CHAPTER NINE: THE TEMPLE
Melissa met Eric
on the sidewalk outside the temple at 17:58. She escorted him inside.
The Rabbi greeted
them, saying, “Melissa! I see you brought a guest this time. Good
going.” He shook hands to introduce himself. “I’m Rabbi Stevens.”
Eric replied. “I’m
Eric, a freshman at the University.”
At 18:00, Rabbi
Stevens led the discussion. “For the benefit of the guests who are here
the first time, let me explain what we’re about. We believe that human
beings are created with God-given rights, and that the only legitimate
function of governments is to secure these rights. More information on
our doctrine can be found at Libertarian Church dot com.
“Humans have a
right to form governments for the protection of their rights, and also
have a right to protect their own rights, and the rights of others,
without the help of the government. It is our goal to find ways to
outdo the government through free, voluntary solutions, both in
protecting rights and in filling the needs of people.
“We’ve been
developing projects toward this end. Yusef over here, for example, has
started talking to unemployed panhandlers, about how to find a job.
It’s definitely not the job of government to find jobs for people, but
Yusef can often help these panhandlers by pointing them in the right
direction, giving them rides to interviews and telling them how to get
hired.
“Now, does anyone
have anything new they want to tell us about their project? Melissa?”
Melissa addressed
the group. “Last year, police here in Sacraleena broke up a
prostitution ring, and on further investigation, learned that some of
the girls, as young as 14 years old, had been kidnapped from their
homes in Thailand, others in Guatemala. The pimps also trafficked in
women from here in the United States. A few of them were doing it
willingly, others were enslaved. When imagining the suffering these
girls went through, do not overlook the suffering the men also endured,
in being so desperate for sex that they had to pay good money for a
rush job by a hooker.”
Rabbi Stevens
responded, “Oh, and this will be good. Just how do you propose to solve
this problem?”
Eric stepped in to
explain something. “Value depends on scarcity. Men are willing to pay
for sex, in many cases because they cannot find it any other way. There
are ways to make it easier for them to find it.”
Rabbi Stevens
asked, “And how is that?”
Melissa spoke up.
“Well, there are a lot more women than men at the University. Some are
not having much luck. They need a man, and the men need them. All the
women have to do, is say so. The really big trouble is, that’s not
always easy. I’m sure there have been plenty of people here in this
congregation who have had desires for other members, but could not say
so, because this isn’t the place for that. Well, in some of those
cases, the desired person also would have wanted that, but they never
got together, because this is not the place for that. So there’s all
this suffering going on, some people going for extended periods without
any, because they cannot say what they want.”
Bert asked, “Are
you suggesting making a place for that?”
Melissa answered,
“We don’t need to, because there already is such a place. It’s on North
Second Street, from North Burbank to about the Governor William Jayne
Highway.”
Rabbi Stevens
observed, “The red light district, or, excuse me, the adult
entertainment district.”
“Exactly.” Melissa
said. “With some organizing and some educating, it may be possible to
let the men who patronize those places, that an option is available to
them, that they’ll like better.”
Eric explained,
“I’ve been known to patronize a strip joint bar once. It was exciting
and also depressing. I had a chance to buy a hooker. Sure, I would
enjoy having sex, just like I enjoy having people laugh at my jokes,
but paying somebody to have sex with me is kind of like paying somebody
to laugh at my jokes. I didn’t realize at the time that I did have some
opportunities, until Melissa explained how the women speak in code and
offer clues instead of just saying they want some, because they can’t.
Well, in the adult entertainment district, maybe they can.”
Rabbi Stevens
admitted, “It’s true these signals, codes, or innuendos, whatever you
call them, can be difficult to catch. When I was young, there was a
song I used to hear on the radio, called Harper Valley PTA, and I
always used to wonder what they were encoding with the lyrics, ‘Well,
there’s Bobby Taylor sittin’ there and seven times he’s asked me for a
date. Mrs. Taylor sure seems to use a lot of ice whenever he’s away.
