Post by Clipper on Jan 2, 2012 14:43:11 GMT -5
52-Year-Old Prostitute Still Working Mean Bronx Streets
By: Claudio E. Cabrera
52-Year-Old Prostitute Still Working Mean Bronx Streets
The New York Times
An article in this weekend's Sunday New York Times explores the life of a 52-year-old prostitute who has worked the notorious Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx for nearly her entire adult life.
Barbara Terry, who has four children and suffers from diabetes, which caused all of her teeth to fall out, depended on her mother to help her raise and watch over her four children while she hit the track every night trying to support them.
"When they were old enough to understand, I would tell them the truth," Terry, whose daughter and three sons are now grown, told the New York Times. "I'd say, 'This is how I'm supporting you.' For me it's a business, a regular job."
That job, which many would look at as unacceptable, landed her in jail more than 100 times, but it also gave her the ability to buy a home in upstate New York, where she plans to retire in a year.
It's pretty amazing that she's made it this far in streets where her friends have been beaten up, gone missing and even ended up dead. "I call myself the last of the survivors," she said. "I've survived because God was with me. Every Sunday, my mother and grandmother prayed for me out here."
Terry hit the track when she was 21 after her then-husband abandoned her and her two children.
Thirty years later, she's teaching the young prostitutes on the strip how to handle their business, like getting their money up front and always checking the car they get into. "I love the excitement of coming out here and seeing all these beautiful people I know," she said. "Even my dates are a comfort. This place has made me strong. It keeps you young."
Read more at the New York Times.
Having spent time loading or unloading at Hunts Point Market over the years, and having been in, around and through the South Bronx many times, I am surprised that this woman survived this long.
I can't condone her choice of occupations, but at least she managed to raise her children with a work ethic that has to be admired, however one looks upon her career choice. She also managed to manage her money to the extent that she was able to buy a retirement home in upstate NY.
She has survived 31 years of potentially dangerous encounters with many who are total strangers to her, and of unknown character. (one's character comes into question simply by the fact that one is soliciting the services she provided)
If she survived all these years without ending up with a drug addiction, or disease, or dead, she is one lucky woman. However poor her choices might be, one almost has to give her credit for avoiding the pitfalls of simply sitting back and letting society support her and her children at a poverty level. Not your stereotypical abandoned mother left with kids and no spouse.
And you think YOUR job is difficult?
By: Claudio E. Cabrera
52-Year-Old Prostitute Still Working Mean Bronx Streets
The New York Times
An article in this weekend's Sunday New York Times explores the life of a 52-year-old prostitute who has worked the notorious Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx for nearly her entire adult life.
Barbara Terry, who has four children and suffers from diabetes, which caused all of her teeth to fall out, depended on her mother to help her raise and watch over her four children while she hit the track every night trying to support them.
"When they were old enough to understand, I would tell them the truth," Terry, whose daughter and three sons are now grown, told the New York Times. "I'd say, 'This is how I'm supporting you.' For me it's a business, a regular job."
That job, which many would look at as unacceptable, landed her in jail more than 100 times, but it also gave her the ability to buy a home in upstate New York, where she plans to retire in a year.
It's pretty amazing that she's made it this far in streets where her friends have been beaten up, gone missing and even ended up dead. "I call myself the last of the survivors," she said. "I've survived because God was with me. Every Sunday, my mother and grandmother prayed for me out here."
Terry hit the track when she was 21 after her then-husband abandoned her and her two children.
Thirty years later, she's teaching the young prostitutes on the strip how to handle their business, like getting their money up front and always checking the car they get into. "I love the excitement of coming out here and seeing all these beautiful people I know," she said. "Even my dates are a comfort. This place has made me strong. It keeps you young."
Read more at the New York Times.
Having spent time loading or unloading at Hunts Point Market over the years, and having been in, around and through the South Bronx many times, I am surprised that this woman survived this long.
I can't condone her choice of occupations, but at least she managed to raise her children with a work ethic that has to be admired, however one looks upon her career choice. She also managed to manage her money to the extent that she was able to buy a retirement home in upstate NY.
She has survived 31 years of potentially dangerous encounters with many who are total strangers to her, and of unknown character. (one's character comes into question simply by the fact that one is soliciting the services she provided)
If she survived all these years without ending up with a drug addiction, or disease, or dead, she is one lucky woman. However poor her choices might be, one almost has to give her credit for avoiding the pitfalls of simply sitting back and letting society support her and her children at a poverty level. Not your stereotypical abandoned mother left with kids and no spouse.
And you think YOUR job is difficult?
