Escorts working or not on 9/11?

[BgMstr4u]

In another string in the Lounge section, Ad rian asked an interesting question which might better be posted here. So, assuming his permission to quote, I will ask:

 

"Did you work through last September 11th? Do you plan to be "on call" this September 11th? Was it then or do you expect it now to be a good or bad business day?"

[Gigiloz4me]

>In another string in the Lounge section, Ad rian asked an

>interesting question which might better be posted here. So,

>assuming his permission to quote, I will ask:

>

>"Did you work through last September 11th? Do you plan to be

>"on call" this September 11th? Was it then or do you expect

>it now to be a good or bad business day?"

 

 

.... I'll go out on a limb here

}>

 

But I'll bet, similar to most American enterprises, decisions were/will be made on a case by case basis. Should business be consumated... it will be done quietly ;-)

[ad rian]

> So,

>assuming his permission to quote, I will ask:

 

Permission granted. I am really interested in receiving responses.

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Limb

 

I had what you would call a "normal" day job when I woke up that day. I went around the corner from my house, as I was working on a presentation, and wanted to be at work early, so someone else could make me breakfast while I continued to dictate and prepare this material. It was very early, not near 8:00 a.m. and the bus boys, in Spanish, kept excitedly pointing at the TV set but the waiter who served me said nothing. I never watch the morning news programs and, of course, it was not in that morning's LA Times. At this hour, the first plane had struck but the belief was still that this was due to a mishap and not intentional. I paid, left, walked over to my bus top and take the subway downtown. It was not until I got to my building that I was able to determine what (and the extent) of what had happened. Of course, we were sent home and friends of mine ended up at my place, as they often do, and we channel surfed and talked and spent the day together until the early evening.

 

I will probably make an effort to follow as nearly "normal" a routine as possible that day: bike riding or hiking, the gym, etc. I do not expect to "work" that day but if someone requested my services, I would remind me of what day it was and then more than likely accept the call. I would assume they would have a reason for wanting company that day. Am I going out of my way to work that day? No more so than any other day and mid-week can be very hit and miss sometimes. I have an overnight next Tuesday, but had all my clients this week bunched up last weekend and this weekend, with Tuesday through Thursday totally free.

[Guest Dan]

Do you work Dec. 7?

 

 

'Nuff said!

[Guest dstud4hire]

Ahhh, Dec 7 and 9/11.....sorta like apples and oranges, don't you think?....I would venture to guess most escorts and possibly many clients on this system were not affected by dec 7th, 1945 or barely remember it...so yes, the question of working or not on 9/11 is a bit more relavent.

 

As for me: last year I was off from my 'real' job, and was supposed to have a slew of clients that week of 9/11 last year, but they all cancelled because they all had flights into St.louis which obviously cancelled. I then noticed a drop in bis for about a week, then a spike upwards a week after ( I chalked it up to people being real stressed out and needing release)and then the rest of the winter was VERY slow (slower than usual) because many businesses were finding other ways to do business, rather than fly people into town.....now, things are back to normal.

 

If others wish to hire me Sept 11th, I will gladly be hired, and will do my normally great, professional job. As for personal travel, I will choose not to fly that day, which means you most likely will not see me post some excursion in the travel board for that day like I have been doing quite frequently.

 

Clearly, that anniversary will be on most of our minds. As the years go by, it will turn into another Dec 7th type anniversary, where we might give it a passing thought when the news recognizes it at 6 or 7 p.m, but that is it. But until then , I think the memory is far too fresh for most to just let the day go by without feeling something.

[Guest Dan]

>Ahhh, Dec 7 and 9/11.....sorta like apples and oranges,

>don't you think?....I would venture to guess most escorts

>and possibly many clients on this system were not affected

>by dec 7th, 1945 or barely remember it...so yes, the

>question of working or not on 9/11 is a bit more relavent.

>

It was Dec. 7, 1941. The war was over by Dec. '45.

 

>As for me: last year I was off from my 'real' job, and was

>supposed to have a slew of clients that week of 9/11 last

>year, but they all cancelled because they all had flights

>into St.louis which obviously cancelled. I then noticed a

>drop in bis for about a week, then a spike upwards a week

>after ( I chalked it up to people being real stressed out

>and needing release)and then the rest of the winter was VERY

>slow (slower than usual) because many businesses were

>finding other ways to do business, rather than fly people

>into town.....now, things are back to normal.