And Mr. Baker, can you tell us why your secretary had to leave this
town?’ I was able to figure that Mr. Baker got the secretary pregnant,
and in those days, it was a scandal to have a pregnancy out of wedlock,
so she left town to avoid the embarrassment, but I couldn’t figure out
what they were insinuating by Mrs. Taylor using so much ice. Well, they
were trying to say the ice man kept dropping by when Bobby Taylor was
away, and only Mrs. Taylor was home, inferring that the ice man was
having sex with Mrs. Taylor.”
Sandra wondered,
“Well, let’s say a woman can get up the nerve to walk up to a guy and
announce her sexual availability. Just where do you propose they get it
on, across the street in Governor Edmunds Park?”
“Not exactly,”
Melissa replied, “but there are hotels here in town. If we can get a
grant, that might cover the hotel rooms, and we can get discounted,
monthly rates and then seek donations. It won’t be that much, when you
consider that the daily charge is for 24 hours, and a number of men can
be satisfied over that period of time.”
“Two important
issues here.” Rabbi Stevens said, then continued, “Just how will these
women be distinguished from other women who happen to be walking by,
not only the prostitutes but the pedestrians, and how will they tell
the guys about their availability?”
Melissa answered,
“The woman might walk up and greet him, ‘I’m free tonight.’ which says
it all. It says she is available, and her price. They could even wear
uniforms.”
Dave observed,
“Uniforms would be a big help. That tells the guy he can walk up and
greet her.”
Melissa observed,
“Happily married people also have an important role in the process, and
that is where education will be useful. Somebody needs to explain to
them that if somebody at work, or school asks them for a date, don’t
just say ‘NO’ but also offer to help them find somebody. Even just
saying three words, ‘Try the internet.’ can point the person in the
right direction and make a big difference. This applies when they are
asked for a date, or hear somebody lamenting having no luck.”
Rabbi Stevens
said, “A lot of these people want to feel superior, and lose their
superior feeling if they help everybody else up to their level. It’s
too bad, because what goes around returns around.”
Beth agreed.
“Let’s say it’s almost midnight, and I’m bringing my crying baby with
an ear infection to the hospital, and my car won’t start. Some guy is
walking through the parking lot, who hasn’t had a date in way too long.
The women don’t want him because he is always in a bad mood. He’s
always in a bad mood because the women don’t want him. He gets picked
on and taunted because he’s having no luck. Well, he doesn’t have to
get violent to vent his anger. He can just keep walking, and leave me
there. Maybe if he could get a date once in a while, like almost
everybody else, he’d also jump start my car for me, like almost
everybody else would, and he’d walk away feeling good about it.”
Rabbi Stevens
noted, “Education also is important for children under 18, because we
can’t exactly enlist them, but people their age need affection, too.
We’ll need to tell them what to say if somebody not their type asks for
a date. It is possible the asker may be suffering, or maybe not.”
Eric said, “The
government is involved in plenty of issues already, and it is
definitely not the proper role of the government to make sure every guy
has a girlfriend and every girl has a boyfriend who wants one.”
Rabbi Stevens
agreed, “The government is involved in far too much, and fails
miserably at what it does. Too many idiots vote.”
Eric agreed. “On
my way up here, I saw a sign flanked with flashing yellow lights,
saying, ‘Crosswalk, State School for the Blind,’ and another saying,
you know, to yield to pedestrian in crosswalk. Like, duh! People who
can’t figure that out, get to vote.”
HOME PAGE
CHAPTER ONE:
THE PARKING LOT
CHAPTER TWO:
THE COMPUTER
CHAPTER THREE:
THE LOUNGE
CHAPTER FOUR:
THE CAFETERIA
CHAPTER FIVE:
THE PARTY
CHAPTER SIX:
LUNCH
CHAPTER
SEVEN:
MELISSA
WORRIES
CHAPTER EIGHT:
MELISSA’S PROJECT
CHAPTER
TEN:
RECRUITMENT
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
THE PLANNING
CHAPTER TWELVE:
OPERATION UNDERWAY
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN: OPERATION MOVED
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN: GLORIA
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN: THE DISCUSSION
GLOSSARY
Copyright
2007 Tom Alciere