Because men are men, there will always be demand for flesh- and sex-related entertainment and jobs: exotic dancers, peep shows, dominatrices, pornography... and hookers.
Doesn't matter what you call it. Hookers. Prostitutes. Call girls. Escorts. Whatever. It amounts to the same thing: "dates" for money. These dates don't ALWAYS involve sex... but usually they do. It's funny how often you hear a woman say "not if you paid me" when referring to various men, suitors, what have you. And then you hear a commercial on the radio or see it on TV: bidding for dates.
I laughed the first time I heard it. The first one I heard was whatsyourprice.com. It advertised that ANY guy could guarantee a date with a "hot woman" simply by "bidding" for her affections. The site was advertised as "a site for generous men to find and date attractive women, guaranteed." It doesn't get any more blatant than that, and they were advertising on satellite radio.
There were a couple more I have heard over the past few months, which means that the success rate of one must have been high, and the demand had increased enough to warrant the creation of multiple site by enterprising young folk.
I find this amusing. Not only are guys hiring hookers online, they're VYING for them. Competing. WOW.
Are guys really that desperate? Have we become so far removed from interacting with each other that this has become the way to go for so many people? Kinda sad, but kinda funny all at the same time.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
The Suck
I lost another friend today. Not in the traditional we-don't-speak-anymore kind of way, but actually GONE. As in dead.
Alex has been sick for quite some time. Almost since I've known him, actually. It didn't start out that bad. Not really. You remain optimistic about things, regardless of what you hear, at least I do. You want to believe the world is an inherently good place regardless of what you see and hear. The thing to remember is that we're all somebody else to Somebody Else.
I met Alex in the summer of 2009 when I started working at Abatement Industries Group, running the warehouse in West Haven. Alex was one of two guys who were supposed to work for me. He had pretty much been running things as far as supply line and obtaining material and equipment, so he was a tad salty when I took over the position. Over a few weeks, though, he softened up a bit and gave the me the help I needed to get the hang of things. Once he realized the kind of person I was and the kind of supervisor I was attempting to be, things got much easier, and when I chose him to be my #2, everything was sealed.
In late fall 2009, Alex was concerned about a bump at the base of his skull, so he went to the walk-in to have it checked. The doctor wanted to do a full body scan, and found a tumor on one of his kidneys. They made arrangements for the surgery, and Alex was down. I went to visit him a couple times, and when Lucia first was admitted into the hospital, I would go see him while I visited her. Once he was able to move around, he would come see her, as well. She was appreciative, having met him when he was first diagnosed. We had gone out to dinner at Chili's and invited Alex and his girlfriend, Cindy, out with us.
When Alex came back to work, he covered for me when I would go to the hospital to see Lucia. He made sure the right people knew what was going on and where I was. He always had my back and defended me to the people who had issue with how much time I was spending away from the warehouse.
Alex didn't like where he was living in West Haven. Someone had died in the house and it was full of mold and other problems, and he was looking for a way out of there. A friend who had been living at our house had moved out, and I asked Lucia if we could help out Alex. She said yes, and Alex moved in. It was May 2010.
As Lucia deteriorated, Alex always tried to talk me up and keep me strong and positive. When I had my weak and dark moments, he gave me comfort and told me to stay strong, for her if not for myself. When she passed, he was home waiting, and he went and bought a new suit to wear for her service.
He helped me clean the house. He helped fix things. When the grief would hit hard, he'd lift me back up again. As with many other friends, he helped me work my way back to society and finding a way to continue with my life. When I met Erika, he encouraged me to pursue her, and he became very fond of her.
In late 2010, Alex became positive that my job was in jeopardy and that cuts would come into effect, so he took a voluntary lay-off to save my job. He started working for a friend, doing handy-man work and office work. As time went on and his illness becmae more and more apparent, Alex had less energy to work and was spending more time in bed.
He qualified for an experimental chmo study which lasted a little less than a year, and when they pulled him from the study he was brought back onto the older chemo. His strength began to deteriorate. He was weak and in pain, and was having a great deal of trouble breathing. In 2012, they put him on oxygen and he was declared Legally Completely Disabled. On a routine follow-up, the scans came back worse than expected. The doctors said it was "a matter of time."
He fought for months. Each hospital stay was longer, until a month or so ago when I received a panicked phone call from Cindy informing me they had taken Alex to the hospital by ambulance. Neither of them were optimistic about him leaving, and when I went to visit him, he was in fairly good spirits. They moved him out of ICU a few days later, and Erika and I went to see him. A few days after that, he was back home.
They gave him information about Hospice and sent a nurse over to get his info and explain things to him. He was home for a little less than a week as he grew weaker. Wednesday morning, he asked me to help him call Hospice to come and pick him up. He had to know his time was short. Over the weekend, they stopped his chemo treatments. They upped the dosage on his pain meds. This morning, Cindy called me and said he was on the way out. I left work, hopped in my car and headed up there, but by the time I arrived, it was too late.
He was gone.
He was pale. It looked as if he were sleeping. I held his hand. It was still warm. I spoke to him. I closed my eyes and thought to him. I thanked him.
