CuriousByNature

You beat me to it! Lol.

I've always liked the buffet at the Cosmopolitan, and despite the name of the restaurant, I've found that all of the cutlery (including the spoons) is above reproach.

According to urban legend, Jack Benny was either on the ship or had planned to be on the ship. I'm just glad that Keith Richards was nearby and helped get a number of people to safety.

I think the reality is (probably) that the vast majority of people have never, and would never, pay someone to spend time with them. Whether they are making millions or just squeezing by. Even $25 for gas in an age when people connect over vast distances for free through the internet. Many people have never likely considered a paid arrangement to be an option, either out of fear, stigma, or based on the fact that they hookup with others easily without any financial incentives required or expected. Is it possible this individual assumed you were not in the business of taking donations? If he contacted you knowing your line of work and then still acted as if you should meet up with him on other terms, then it's probably better that you found that out sooner than later, and before agreeing to meet. BTW I wouldn't be too concerned about what people spend on other things, whether that happens to be Tiffany products, fancy trips, expensive watches... it all comes down to priorities. Unfortunately it can be difficult to connect with others whose priorities align with our own. If we pin our sense of satisfaction on expecting people to behave differently than what their priorities dictate, it is hard to avoid disappointment.

One of the risks of being too adorable. I know that firsthand myself... NOT! LOL

I wonder why he says he had the covid vaccination in the beginning of his ad, but at the very end it indicates he didn't. Does the vaccine wear off THAT quickly? 🤣

Maybe he has nine lives and is incarcerated for being a cat burglar?

Just reading your post gave me heart palpitations - my Saturday night consisted of sitting in front of the TV with a pot of macaroni and cheese. The disaster for me was not soaking the pot in the sink and now having to scrub really heard this morning,

That's really cool. Do you know where the family originated? I'm assuming likely Eastern Europe or Western Russia?

I'm not sure how that could ever correlate, let alone represent causation. If it did there would probably be conversions happening constantly... LOL

Have them move to a scummy neighbourhood and watch to see if it becomes gentrified and livable?

Actually, according to the OP, the original question is whether or not the business is traumatizing. As per my first response, I still believe it's important to understand what the OP means by that word. I agree with you that there is a stigma about sex work and that it should end, but I think that even if everything was fully legalized and regulated, the stigma would still exist in at least some circles. Perhaps the issue isn't just about sex work, but sex itself. There has been a stigma about sex, intimacy and identity for centuries in most of Western Europe and North America - and perhaps much more so since the 19th century, with the outwardly puritanical influence of Victorianism in Britain and across the former British colonies. I'm not confident that the OP was thinking about the stigma and negative consequences of sex work when he asked about trauma, but who knows? I haven't seen any clarification yet, unless I missed it. As someone with no experience with either sex or sex work, I have no business opining on whether or not it is traumatic. Only someone involved in that business could really say, and the response would be different from person to person I imagine.

Do you think he should be promoted to LieutenantColonelFur?

Pun intended?

Of course there are common values - nothing offensive about that. But I'm still not from or living in California or Cali, Colombia.

I wonder if Home Depot sells phalometers... hahaha. Or if you can get one installed in your car between the speedometer and odometer

We know that eye colour is genetically determined, and studies have indicated that male-patterned baldness is likely inherited through one's maternal grandfather. But how about 'hungness'. Does anyone know what genetic factors are at play in determining an individual's endowment? Is it purely genetic, or is there an environmental influence as well? Based on evolutionary theory, I imagine that the average size currently is the result of natural selection. If not, why isn't everyone hung like the proverbial horse?

The phalometric testing comes up short (pun intended) on a number of levels. If a straight and false claimant is shown gay imagery, they could concentrate on straight erotic thoughts and affect their blood flow. And if they were shown straight imagery, which should not in theory cause an arousal, they could follow the advice of Victorian-era mothers to their daughters, and 'close their eyes and think of England'... LOL

I don't have a source to cite, but what I was getting at is that a system that is too strict in how assessments are undertaken will run the risk of screening out some of those who have a genuine claim. Depending on the country of origin, there are likely other factors besides orientation that could put a person at risk. I also think, perhaps naively, that someone from a country where being LGBT is outlawed might not want to claim to be LGBT unless they actually were. This is where proper adjudication and a full exploration of a claimant's credibility is essential. Making them undergo testing to 'prove' their case would only harm those who are genuinely LGBT - I imagine most LGBT making a refugee claim would be so scared of being sent back to their country of origin that the test results might not be particularly accurate.

It's a difficult situation, no doubt. But the person adjudicating the claim of refugee status would presumably use interviewing to discern the credibility and reliability of the applicant. I don't believe any sensors, or things even more invasive, should be employed. Everything carries a margin of error and there will always be those who are able to thwart the system and be accepted as refugees even if their claim is false. The key, in my opinion, is to reduce the number of authentic refugees that might be sent back to lethal regimes by a system that is too concerned about false refugees making it through.

I guess there are a couple of different ways to look at regret. One could be because the career choices prevent you from getting other opportunities due to society's opinions of escorting, while another is to have regret because the work itself isn't enjoyable, such as your example of bartending and waiting tables.

The crooner with a many decades-long career died today in New York, just two weeks short of his 97th birthday. No cause of death was noted, but Bennett had been living with Alzheimers disease, having been diagnosed in 2016. May he rest in peace.