Dinner dates

Recently, I mentioned (as one of several responses to the declining economy) ladies who offered creative multiple hour appointments, including cooking for the client.  There have also been ladies advertising “specials” involving going out to dinner with the client with only a small increase in the total donation amount. 

There’s not necessarily a lot of that.  Some ladies have chosen to compete in other ways, and still others find that their business is doing just fine despite the economic downturn and no adjustments are needed.  But it started me thinking about one complexity of dinner dates, that I don’t recall ever seeing mentioned.

The ethics of STD’s

A few months ago, a reader of the blog emailed me with an ethical question, for both escorts and clients, regarding STD’s. 

There are, indeed, some interesting questions.  Although sometimes they’re difficult to grapple with.  Either they have very obvious answers (which everyone agrees with although may not act accordingly), or the answers may be exceedingly difficult.

Anyway, here is (part of) his email [published with his consent]:

A P4P (and financial) odyssey

I was reflecting last night that, compared to when I started in P4P about 35 years ago, my approach changed significantly about eight years ago, and has changed (somewhat) again within the past year.

Sometimes the changes are abrupt; sometimes they kind of creep up on you.

Bad writing

I know what you’re thinking.

No, this is not another entry about the Bulwer-Lytton contest. 

Neither is this about my writing here.  (Note that I am not claiming my writing is not bad — just that this blog entry isn’t about it. )

This is much more closely related to the primary theme of this blog.

The psychological appeal

In looking for something else, I happened to run across this online article by a psychotherapist about the psychological appeal (to clients) of prostitution.  The article starts out by saying:

How can smart men do such incredibly dumb things?

I guess that most clients would not challenge the characterization.  When P4P is illegal and carries a heavy social stigma . . . yes, it is very risky, and understandable that civilians would engaging in P4P an incredibly dumb thing.

The question of why might bring more disagreement.

Pedestal

I was visiting Gillette’s blog last week, catching up on my long-delayed reading of some of my favorite blogs, and ran across an interesting entry about placing people on pedestals.  Go read it (including the comments) — as always, she is perceptive and insightful, and an all-around fun read.

Of course, the “pedestal phenomenon” generally comes up in the context of civilian relationships.  But I started wondering:  How prevalent is it in P4P?

Cause, or effect?

Intuitively, it seems there is some sort of relationship between how many times I visit a lady and the existence of a (limited) connection.  But I’m not entirely sure which is cause and which is effect.

Counter-point

I mentioned awhile back an entry from Peridot Ash’s blog about what things escorts liked, and disliked, about being a sex worker.  Some positives, some negatives.  Nothing earth-shattering, perhaps, but interesting.

But as a counter-point to the perspective, expressed frequently publicly, that many escorts really enjoy their job — a couple of other blog posts by Ms. Ash.  For her, there is very little positive about the job other than the money.

Some excerpts:

Nerd alert

Another non-P4P post; interesting days coming up in world-class chess competition.  Stop reading now if you’re bored easily.

Advice from the ladies

I’ve been browsing the discussion boards at The Erotic Review recently, and ran across an interesting thread with tips for clients.  So, in the interests of bringing it to a few people who read here but may not have run it across it there:

Ever since “Dirty Money,” I’ve been noticing a sad trend… guys approaching escorts with zero clue of how to impress the girl, avoid the pitfalls and go home with a great big smile.

So, if you will forgive me for repeating a popular blog from 2 years ago… there may be some fellows here who will benefit.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Hobbyists

and the rest after the jump