Girl, just run. Run away.
That’s what was going through my head when I got about halfway through this email, which is shared here with the writer’s permission:
I’ve waittressed at a couple different clubs in California for a little over six months. One night at work, I met a young attractive man who said he could help me make more money. He told me he “sells conversation,” and could teach me to maximize my earnings just by improving my interactions with my customers. I’m pretty introverted and tend to keep to myself at work, and I’ve always known that the tips I make are more from my looks and less from any actual hustling on my part. We hung out a few times, and it became apparent that he does not sell conversation, he sells sex. He runs an escort service. I let him know I wasn’t interested in that, and he said he still wanted to help me start dancing. I’ve always been interested in making the switch from waittressing to dancing, and he said he’d help me buy the shoes and the clothes and get my roots done etc… Not clear on what he was getting out of this situation, I asked. He said that I could start dancing on my own and after a few slow nights I’d probably quit. Or, I could work with him, and he’d invest in me, and if I put my cash in his hand at the end of the night, he’d make sure that regardless of how much I made dancing he would pay my tuition, keep me comfortable, etc… Also, if I’m working in a club and look like I have money, I think he believes that I could attract girls for his business, as well as direct paying men to it.I’m kind of at a loss. I know that there’s red flags here, but if he’s willing to invest in me and I’ve made it clear that I won’t be escorting, this could work right? None of my friends do this kind of work so I don’t really know who to run this by.
–
So here are my reactions as they happened:
–
I’ve waittressed at a couple different clubs in California for a little over six months. (Ugh, Cali clubs [bad, bad and bad]. She’s probably broke.) One night at work, I met a young (no) attractive (uh oh) man who said he could help me make more money. (Oh, crap. Girl, that’s a pimp.) He told me he “sells conversation,” (I mean, even you should know better. You used the “sneer” quotes.) and could teach me to maximize my earnings just by improving my interactions with my customers. (In this case, “improving my interactions” means “Charging them to put their penises in me.”) I’m pretty introverted and tend to keep to myself at work, (Then PLEASE don’t listen to this dude.) and I’ve always known that the tips I make are more from my looks and less from any actual hustling on my part. (That’s ok! It takes a while to learn how to hustle!) We hung out a few times, (??!??) and it became apparent that he does not sell conversation, he sells sex. (DING DING DING!) He runs an escort service. (That’s a nice way of saying a pimping service.) I let him know I wasn’t interested in that, and he said he still wanted to help me start dancing. (Pimps are a tenacious bunch. Especially if they think you owe them money.) I’ve always been interested in making the switch from waittressing to dancing, and he said he’d help me buy the shoes and the clothes and get my roots done etc… Not clear on what he was getting out of this situation, I asked. (He’ll be getting your money, your freedom and probably regular access to your vagina.) He said that I could start dancing on my own and after a few slow nights I’d probably quit. Or, I could work with him, and he’d invest in me, and if I put my cash in his hand (!!!) at the end of the night, he’d make sure that regardless of how much I made dancing he would pay my tuition, keep me comfortable, etc… (Ah, the communism of pimping.) Also, if I’m working in a club and look like I have money, I think he believes that I could attract girls for his business, as well as direct paying men to it. (And the pyramid pimping scheme, too. This guy’s got it all.)
I’m kind of at a loss. I know that there’s red flags here, (UM YES) but if he’s willing to invest in me and I’ve made it clear that I won’t be escorting, this could work right? (UM NO) None of my friends do this kind of work so I don’t really know who to run this by.
–
–
Ok, I have to admit that I was kind of excited when I got this email. I cannot tell you how hard it’s been to get girls to talk about their pimps. It’s kind of taboo. So when I got this, I was like, FINALLY, I get to hear what these guys say to make girls agree to this arrangement.
–
–
I don’t know what it’s like to have a pimp, but here’s a few things I’ve heard:
–
–
First reason you might not want a pimp:
If you have a one, you have to give him all your money at the end of a shift. Exhibit A, from a girl who’s been in the business almost as long as I have:
And from a defense attorney [hereby ironically known as D.A.] who’s represented girls with pimps:
-
“Every dollar.”
-
And why, pray tell, would these girls hand over all their hard-earned cash at the end of the night?
-
“He gives them his attention. There’s extreme daddy issues. It’s an incredibly screwed up dynamic.”
–
–
Second reason you might not want a pimp:
You can’t just go out with your friends; case in point: I was invited to a concert by one of the dancers at St. James. I couldn’t make it, so I told her:
-
“Just ask [--] to go.” I saw those two powing around at work a lot.
Her response: “She can’t go, she has a pimp.” I was confused.
“So she can’t go to a concert with you??”
Her: “She can’t even go to the movies.”
-
Why the lack of recreational activity?
-
“He doesn’t want you out with your friends because you should be working,” says D.A. “Seven days a week. The typical arrangement is that they have to hit that club by 7, and they’re there until it closes. They pick up some food on the way home, go home, smoke a blunt, go to bed, wake up and do it again.”
-
And yes, from what I’ve been able to gather, the girls live with their pimps a lot of the time. Once, when I was dancing at Treasures, these two girls started chatting me up:
“We just moved here … You should come over after work! We live in this huge amazing house in a gated community … we have a pet monkey!” I mean, really? You just moved here … you have a monkey … ?
–
–
Third reason you might not want a pimp:
Pimps mark their territory. If you see a dancer with a guy’s name tattooed above her vaj, it’s probably not her infant son. It’s probably her pimp. I’ve seen some crappy ones that look like they were done in the backseat of a car with a needle and a Sharpie, and I’ve seen some elaborate ones that look pretty expensive and time-consuming. I won’t go into too much detail about this, but I still felt it was worth noting.
–
–
Fourth (but certainly not final)* reason you might not want a pimp:
Pimps go to great lengths to make sure you’re not going to bail on them. I’ve heard of girls who have GPS tracking devices put on their cell phones, girls who’ve had to hole up in cheap motels to hide, a girl who was held captive in the trunk of a car … et cetera.
–
–
Bottom line, if you don’t have one, I wouldn’t recommend getting one. And if you do have one, please don’t tell him you read this.
-
That’s all for now …
<3 :: aS
*This is not an exhaustive list.