>

>If others wish to hire me Sept 11th, I will gladly be hired,

>and will do my normally great, professional job. As for

>personal travel, I will choose not to fly that day, which

>means you most likely will not see me post some excursion in

>the travel board for that day like I have been doing quite

>frequently.

>

>Clearly, that anniversary will be on most of our minds. As

>the years go by, it will turn into another Dec 7th type

>anniversary, where we might give it a passing thought when

>the news recognizes it at 6 or 7 p.m, but that is it. But

>until then , I think the memory is far too fresh for most to

>just let the day go by without feeling something.

 

This may just lead to an interesting thread. I think that for a lot of us outside of NYC, the trauma is somewhat diminished, though we are no less outraged. For nearly two months after 9/11 I felt the same kind of grief that I have felt when I lost a relative. But, as time went on, I am much less emotional about it. Again, I think it makes a difference when you live outside of the metropolitan New York area when you are constantly reminded of the towers absence.

[Bilbo]

Are people more likely to stop work for a sad occaision than for a celebratory one? The tone here seems to be, rightly I feel, that we should avoid business as usual or at least play it in a minor key on the anniversary of 9/11, but the general tone in another thread seemed to find it surprising that so many escorts were taking the day off on Gay Pride Parade Day. I don't find it so odd that we feel that way this year since it is the first anniversary of one and I think the 30 somethingth of the other. But I wonder if we will find that tendency towards feeling that the sorrowful needs more attention in our lives than the joyful unsurprising next year or the year after.

[chrismac]

>But I wonder if we

>will find that tendency towards feeling that the sorrowful

>needs more attention in our lives than the joyful

>unsurprising next year or the year after.

 

So well put. And so seldom understood.

 

Although no doubt people across the country (and the world) will deal with the 1st Anniversary of 9/11 differently, with some "celebrating life" while others choose to shut down or at least minimize activities in order to spend the day in a setting of more quiet contemplation, I can't imagine carrying on "business as usual". That can take place on any one of the other 364 days of the year.

 

I'll be dangling my feet off the seaside cliff at Torrey Pines, watching the waves crash on sandstone while gulls call, oblivious to the horrors men inflict upon one another. If anyone should happen by and notice my tears, it would be difficult to tell if it isn't just my eyes reacting to the ocean breezes.

[BuckyXTC]

When all is said and done, what we're talking about in this thread is grief, and how we choose to address it. I'm sure there are some people living for whom December 7, 1941 still symbolizes considerable personal pain, even after the passage of so many years. September 11 is still a recent wound, and experts in the field of disaster response say it is reasonable to believe that the time frame for just addressing the physical aspects of such a disaster is seven to ten years, and for other aspects much longer.

 

Having lived in relative proximity to Ground Zero, at least close enough to see the smoke and debris in the air for a long time following the event, it still remains a terrible personal memory. At some point over the past 11 months or so, I could no longer watch the various special television programs about that day's events and the ongoing aftermath. The horror of it all began to foster a sort of disaster fatigue, where I wanted to have happier thoughts about NYC and not always have 9/11 rush to the forefront of my consciousness as soon as I heard the words New York City. I'm not sure I've been successful in that desire.

 

The response to disaster, tragedy and loss is very personal. While there may be common factors in the way we respond to things that make us grieve, there are also highly individualized responses, and different time frames for persons getting on with some normal semblance of their former lives.

 

With grief being such a personal, individualized thing, I do worry that some will make the error of expecting everyone else to grieve in the same way they do. I'm not saying that is the case with those who have either started or posted on this thread, but it is a fact with some folks I know. Let me put it this way. If an escort decides to go about his business normally on 9/11/02, could that be construed as somehow being "unAmerican" or "less than patriotic?" I have no doubt that some will see it that way. Some will feel the need to spend that first anniversary as a day of quiet reflection and inactivity, while others will feel the need to try to make the day as normal as possible with respect to daily routines. What I'm trying to say and not being very successful in stating is that however you choose to observe or not observe the anniversary of the tragedy is your choice to make, and there is really no issue of a right or wrong way to do it, unless, of course, you decide to go out and beat up people of middle eastern heritage or something like that.

