20 July 2011

Public servants make poor madams?

| johnboy
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The Canberra Times has the intriguing news that the sex industry holds a low opinion of retiring public servants trying to break into brothel ownership:

Eros Foundation chief executive Fiona Patten told the committee investigating the capital’s prostitution business that she had seen so many former bureaucrats try and fail to make a go of it in the sex industry, that she compared them to lemmings.

The veteran campaigner for sex workers’ rights told the committee that she had seen many public servants blow their superannuation chasing the dream of making it big in the sex trade.

”I used to see public servant after public servant think, ‘I know what I’m going to do with my superannuation; I’m going to buy a brothel’, and they would buy into a brothel and they would think it was just a licence to print money,” Ms Patten said.

”Then, six months later, they would realise that it was not and they would jump out and the next one would come back in.”

One wonders if the same can be said of other industries or if sex work is particularly unsuited?

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“she had seen many public servants blow their superannuation chasing the dream”

That quote made my day 🙂

“Veteran campaigner for sex workers’ rights” is inaccurate. Patten was kicked out of WISE (Workers In Sex Employment) years and years ago – seeing as how she was a sex shop OWNER, and sex worker employer, she had a conflict of interest. Patten is, and has always been, a campaigner for commercial sex and brothel interests. I suspect she is referring to possibly one, possibly two, former public servants. As always, heavy on anecdote, and no data.

I think it says more about how authority is exercised in the sex industry.

Holden Caulfield said :

“she had seen many public servants blow their superannuation chasing the dream”

/me sniggers

LOL – now that wasn’t lost on me!

Holden Caulfield1:33 pm 20 Jul 11

“she had seen many public servants blow their superannuation chasing the dream”

/me sniggers

“..The veteran campaigner for sex workers’ rights told the committee that she had seen many public servants blow their superannuation chasing the dream of making it big in the sex trade…”

Hahaha! Wow, and here I was thinking I was ther ONLY one ‘chasing’ that lifelong dream.
I mean, really??

“Canberra’s frigid climate ruled out a significant street prostitution scene.”

The cold weather doesn’t help either.

Probably difficult to run a business that is based on a degree of anonymity when you know most of the clientele on a first name basis.

I suppose they were used to %^$#ing people up so this was a natural transition.

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