Go without and earn cash!
I was at a reporter’s conference in Hartford, Conn. a few years ago and a bunch of us hit the clubs at the end of the day. I got separated from my group and ended up at some Bohemian party where young people in berets smoked long cigarettes and read poetry. I stumbled out of there after midnight and found that I was utterly lost. Lost, drunk and reeking of Tiparilo smoke. Fortunately, a squirrley little pimp saw my plight and agreed to show me back to the hotel. You can always count on a pimp to lead you to safety.
He was a funny little man and a non-stop talker. All the way back, he told me about the fine narcotics he could produce for me and the hookers he could send up to my room. Any race I desired, young and supple, old and seasoned. The fidgety dude stopped just short of producing a menu and throwing a napkin over my lap.
Or perhaps he did. It had been a long night and the memory is hazy.
Anyway, I returned to my hotel with neither bitching narcotics nor a hand-selected hooker. And because of this great restraint, I now see that the Sun Journal owes me money. A check will do but cash would be better.
SEOUL — South Korea has launched a campaign offering cash to men if they promise not to buy sex from prostitutes after year-end office parties, government officials said Tuesday.
The move is aimed at changing the party culture in this male-dominated society by winning commitments from male employees to abstain from hiring prostitutes after their parties finish, an official at the Gender Equality and Family Ministry said, asking not to be identified because of policy.
A total 4.6 million won or $5,000 will be paid to companies based on the largest number of volunteers who sign a written pledge, said the official. Some 1,300 companies have so far participated in the campaign that ends Tuesday.
December 28th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
Who is going to monitor all those guys to make sure that they keep their promise? Mark, you up for going along to make sure that nothing happens?
December 28th, 2006 at 4:49 pm
You know, all day I’ve tried to avoid going all serious and snarky on this one. That’s a battle I never win though, so here I go.
South Korea is one of those cultures that isn’t very good for women. Big sex industry (Wikipedia says prostitution = 4% of GDP), white slavery etc. They’ve been trying to reform that whole sector recently, but they probably haven’t made a dent. (The Washington Post says that ” the Ministry [of Gender Equality] might be trying to mop up a typhoon with a hand sponge”.)
So they’re giving men a very weak incentive, which probably won’t work. But if it does, it cuts into the living income of the women on the streets. Maybe if they want to sink some money into it, they ought to fund programs that would get at least the prostitutes under 16 off the streets. Really, those kids would probably just as soon do some other kind of work if they could make a living at it.
There may be more to this initiative than we’ve seen in the media so I’m hesitant to trash it, but dammit I can’t freaking help it!
December 28th, 2006 at 9:32 pm
The Koreans have always blamed Japan for starting prostitution when they invaded the country way back when. For a country that supposedly despises prostitution, the government tends to look the other way more often than not. And we can’t forget the many “moose/yobo” that contribute to the Korean economy on the 1st and 15th of every month-for providing various “services”, an American GI only has to fork over half his pay. It’s a no-strings relationship-you ship out, she finds a new GI.
There’s a way to tell if the Korean girl you just picked up is a prostitute. Should you be interested in knowing, ask and I’ll tell.
December 28th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
theres nothing wrong with a little young blood every once in a while
it makes a man feel young again
December 29th, 2006 at 8:42 am
Herb, you’re a fucking idiot, I mean that of course, in a good way.
Pimps, is there nothing they can’t do?
Speaking of pimps and being lost, besides swimming with aquatic mammals, I also took my girlfriend to show her where I grew up at. She decided that she didn’t want to get out of the car as we cruised the Parramore district of the wonderful Orlando downtown. i’m sure it had something to do with the fact that they haven’t seen white people in that area since we moved out 30 years ago. Alas, no pimps to be seen, and they tore our old house down.