Quirky News
Job centre offers teen job in brothel
A German job centre has apologised after offering work as a brothel barmaid to a teenage girl.
The 19-year-old's mother screamed when she saw the letter offering her daughter the work placement, the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper reports.
The head of the job centre was quoted as saying it should have asked the young woman before sending the letter.
Roland Fuerst stressed that the work being offered in Augsburg, Bavaria, was not prostitution.
Prostitution is legal in Germany and Mr Fuerst's centre was aware that the large establishment in question was a brothel.
The young woman told the newspaper: "I was looking for a decent housekeeping job - not working at a brothel bar.
"I was totally shocked when I read the letter. My mother even started screaming out loud when she read the letter."
what do you think?
Simon .
a job as a barmaid.... I doubt she'd see anything untoward in the bar area so what's the problem? It's not as if they offered her a job as a pros-titute.....
shaun spencer
I wonder if they want a barman, might get some freebies.booze that is.
stewgwyn
Why did we all get minuses, guys ? A barmaid's job is the same wherever it is. Strange people.
blue side
I do wish they would remove the thumbs down to force people to make constructive (or humorous) comments rather than hide behind a symbol. Those who got thumbs down have not made any untoward statements - I had a package some years back for a German brothel looking for a business loan UK bankers could not believe it: was a hoot
shaun spencer
I agree blue side, ive made a similar comment on the vicky price page about dianes comment.people are very easily willing to put thumbs down but havent the guts to say why.its particuarly bad on a condolence page.
Louisa Gieldon
Yeah and i make constructive remarks blue side and then get slagged off for it. So maybe it's not want people want to do. And i haven't even left any thumbs downs for anyone. People get put off when they are laughed and i feel i've been well laughed at tonight. Even when it's a subject i do know a bit about.
Louisa Gieldon
If a brothel doing a recruitment drive offered a child of my a job as barmaid/cleaner/receptionist, i'd be very, very angry. The sex industry ruins the lives of many young people - they turn to drink and drugs to numb their feelings and awareness and many get caught up in the p.orn industry and organised crime as a result of the contact with the people who run brothels. Then there are all the young women who are trafficked- slaves to the crime bosses and the brothel owners. Not so funny when you see the truth behind the headlines, guys. Nothing funny about it at all. And if you don't believe me, i can take you to meet some of the people who have been harmed in this way.
shaun spencer
Yes agreed louisai dont think anybody would want their children working in such places but this is the quirky section and youve got to have a laugh about things somewhere, particuarly after reading all the bad news
Micheal Booth
Louisa, you have always expressed a very liberal view on many of the more controversial topics aired in these pages I was therefore a little surprised with some of what you expressed here. I totally agree with you regarding the trafficing of girls to work in the Sex Industry, this is truly abhorrent and can never be condoned. If our politicians are liberal enough to allow same sex marriage, why can't they legalise the Sex Industry like some of our European partners and Australia? Not all Sex Workers are drug users!!
Louisa Gieldon
"Quirky" means unusual or individual, not funny. It doesn't describe half of the reports in this section - "Miscellaneous" would be a better heading
Louisa Gieldon
And before any tells me it's legal in Germany, i know that!
Michael Mcintosh
The future of UK jobcentres.
EmeraldEspinoza
I never actually saw a genuine vacancy in a UK jobcentre. On the other hand, my dad needed staff for his office and the jobcentres sent the most useless people along.
chrishearn350
This comment has been removed for violations of our Terms and Conditions.
Louisa Gieldon
Michael, being a "lberal" does not mean i agree with everything and everyone. It means that i make up my mind on each individual issue. Legalisation of sex work can bring some safety benefits but it makes it very easy for young men and women to become involved. They walk through the door and ask for a job. I Edinburgh, brothels have been tolerated for two decades and operste as licensed "saunas" with no interference from the police. The links to organised crime are still there, the girls are still trafficked fron Eastern Europe and the workers still have a history of sexual abuse.
Louisa Gieldon
In my experience almost 100% of sex workers use drink and drugs to a level that is problematic/addiction. The prostitution is an extension of the sexual abuse that most have experienced through childhood. Men who are customers of this trade need to open their eyes to the misery that goes on behind the scenes. I don't think that human beings should be traded and sold like just another commodity for greedy people
Micheal Booth
Louisa, I take exception to your last comment. I agree there is a seedier side to the sex industry and I reiterate sex trafficing is abhorrent. But to imply that childhood sexual abuse leads to prostitution and that prostitution leads to drug abuse I find unacceptable. I will agree that SOME girls turn to prostitution to feed a drug habit they already have or are forced into it by their "boyfriends" to feed a drug habit they both have! Women have sold their bodies for sex for ever and this action will never be stopped. It would be better if this was a voluntary decision and that there was NO coercion and that it could be in a legal and safe environment.
