More Fun Than You Really Wanted, part I of V

[Adios]

This is a corner of the horrible truth.

There are 5 other corners.  We'll look at them all.

I'll get my steel-toed boots.

[Sister Fracture]

I liked this, because it reminds me of people I know.

[Phox]

 

[Juana]

I know a girl or two who has walked this road.

[Aucoq]

Her real name is Rachel. 

Rachel has been a prostitute for 3 years, a meth addict for most of that time, and she looks 20 years older than she is.  She does meth, she says, because it helps her perform for her clients in an enthusiastic manner.  The Truth is, she's a walking corpse with eyes like flint, and meth gives her an appearance of being alive.

She became a prostitute as a runaway, as many do, having fled a stepfather that had an unfortunate habit of raping her...at first, every time her mother stepped out, and eventually while she was in the house.  The mother blamed her, of course.  She has carefully harbored memories of her deceased biological father, and of a bedroom with stuffed animals, and friends at school...The normal life we all want for our children.

But that's all gone now, swept away in a long-ago car accident that led to the more recent, far less desirable home life, and eventually to a corner in South Filth, where she plies her trade.

She's deadened by fear...Fear of being sliced up by a John and tossed in a dumpster, fear of being roped into some gang's stable, fear of yet another arrest (Anyone who tells you that prostitution is a "victimless crime" doesn't know what the hell they're talking about, but it IS the only crime for which the victim is arrested.).  Fear of HIV, and no way to know if she's infected with it or something equally nasty, like Hep C.

Most of you have seen Rachel, or someone just like her, anyway.  You might even have mocked her, silently, or out loud...But let me tell you one thing:  There, but for the grace of God, go you...Or your sister, or your daughter.

One other thing:  Rachel is 17.  The odds of her living to 20 are lower than 50%.

So when you talk about American culture, you're talking about her, too, and the events and people that brought her to where she is today. 

And when you talk about the future, give a thought to Rachel, who hasn't got one.

Or Kill Me.

And if you ask Gary if he feels sympathetic towards Rachel, he'll say it's her fault she's in that situation because she's lazy and has no moral character.   If she just worked harder and had a chipper, Christian attitude, she'd be a millionaire by now. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

And Rachel would view Gary in just as bad a light.  It's just the description that would change.

Gary is actually just as pathetic, in precisely the same way.

[Aucoq]

Gary is actually just as pathetic, in precisely the same way.

I couldn't agree more.