The Forgotten Workers

Who’s going to help…the “sex help?”

Wow. Are we royally screwed, or what? Can the news get any worse? It certainly seems to…by the hour. More cases of COVID-19. More deaths. And no way to stop the scourge.

It feels like we’re all extras in a low-budget horror movie and the zombies are winning.

Trump flip-flops, his sock puppet Pence kisses his orange ass and the media take abuse like I never imagined. Even cute, little Dr. Anthony Fauci is up to his neck in shit, with the recent death threats against him from the lunatic fringe, aka POTUS’ right-wing supporters.

Dr. Fauci! With all he’s doing, who in their right mind would want to hurt him? Cowards, that’s who. People who refuse to see what is right before their eyes. The same lunatics who believe the Holocaust was a “hoax.” In other words, the abject morons who put Donald J. Trump in the White House.

And all over the world, people are out of work, uncertain as to when they’ll get another paycheck, if ever. Struggling to support themselves and their families while the death toll rises and healthcare workers number among the fallen.

Let’s break here for a moment of silence as we imagine four more years of Donald Trump.

Okay, that’s better. I just puked.

Thousands upon thousands of layoffs have and are happening all over the country. Even as I write this, people are being pink-slipped, without even a handshake to send them off. Because we can’t be touched.

We hear a great deal about restaurant employees and hairdressers and other workers in service industries who have been let go. But there’s a group of hard-working, committed individuals who we’ve heard nothing about. At least this writer hasn’t.

I’m talking about those people who suck and fuck for a living. Imagine how the sex worker industry has been pummeled by this pandemic! We can’t get within six feet of another person much less engage in any activity that is remotely sexual.

This is one area where hand sanitizer and all the face masks in the world aren’t going to cut it. Neither is a Hazmat suit or a hole cut into a sheet, or any other damn thing,

Plus, being that COVID-19 is an equal-opportunity killer, high-end sex workers, such as “escorts” are as vulnerable as street-corner hookers.

HuffPost makes the point that the higher-priced escorts and/or “call girls” (are there “call guys?”) probably had the wherewithal to put some money aside for a “rainy day,” but we’re talking about a relatively small percentage of people. And by all reports, this is going to be one long, rainy day.

Note: My friend Stephen Sovie just reminded me that the guys are usually referred to as “hustlers.” As many times as I’ve seen American Gigolo, you’d think I’d know that.

The scrumptious Richard Gere aside, what about the less glamorous, everyday sex worker? The one who walks the street, with or without benefit of a “handler.” Or someone who has a regular clientele of middle-class schlubs looking for some “strange.”

Do you think Joe Pimp is putting aside money for his “bitches?” I think not. So what are these folks going to do? Start day-trading? What?

Also, consider the fact that “sick pay” is not an option for those who work in the sex trade and you can see how dire this situation is. Too, I’m thinking unemployment compensation is a non-starter.

One thing they’re doing is lowering their prices. Yep. Just like Walmart or the Piggy Wiggly. There’s a sale on for sex. But, loss of income aside, they’re putting themselves in greater danger as well by taking on clients that they’d ordinarily avoid. The strange rangers. That’s desperation for you.

And, in an effort to maintain good hygiene, sex workers can be told to wash their hands until Trump reverts to a natural skin tone, but how many streetwalkers, say, have access to soap and hot water in between johns…or janes? Even if they were so inclined, where would they “wash up,” with restaurants shuttered and no hand sanitizer to be found?

Even worse, HuffPost also points out that those individuals still paying for sex are becoming increasingly coercive and/or violent. Some men, for example, are refusing to wear condoms by rationalizing that they’re already taking a risk by having sex with a virtual stranger — so why bother with a piece of latex?

That’s fucked up on so many different levels.

When you consider this conundrum from all angles, you can see how scary it is. People are already on the verge of going batshit crazy, but take sex out of the equation altogether — for those who buy and sell it, anyway — and the poop is gonna splatter the fan.

If people can’t get off, there’s going to be hell to pay.

I haven’t checked but I’m guessing that vibrator and other sex toy sales have skyrocketed. Wait a sec and I’ll check.

Yep. I just read in The Sun that “self-isolation sex toys” have risen by thirteen percent, at least in the UK. And apparently here in the States, vibrators, cock rings and the like have been marked way down.

Of course, as always, there’s virtual sex. Workers don’t have to actually be in the same room with someone to get them off. Of course, a vibrant imagination and a modicum of creativity are key here. I can’t see imbeciles cleaning up online. Wait…did I just say that? Can I take it back? Please?

As dim as this X-Rated picture is, all is not lost. A sex worker in possession of a hefty helping of ingenuity and the right technology could quite possibly, launch a tidy little business of a different sort. And totally devoid of the “ick” factor.

“Tits’nAssTime” anyone?

Sherry McGuinn is a slightly-twisted, longtime Chicago-area writer and award-winning screenwriter. Her work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and numerous other publications. Sherry’s manager is currently pitching her newest screenplay, a drama with dark, comedic overtones and inspired by a true story.

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