Louisa Gieldon
Sorry Michael but i stand by my comments about child sexual abuse and drug abuse because i and my former colleagues have seen it . A relationship in which sex is bought is not an equal relationship. A kid who has been exposed to a highly sexualised family background will be drawn to prostitution as those boundaries/taboos have already been broken. That may not feel lke a palatable fact for the men who use prostitutes but it is the truth nonetheless
Juliecrumpton1234
You tell em Louisa! Spot on! ;-) x
Micheal Booth
I'm stunned! The sex industry is totally based on abuse, then? Quite frankly I would have expected a more understanding and sympathic view from you but......
Louisa Gieldon
Yes it is based on abuse and i only have experience of this country Michael so cannot talk with any authority on other countries. I only know sex workers from this country and they are a pretty damaged bunch. There are some who appear to be able to handle it but sooner or later it gets to them. Incidentally my sympathies are completely with the men and women who get caught up and damaged, not the brothel owners, drug pushers and producers of "adult" entertainment. It's a dirty and dangerous job, so don't fool yourself that it doesn't degrade everyone involved. Is it the sort of career you would wish for your son or daughter, wife or mother?
Louisa Gieldon
Shaun, just because this has been placed in the "quirky" section by Orange, doesn't mean it's not a serious issue. I come here to trade opinions and discuss ideas. A little levity is important but so is debate and swopping viewpoints. If i want to hear endless jokes and puns i'll go buy a joke book. By your logic anything placed in the "news" section would never be joked about and that certainly doesn't happen, so why choose me to criticise?
jane cumming
Because i feel your going a little over the top with this louisa.its the fact the girl was offered this job via the job center that makes it funny.or as you say unusual.but im not going to take it too seriously.
Louisa Gieldon
Jane i was responding partly to blue side , who asked for constructive comments. I was also replying to the people (men?) who felt that a bar job is the same, whether in a pub or a brothel- i disagree strongly and was commenting on those comments rather than the "hilarious" article. Beause i'm serious about some subjects doesn't mean i am humourless and i'm sad to have that insinuated yet again
Louisa Gieldon
Also i am so sick of all the bloody horse jokes - it;'s going on and on and i find it very annoying, cause most of them are niether original nor funny. But i haven't asked people to stop being so flippant, each to their own!
jane cumming
Re horse jokes.i ve asked people to rein them in now but theres no stopping people.
Louisa Gieldon
Thats very funny Jane. Next time you try to make a serious point about something you care about, i will not take a swipe at it.
EmeraldEspinoza
At least it's a job. She'd be well advised to take it and start looking for another while gaining experience and earning money.
Juliecrumpton1234
What a bloody stupid comment, fair play!
movvi
It was a job offer - not a forced placement. I'm stumped as to how the agency could have asked her if it was ok to offer her the job without offending as the letter asking if it was ok to send her a letter asking if she wanted a job might also have offended. I certainly wouldn't have screamed - unless, of course, they had folded a dead mouse in the letter. Horrid when that happens.
Louisa Gieldon
I think the report of the mother screaming is over the top nonsense, but i would have been pretty disgusted.
Juliecrumpton1234
Lol, movvi! I'm just visualising a mouse folded in a letter.....haha!
shaun spencer
Louisa, youve spoken about sex trafficking.p orn, organized crime,same sex , marriage,drugs, drink, child sex abuse,all from an an article about a nineteen year who was offered an inapropriate job.you really do know how to cheer people up dont you.
Juliecrumpton1234
Whoa there Shaun, Louisa has a bloody good sense of humour, and there is nothing wrong in seeing the wider picture, how often does one debate lead on to another? Not like you at all Shaun!
Louisa Gieldon
Shaun i read all your terrible jokes and said nothing. I asked you several times how you were getting on in the floods and wished you well. but got no answer. i have not been rude to you in any way. I outlined my reasons for feeling it was inappropriate as male posters were making jokes. I don't think the sex trade is a laughing matter and i'm sorry i don't react in the same way you do. Known too many heartbroken kids caught up in it all and watched their decline, so it's really personal and important to me. I couldn't and don't want to make jokes about it. Looks like i've made yet another friend on here just for commenting. Cheers
Juliecrumpton1234
.....out of interest, would anyone be happy if their daughter was offered a job as a barmaid in a BROTHEL!!!!
jane cumming
No of course not julie, but i do think this quirky item was meant to be light hearted.it certainly wasnt aimed at sexual abuse of children that is for sure.
jane cumming
I think most people read the quirky storys to have a bit of a laugh and its a change from all the bad news.the subject here i found funny, its about a nineteen year adult julie not a child being sent an inapropreate job offer.just the same as an animal lover being offered a job at a butchers, totally inapropriate.thats the joke here.im sorry but i do think someones totally changed what was going to be a funny post.theres plenty of that in the news isnt there.in fact this page has now become down right depressing.
shaun spencer
Julie its a bit like taking a quirky story about about the worlds smallest car and then going on and on about how cars are responsible for the most road deaths in the world.lol.