 

During the Gulf War in the early 1990's I can remember the advent of yellow ribbons and people wearing them, purportedly to show solidarity with our troops involved with that conflict. I also remember some folks trying to force the wearing of yellow ribbons on others, making it a litmus test of sorts regarding patriotism. Some saw that war as a struggle against evil, some saw it as being about our desire to keep oil flowing to our SUV's, and yet others happen to be opposed to war for any reason and in any form.

 

As for me, the first anniversary of Sept 11 will be a day of quiet reflection. But in no form or fashion would I suggest that way of marking the tragedy is normative or the only way to observe it. My hope and prayer is that no one will try to decide for anyone else what is the appropriate way to grieve on that day, nor make any assumptions about the "patriotism" of anyone else for what they happen to choose.

[Guest dstud4hire]

WOW, that is beautifully expressed. I have a lot of friends and family who work for those air carriers which were struck, so the memory of waiting for my friends and family to return my calls that they were not on those flights was a very real one, and still resonates deeply, as I am sure many of us have similar memories.

 

Thx for drawing us a nicely expressed sentimate of what this anniversary will mean to you, and many others.

[guyinsf]

I hope that no one would think it "unpatriotic" to work on 9/11 this year or in the years to come. I assume that almost every business in the U.S. will expect employees to show up for work that day, unless they take a sick or vacation day off. So it is with escorts, too: I would expect the majority will work that day (if they get a request to do so), with those who were more directly impacted by 9/11/01 more likely to take the day off.

[ad rian]

>I hope that no one would think it "unpatriotic" to work on

>9/11 this year or in the years to come. I assume that

>almost every business in the U.S. will expect employees to

>show up for work that day, unless they take a sick or

>vacation day off. So it is with escorts, too: I would

>expect the majority will work that day (if they get a

>request to do so), with those who were more directly

>impacted by 9/11/01 more likely to take the day off.

 

I agree. The reason for the initial post was that I remember one pof my regular escorts telling me that he was surprised that somebody else actually called on 9/11. He went, but said that it was odd. In the immediate aftermath we were told that lots of relationships were forming. I guess I was wondering whether the same desire for intimacy afected gays too then or now. I want desperately to leave the country on 9/11 because I think the coverage is going to be overkill! And yes, I do live and work in NYC not too far from Ground Zero. If I stay in town I probably will call up a regular. I hope most of you keep working that day!

[Guest dstud4hire]

<<I hope most of you keep working that day!

 

reporting for duty, as requested sir!....(ok, just a bit of levity to an otherwise heavy thread)

 

We shall appropriately rememeber, in our own ways, but life does go on...as shall work, in whatever ways we work...I actually hope I have a client or two that day...it's a great way to keep one's mind off of that, if that is at all possible, for even an hour.

[Guest ChicagoCorey]

I will go to my day job that day, and I'd probably take an appointment that evening. I wouldn't be surprised if business picked up for most guys that day -- people wanting to do something to pass the time or to think about something else. I got called on that afternoon -- from a guy who was a semi-regular who just didn't want to be alone. You never can tell what people will need.

 

--Corey

[Guest RushNY]

Personally i think its up to the individual whether they work on that day ,i know there will be a lot of stuff around regarding what happened but life has to go on ,that is one of the things that i have learned from the experience you cannot let something however nasty and vicious and unpremeditated get in the way of a normal life,life HAS to go on and of course we will never forget that day especially those of us that live in New York but if you wanna have sex with your favorite escort that day GO FOR IT

[Guest Blink]

http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/1163/amvlagborsten.jpg

 

...just a thought...

[Guest Bitchboy]

I'll let you in on a secret - last year, 9/12, was the last day I hired an escort. My partner was away on business on 9/11 and couldn't get home. I was in a state of despair. I felt awfully horny. I hired a popular New York escort. He was totally cool, and I didn't think less of him for working; in fact, I was extremely grateful. If I had to do it over, I'd glady repeat the scenario.