Dear Sasha, After university I spent a decade living a fun but not extravagant life in the big city. I worked for not-great-pay in the not-for-profit world. My choice of course, but now here I am with debt the size of a luxury SUV and no SUV (thank god) to show for it. To top it all off I made the decision to go back to school for eight months to pursue what will eventually be a very rewarding and slightly more lucrative career.
I can’t get it out of my head that the best way for me to make ends meet (and then some) would be to do what I love doing best—pleasuring others. I’ve hummed and hawed, discussed the pros and cons with my very supportive friends, and no matter where I go I always come back to the fact that I wouldn’t just like it—I’m pretty sure I’d love it.
I posted an ad on Craigslist catering to a certain community—traders with lots of cash and no time or interest in a girlfriend—and was overwhelmed by the response, but chickened out when I realized I didn’t trust myself to vet, nor did I feel comfortable putting my willing friends in charge of security, and thus in personal and legal risk.
I’d love to hook up with an agency, but after a few years volunteering on a mobile health unit for an AIDS network I met a number of unsavoury characters who “ran agencies,” and I’m scared to go into one without recommendations. Beyond safety, my only other concern is my criminal record, which, if marred, would sideline the career I’m currently going to school for.
—This Amateur is Done her Apprenticeship
Dear Amateur,
Busts at outcall agencies are very rare—really, the only one that springs to mind is the raid in Toronto in 2002, which was allegedly provoked by underage workers. “When outcall agencies are busted it is typically the boss/owner that is charged,” says escort Gina, “not necessarily the women because outcalls are technically not illegal [in Canada], and if so, are very hard to prove.”
One treacherous circumstance might involve you visiting an undercover cop twice in the same room or visiting the same room twice in a day with two undercover cops, as those scenarios could constitute you running a bawdyhouse. Another way of inviting trouble as an outcall escort is by up-selling and by virtue “communicating” when you get to your location. Examples would be a client saying, “How much more for anal?” and you saying, “$300” or him asking, “What do I get for this money?” and you saying, “Sex.”
As for establishing yourself as an outcall escort, as Jillian Hollander, owner of Cupid’s Escorts says, “If you want to sell your computer, go to Craigslist. If you want to escort, go to an agency.”
Escort Sydney enjoys working for an agency run by a former sex worker who is feminist-identified but she says even if you do hear negative things about an agency, it might just be “drama,” an ever present element of the demimonde. Since agencies are always hiring, Sydney recommends you go to interviews with a bunch of questions, such as, “Is it run by former sex workers or women? What’s your pay [what is the percentage the agency takes]? Is transportation included? What are wardrobe expectations? How many hours they want you to work? How finicky are they about you changing your hours on short notice? This can be really important if you are not out to people and something comes up.” If an agency won’t or can’t answer your questions (and include your safety on that list) then simply move on.
Communities like MERB (The Montreal Escort Review Board at www.merb.ca) and Eros Guide (www.eros-guide.com) are good places to connect with other escorts and also get a sense of what clients are looking for and how they behave. The hobbyist network, as the professional john community is known by both itself and by its service providers, is very special.
And finally do not, exhorts Hollander, look for an agency on Craigslist as often those who post as such are simply collecting explicit photos of naïve girls. Kind of makes you wonder what Marshall McLuhan would have to say about that sleazy piece of technological opportunism.
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