I've been in this place before. It was different that time. I feel for Cindy, who has to go through now what I went through 3 years ago. The slow realization of what has occurred, trying to wrap your head around the reality. It's difficult, even years later. You can accept something and still not believe it. You can believe and not accept. That's where I am, again. It doesn't seem real. Another empty room, another person my boys will never see again. I feel for them. I feel for Bailey, who has already lost his sister recently and now must cope with this. Mostly I feel for Cindy. The newt few months will be very difficult for her, but she won't be dealing alone. This has affected more people than even I can know or account for. sadly, death has a way of bringing people together...and splitting them apart. You never know how people will react to a death, or what the coming days, weeks, months, and years may hold. All I do know is that everyone affected needs to be strong and look to each other for that strength and support. Even me.
Alex has been sick for quite some time. Almost since I've known him, actually. It didn't start out that bad. Not really. You remain optimistic about things, regardless of what you hear, at least I do. You want to believe the world is an inherently good place regardless of what you see and hear. The thing to remember is that we're all somebody else to Somebody Else.
I met Alex in the summer of 2009 when I started working at Abatement Industries Group, running the warehouse in West Haven. Alex was one of two guys who were supposed to work for me. He had pretty much been running things as far as supply line and obtaining material and equipment, so he was a tad salty when I took over the position. Over a few weeks, though, he softened up a bit and gave the me the help I needed to get the hang of things. Once he realized the kind of person I was and the kind of supervisor I was attempting to be, things got much easier, and when I chose him to be my #2, everything was sealed.
In late fall 2009, Alex was concerned about a bump at the base of his skull, so he went to the walk-in to have it checked. The doctor wanted to do a full body scan, and found a tumor on one of his kidneys. They made arrangements for the surgery, and Alex was down. I went to visit him a couple times, and when Lucia first was admitted into the hospital, I would go see him while I visited her. Once he was able to move around, he would come see her, as well. She was appreciative, having met him when he was first diagnosed. We had gone out to dinner at Chili's and invited Alex and his girlfriend, Cindy, out with us.
When Alex came back to work, he covered for me when I would go to the hospital to see Lucia. He made sure the right people knew what was going on and where I was. He always had my back and defended me to the people who had issue with how much time I was spending away from the warehouse.
Alex didn't like where he was living in West Haven. Someone had died in the house and it was full of mold and other problems, and he was looking for a way out of there. A friend who had been living at our house had moved out, and I asked Lucia if we could help out Alex. She said yes, and Alex moved in. It was May 2010.
As Lucia deteriorated, Alex always tried to talk me up and keep me strong and positive. When I had my weak and dark moments, he gave me comfort and told me to stay strong, for her if not for myself. When she passed, he was home waiting, and he went and bought a new suit to wear for her service.
He helped me clean the house. He helped fix things. When the grief would hit hard, he'd lift me back up again. As with many other friends, he helped me work my way back to society and finding a way to continue with my life. When I met Erika, he encouraged me to pursue her, and he became very fond of her.
In late 2010, Alex became positive that my job was in jeopardy and that cuts would come into effect, so he took a voluntary lay-off to save my job. He started working for a friend, doing handy-man work and office work. As time went on and his illness becmae more and more apparent, Alex had less energy to work and was spending more time in bed.
He qualified for an experimental chmo study which lasted a little less than a year, and when they pulled him from the study he was brought back onto the older chemo. His strength began to deteriorate. He was weak and in pain, and was having a great deal of trouble breathing. In 2012, they put him on oxygen and he was declared Legally Completely Disabled. On a routine follow-up, the scans came back worse than expected. The doctors said it was "a matter of time."
He fought for months. Each hospital stay was longer, until a month or so ago when I received a panicked phone call from Cindy informing me they had taken Alex to the hospital by ambulance. Neither of them were optimistic about him leaving, and when I went to visit him, he was in fairly good spirits. They moved him out of ICU a few days later, and Erika and I went to see him. A few days after that, he was back home.
They gave him information about Hospice and sent a nurse over to get his info and explain things to him. He was home for a little less than a week as he grew weaker. Wednesday morning, he asked me to help him call Hospice to come and pick him up. He had to know his time was short. Over the weekend, they stopped his chemo treatments. They upped the dosage on his pain meds. This morning, Cindy called me and said he was on the way out. I left work, hopped in my car and headed up there, but by the time I arrived, it was too late.
He was gone.
He was pale. It looked as if he were sleeping. I held his hand. It was still warm. I spoke to him. I closed my eyes and thought to him. I thanked him.
I've been in this place before. It was different that time. I feel for Cindy, who has to go through now what I went through 3 years ago. The slow realization of what has occurred, trying to wrap your head around the reality. It's difficult, even years later. You can accept something and still not believe it. You can believe and not accept. That's where I am, again. It doesn't seem real. Another empty room, another person my boys will never see again. I feel for them. I feel for Bailey, who has already lost his sister recently and now must cope with this. Mostly I feel for Cindy. The newt few months will be very difficult for her, but she won't be dealing alone. This has affected more people than even I can know or account for. sadly, death has a way of bringing people together...and splitting them apart. You never know how people will react to a death, or what the coming days, weeks, months, and years may hold. All I do know is that everyone affected needs to be strong and look to each other for that strength and support. Even me.
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