Juliecrumpton1234
Didn't find them rude Louisa, but thanks for support! ;-)..... Ok....sort of get your points, Shaun Jane, suppose every news item is up for being taken further, me and Louisa could see a different take on it, don't think we are wrong,....but then neither are you two! Healthy difference of opinion?
Louisa Gieldon
Maybe i was just feeling a bit bruised when i wrote that. Blue side wanted constructive comments and i thought i'd made some. I didn't expect it to cause that reaction.
shaun spencer
It is one of those storys that you can see from two different perspectives but im sure it was put on here in a light hearted perspective.louisa you seem to have personal issues here, im wondering if your able to enlighten us to what they are.i got to say ive known only two prostitutes and they both happened to be very colourful charactors in fact i was always a bit nervous of them but they werent abused and openly said they did it for the money.im not trying to be rude louisa but i do think this is a bit of an overeaction to this story but you sound as if youve had a bad experience in the past connected to this item which is causing this.
shaun spencer
Sorry louisa but i just didnt see your comments regarding the floods otherwise i would have replied.i got to say ever so often there are storys that come on here that have effected the way i react and others react usually because ourselves have had a bad expierience in the subject in the past.and theres certainlly nothing wrong with making jokes only if it only makes one person laugh its worthwhile.people have different senses of humour but at least their trying to cheer others up.if we didnt laugh at things even in bad circumstances the world would be a very very depressing place.
Louisa Gieldon
Shaun i didn't mean to be snippy but just commented as i usaully would. Just because Orabge out this in the "quirky" section doesn't mean that we need to think it's not a serious subject. As i tried to say earlier, you and other make plenty of jokes about the items in the more "serious" categories and i've never left any comments about that. I'm surprised at the reaction and don't like to be called humourless, because i'm not. Also felt a bit offended by that implication, if i'm being honest.
Louisa Gieldon
I would never have even mentioned your jokes if i hadn't felt offended by you saying that i have no sense of humour Shaun and i accept what you say about humour. But i need to reserve the right to comment as i feel is appropriate, not be guided by some unwrtten rules about "quirky" and "serious"
Louisa Gieldon
Sorry for the "episodes" but it won't let me do it all at once! As for personal issues, if you are asking me if i was a sex worker then the answer is no! I have met very many of them in the course of a thirty year career and when i read the comments about "lucky to get a job" etc i thought of all the sad ruined lives i have encountered. Believe me i'm telling the truth about that!
Louisa Gieldon
I've been criticised for being too serious on this subject, so i'll call it a day on this one i think. I do wholeheartedly believe in humour as a way of chasing away our demons and allowing us to cope with what life flings at us. I don't think that, given the right circumstances and a really clever joke, there is a subject that would be taboo to laugh at. But humour based on ignorance is never amusing and i have seen the other, less humorous side of this topic. All i did was comment on a subject and those who criticised me for it have never known me or sat down and had a laugh with me
jane cumming
You need to lighten up louisa. What was a light hearted page youve managed turn into a one person campaign of some sort.louisa do you know what light hearted means.
Louisa Gieldon
Jane that's just being downright rude to me. Very rude to assume stuff about someone you don't know and sorry that you need to resort to that
shaun spencer
Thats a bit over the top jane, it looks like louisa has known someone who has been badly effected by this profession.
Micheal Booth
I can accept that shaun but one bad experience does not mean every working girl is forced, trafficed, abused as a child or is a drug user.
Louisa Gieldon
Not one Michael. Many! Thirty years with many many clients involved and every one damaged. the younger ones start of with the tough attitudes - "I'll just do it until i've paid for......" "I'm the one in control, not the punters" "I'm different to the rest, I'm stronger" " I'll get them back for what my dad did" " These punters disgust me but i'm strong". I've heard every statement a hundred times and it always ends in misery. Real life is not like "Pretty Woman" and men who think it's a fair and honest transaction that harms nobody are kidding themselves Michael. You can disbelieve abd sneer all you want but i know what i'm talking about!
shaun spencer
Louisa. Yes i can see now why youve taken this page so seriously and im sure those who said " lucky to get a job" meant it in a light hearted way, not really stating it as fact.but in jgest.some comments people make you cant take too seriously, in fact theres some here that get off on knowing theyve upset someone.though they are the very few.
Louisa Gieldon
I can kid and joke too Shaun and never expected this reactio because i replied to the "wrong" category. I don't know if they meant it kight heartadly or not but knowing some of the stuff that's said on here it wouldn't surprise me if they meant it. I know some good jokes about the sex industry, told to me by the workers, but in every one the joke is on the punters, who think the girls like them!
Louisa Gieldon
Anyway Shaun. no harm meant to you.
stewgwyn
12:21pm on 8/2/2013
After the sensationalist headline, it was a barmaid job ! What's the fuss ? Dare I say it, it would keep her off the streets !