The other night while I was working at my part-time waitressing job, I had the pleasure of serving a man and a young lady we all assumed to be his daughter. He looked to be in his late 50’s and she in her mid 20’s. My first thought when seeing her was “man, I would NEVER wear something that scandalous to dinner with my dad.” That should have been my first clue.
The “couple” was very sweet, I really enjoyed talking to them about her previous modeling career in Los Angeles and his job as the regional sales manager of a well known department store. With obvious pride and desire in his voice, the man said to me “she is gorgeous, no? Have you ever seen a woman more beautiful than her???” I politely smiled and said “never.” That should have been my second clue.
About 30 minutes into their meal, other servers in the restaurant started to get the vibe that this was no daddy/daughter night out. The restaurant I work at is one of the nicer ones in the area, so it has proven to be somewhat of a hot spot for these types of dates. When we have a potential escort situation on our hands, the news spreads through the restaurant like wildfire. Suddenly every server is trying to run food to the “escort table” or refill their drinks to get a better look at the couple. It’s funny, they are probably the most well taken care of table in the whole restaurant! Because I had been eavesdropping on their conversation whenever possible, I confirmed their suspicions that she was an escort. His escort for the night, to be exact.
I had a lot of mixed emotions about this whole scenario. My initial response was disgust. How sad that women my age and younger are doing this, I thought. My second thought was Hmmm I wonder how much she is getting paid? Is there a service where you can just go on dates with men for money, nothing more? I quickly pushed that thought out of my mind and refilled water at table 6.
Talking with my manager about it, he told me about a service that many women and men are using called sugardaddie.com. The girls will act as escorts to older men with too much money and nobody to share it with, and will in turn have their school tuition paid for. Many of the girls have a standing appointment once a week to stop by and see their sugar daddy. Picture a glorified stripper or prostitute. I chose to not ask how he knew so much about the whole sugar daddy lifestyle!
It is so easy to judge the women that choose these less desirable professions to make ends meet. Hell, I did it myself when realizing the true intentions of the couple at my table. It’s easy to stand in my shoes and think about how wrong this is when my father helps pay for my school tuition.Yes, there are other ways of making money (cough cough waitressing), but who am I to judge a woman who I met for the first time 30 minutes ago. I have NO idea what her life has been like or why she makes the decisions she does.
Who knows, maybe the 25 year old washed up model from LA doesn’t know her dad and doesn’t have a good relationship with her mother. Maybe these escort gigs are the only thing keeping her self-esteem up and getting her out of bed in the morning. I have no place to judge what she chooses to do with her life and body, no matter how self-destructive I think it may be.
That being said, I am so thankful for a mother and father who would do anything for me, anything to keep me out of a situation like that of the escort woman at my table the other night. I hope she can soon find what she is looking for in other ways than “dating” men for money.
The Other Courtney 
I loved her stories! I was 18 and she was 21, but she was a very, very grown 21. She acted like a distinguished 30-year-old, even listened to Yani! Lol! A VERY different kind of chick. I sometimes called her “Mom,” because she acted like one to me.
Her husband knew, but he didn’t seem to know all of the details. She was, as she called it, “Full service,”. He assumed less. BUT- honestly? He knew. He just didn’t care. He grew up rich, and had it out with his father (a local radio station owner where I used to live) and had to make his own ends meat, so he drove a truck. He also did NOT fit his profession at allll. He was in his 30’s and very cultured.
I think he knew they needed the money and wanted her to be happy. When he came home, there was a different spark between them. It boosted their sex life, and when he wasn’t in the mood or didn’t give her the attention she craved, she was still happy. She had her night job.
About a year after she quit, she left him. We lost touch and from what I’ve heard, she married again and now has a child.
Phew! Okay! Here goes…
Escorts are typically found right in your handy dandy phone book under “Escorts”. Yep! Right in the open, because they advertise “Dates”. Nothing more. What happens is up to the girl, not the agency, though the agency will hint to the girls what’s expected of them. Typically, they get a 70/30 cut of the hourly fee- which can run from $150 per hour-more. It depends on the agency.
So- let’s figure a girl gets $70 a “call”. After 3 calls in a night, she can pull in $210! Imagine only doing it on weekends- easy money for a college student, lonely housewife, whatever. In some cases, these girls even get tips, or regulars they see weekly.
How do I know all of this? I had a neighbor during my college days who did this. She was a young, beautiful, educated, married woman who’s husband worked out of town a lot. She was lonely, they had debt and she wanted some action in her life. She enjoyed it for a long time- she was showered with the attention her husband never gave her, had money to blow, and it -was- an adventure for her, but it’s a dangerous job, and she had a call that went bad. The guy didn’t harm her, but scared her enough to make her quit.
So you really can’t judge. She was an amazing person, kind-hearted, smart and her clients loved her because she was ‘real’, she would talk to them and not treat them like dollar signs. As a neighbor, she was always there for me when I needed a friend. It surprised me when she started getting into it, but it IS the oldest profession in the book.
Wow, I’m so glad you shared all of that! How fascinating. I’m curious, did your neighbor’s husband know that she did this job on the weekends? I’d love to sit down with a woman who does this as a full-time job and just listen to her talk about her stories/lifestyle. So different from my world, and I’m intrigued.