lingering at the dimly lighted bar that's decorated with red Christmas lights and smells of hot dogs and beans. Wearing a shimmering strapless top, Marisol sips cheap champagne and tries to seduce travelers, some with thick guts and most with thin wallets. After 20 minutes, she gives up.

Signs of the economic free fall have cropped up in many of Nevada's 25 or so legal brothels. The Mustang Ranch, for example, has a steady stream of customers, but the number of women vying for work has soared. Even a 74-year-old applied. This summer, the Shady Lady gave $50 gas cards to those who spent $300. The Moonlite Bunny Ranch offered extras to customers paying with their economic stimulus checks.

(Click on link to read rest of story; was too long to post here.)

-- Modified on 11/5/2008 4:30:15 AM

Hopefully with a new President in place, people will feel more hopeful now and feel a bit more relaxed about spending their cash again.
--Sitara Devi

None of them are near population centers, by statute.  Quite a few of them are so far off the beaten path that the ONLY customers they get are truckers.  One town that I drove through had no radio reception or cell service.  Not surprisingly, only one of it's brothels had survived the town's economic downturn when silver prices fell.

Additionally, the brothels are highly taxed and are the primary source of tax revenues for most rural communities.  The people of these small Nevada towns will fight to the death to protect them, much to the surprise of those new-to-town politicians.

If you watch HBO's Cathouse, you get an impression of a decent environment where the ladies party all the time.  I've seen a few houses in the state, and the ones (I've seeen) that are real buildings look like biker bars, but most are trailer parks.

But, of course, I wasn't an escort back then. However, I remember my family taking people out to the Bunny Ranch and laughing about it. They just thought it was the coolest thing to show people: that the Wild West still existed.

Some of the ladies would come into a bar that I worked at and have drinks with some of their guys. I would try to go out of my way to treat them well. I thought, "Man! That takes a lot of guts to do what they do." I also felt kind of bad because you could tell some of them felt really uncomfortable entertaining these guys in public, because they knew everyone in the bar knew what they did for a living. I wanted to hug them and just say, "It's okay. Take care of those babies at home and don't worry what anyone else thinks." But, of course, I don't like anyone mentioning what I do on the side in my private time.  How ironic, eh?

Hugs,
Ciara



-- Modified on 11/5/2008 8:54:51 AM

I had a buddy that worked in rural Nevada, and coached the local little league team.  He said that most of the moms worked at the ranch, and had only good things to say about them.

except within the past seven years. I don't know what changed, but perhaps either the ladies changed or the management worked them harder. Who knows? I haven't lived there in almost 16 years. I used to have fun riding horses, though, even the bull-legged creatures.

Hugs,
ciara

-- Modified on 11/5/2008 9:23:28 AM