I'm facing two doors. Behind the right, a theater screens pornos that are heterosexual. It's empty; I already checked. It's now my job to check behind the door on the left. Mom, stop reading. You will not be proud of what your son is doing this week. Tropicana Ave. Inside each screening room, eight seats face two wall-mounted TV monitors. According to Swartz, if two men are sitting in adjacent seats, "they're most likely gonna fool around -- or try to. We enter the room on the left, interrupting the simultaneous double-feature of "Transsexual Prostitutes" and "Sharp Shooters.
Two are seated together. I'll get back to the most potentially traumatizing moment of my life later. Right now I'm at the front counter a few minutes earlier, where Joanne has just plopped down eight sex toys. Women are way more comfortable with this stuff. In fact, most males I observed tonight were reluctant to touch anything without checking over each shoulder to make sure their high-school gym teacher wasn't looking.
Here's the typical pattern: A man enters the store. He's carded to make sure he's older than Then he checks out candles, books, gag gifts and many other things he's not really here for -- much as he might buy cigarettes and gum at a magazine rack to create the impression that the Penthouse Forum he traveled across town for is really an afterthought.
And forget about wanting help. This was especially true in the Bi-Tranny video section, where it was almost always accompanied by contact-avoiding eyes. Count me among them. Earlier, Swartz gave me a merchandise tour that started at excruciatingly awkward and got less printable from there. And their wives don't wait in the car while they shop. I haven't checked every inch of Neiman Marcus at the Fashion Show mall, so I can't say for sure, but I don't remember a gay porn movie theater behind housewares.
Swartz said her job tempts her to laugh "all the time"; for instance, "when men who look completely normal ask to try on a size 10 pair of heels. She paused, eyed me over, and then added, "It could also be your hat making them uncomfortable.
