Willie Nelson said that "money makes women horny".

This makes basic reproductive sense. The financially well endowed generally have an advantage over the merely physically well endowed in the perceptions of the egg bearing members of our species.

 I can't think of any examples of financially secure women spontaneously deciding that they desire to be escorts. I can think of intelligent beautiful women who didn't win the rich parent lottery.

 Women who charge, say, 400 dollars per hour will tend to have clients who have enough discretionary income to justify paying 400 per hour to get their rocks off in a manner commensurate with their accustomed style of life (as the divorce lawyers like to plead for their clients, who should be supported in a manner...)

 Needless to say, there are often considerable economic differentials between provider and providee. Should a provider become the parent of the providee's offspring, the court will look to the most economically advantaged member of the union to establish "appropriate" support for the child.

 Perhaps the providee is hot stuff; wealthy, stable, enviable genetic code so little Fester won't emerge looking like a troll... from the provider's reproductive logic, this may represent a superior way of ensuring her DNA outlasts her.

 Abortion may be the last thing on her mind. This is so often the case in the civilan reproductive arena. Once she is carrying your embryo within her, she is the guardian of an independant life in the eyes of the law. If she decided to bring that life into the world, then she and you are potentially "fused" as out of wedlock parents until the child's 18th birthday.

then they are bound to be less than perfect protection against STDs -- although many on this board seem to think they are a magic shield.

I think a better analogy is with the apparently impregnable fortress of Helm's Deep. If your regular partner has (or very many of your one-time partners have) a STD it is like being attacked by 10,000 Uruk-Hai warriors under the command of Sauruman. The fortress helps but ultimately the walls will be breached.

Condoms are very important from a public health standpoint because they slow the spread of STDs. Note that the word is "slow" not "prevent".

The only way to be completely safe is if you and your partners are not infected.

I just went to the AIM Heath Care Foundation on Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks (see link below) for my semi-annual checkup. (I will get the results on Monday.) They do the HIV/PCR/DNA test (for HIV) for $85. They also do the EVERYTHING {Top STDs, RPR, G&C, HEP B} for $100. (Or they will draw the blood for free and send it to the county to be tested. I paid the $100 because I want to help support AIM.) They also give the Hepatitis A Vaccine series (free) and the Hepatitis B Vaccine series ($60 per shot) -- everyone who is sexually active with multiple partners should have these.

There are other places you can go, but there is a fringe benefit to AIM for a guy -- getting to watch the parade of lovely young ladies coming through the front door. I wish I could figure out a way to just hang out there.

It is my belief that if everyone got tested on a regular basis we could make this community a safer place (at least as far as STDs are concerned).

-- Modified on 1/29/2003 2:02:27 PM