Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 24, 1994 TAG: 9402240462
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
They're called, innocently enough, conversation lines.
Only their come-ons are straight out of the porn district.
Hot Live Girls. Exotic Ladies. Anything Goes.
All just a telephone call - and a deep wallet - away.
You can find the numbers in the back of many magazines, even in this newspaper. They are listed in the classified ads, innocently enough before the section on lost pets.
But how innocent are they? Or how exotic?
Well, I was called upon to find out.
"What's your name, baby?" This was the typical first question.
"Um ... John."
"And how old are you, John? ... What year were you born?" This is their little test to verify that you're at least 18.
"Why don't you tell me about yourself?"
I ask about them instead.
They use names like Misty and Hope and Debbie and Dolly. For some reason, they all live in Florida, they all have long hair and enjoy nude sunbathing and their measurements are remarkably similar - in the 36-24-36 range. Some of the women are obviously bored, while others are eager to keep me on the line.
A few can barely speak English.
"What are you wearing, John?''
"Shame on you, you shouldn't be wearing so much."
They tell me what they are wearing. It's usually not much. Something red and lacy or black and tight. Several say they model lingerie on the side. Surprise.
"What do you like to do for fun?" Another common question. They ask it open-ended.
"Um .. lots of things."
"What do you like to talk about?"
"I'm not really sure. What do most guys talk about when they call?"
I confess that I'm a first-time caller.
"Oh, really?" The common reply. There is a mischievous tone in many of their voices. You can imagine their eyebrows raised, a devilish grin on their faces. "There's always a first time for everything."
Don't be nervous, I'm told.
"It's not like I can reach through the line and bite you."
"You can tell me anything."
"You're doing fine."
The ads say: Hot Live Girls. Anything Goes. I ask one of the bored ones: "Well, are you hot?"
Her name is Misty. "I could be, I don't know," she says with no enthusiasm.
Another woman, Tracy, replies with no zeal: "I live in Florida, it's always hot down here."
I ask her what other callers talk about. "People talk about whatever they want to talk about."
She is annoyed. "What's with all the questions?"
A different Misty is more helpful. She says she has been having a busy day, with lots of calls from lawyers and bankers and accountants from Washington. "All these people in Washington are crooks," Misty says. But who isn't? "I cheat on my taxes, I admit it."
She says she gets all kinds of calls. Some are just curious. They have never called before and probably won't call again. Others are experienced callers. Some call again and again just to talk to her.
"They'll tell me about their deepest, darkest secrets."
She pauses a beat. "If I was the marrying type, I could find a nice husband."
But Misty isn't the marrying type. She described her exploits when she worked at a hotel in South Carolina and had a half-dozen affairs with married men who stayed there. She says she was pretty wild. "I've reformed over the past year."
No doubt.
Melissa and Ruby and yet another Misty apparently aren't as reformed.
Melissa was making small talk about the weather, about hobbies and so on. Then - perhaps sensing a novice on the phone - she suddenly tells me something that makes me blush. "If I was to come visit you, would you be happy? So, would you like me to come there?"
"Um...."
"Ruby like the red jewel," Ruby calls herself.
She is sitting in her bedroom. "Don't you wish you were here with me?" she says.
Actually, no.She likes being pampered, she says. "I'll give you an example."
When she's sunbathing, she likes to be rubbed with sun tan oil. First on her back. Then all over. "Where I can't reach," she says.
Guess who she suggests should do the rubbing?
"How would you pamper a girl?" she asks.
Whatever happened to giving flowers? Ruby has two roommates. "They always wind up in my bedroom," she explains, whatever that's supposed to mean. I don't ask.
Misty No. 3 is into hot oil massages. Hot oil massages are big on conversation lines.
Misty seems to be enjoying herself.
"What do you think?" she asks.
I think it isn't such innocent conversation.
by CNB