Standing on the corner watching all the boys go by…
by Sonia Pathmedevan
Taking a cigarette break from my classes, I am out in front of the school. An elderly white haired man walks by and says “guapa” and though I don’t have eye contact with him a smile escapes me. He passes me and in my peripheral vision I see him stop. “Oh no, he saw that.” I panic. He then back tracks his steps and approaches me from the right, I still am facing left. He repeats that he finds me attractive. Having being brought up right, I respect my elders and I politely thank him and say “you’re too kind”. “Quiero hacer el amor contigo”(I want to make love to you) he continues. My mind does a quick assessment of the situation since I am shocked that this white haired elderly elegant gentleman is actually saying this to me. Am I standing on the corner? No. Am I on Gran Via? No. Am I wearing provocative clothing? Only if you find black jeans, black sweater zipped up to the top, cigarette in one hand and other hand on the hip(due to an aching back) provocative.
“That would be impossible” I say with an attitude.
“IMpossible?” he asks incredulously?
“IMpossible” I repeat.
“Where are you from?” he asks. I tell him and he changes his leering attitude and says “Ooohh, I’m sorry if I offended you.”
“You did!”
“I did?” he persists to inquire.
“Yes, you DID!”
Then he breaks down to a profound “I’m sorry, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, please don’t take offense” and makes a hasty exit.
After my initial insulted reaction, my journalistic curiosity wishes I had role played the conversation out, just to see how much a “lady of the night” earns in Madrid.
I am told that brown skinned women, usually from South America or Africa are the usual “ladies of the night” since they migrate to Spain in hopes of a better life but then fall on hard times and resort to any means to sustain themselves. Also, judging by the pornographic magazines at the news stands, it seems brown skinned women on the covers seem to be the preferred flavor,if you will. But then those women that you see selling themselves make no doubt about it. They dress provocatively and they maintain eye contact for any prospective client. I was also told, by a Spaniard, that due to the economic crisis some Spaniard women have had to resort to the oldest profession to make ends meet but the Spaniard women were fetching more monetarily since it is such a rarity.
In recounting the experience to an American whom I chatted with in Plaza Mayor, she showed me her tourist guide book that addressed the issue and advised women who were traveling alone not to maintain eye contact with strangers since it may be perceived as an invitation and in a footnote indicated the “going rate” was $35 Euro an hour. We both thought that would be on the low side albeit we had no knowledge of the “going rate” in the United States.
Then I came upon an article in QUE( the daily rag that is distributed at metro stations) that answered all my questions about the profits of the world’s oldest profession. If you didn’t catch it ladies, take heed. Apparently the much bolder and vigilant reporter had staked out the going ons and was able to calculate that at 5 Euros per visit(15 minutes), the ladies of the night netted 900 Euro’s on a slow day. Calculate that! And following that basis the net earnings, since there are no taxes to be paid, would be more than 3 million Euros annually. Certainly no small change. Definitely more than most of us earn.
Personally, I will not be maintaining any eye contact with any seemingly harmless elderly gentleman.