Originally Posted by
the gelding
Apart from my good fellows on here, I'm taking the following to the grave: The one and only time I've approached a street walker in Australia (blonde undercover police woman) was in 1998 (I was barely legal). The place (the valley), time and date (including court details two weeks later) are seared into my brain. The undercover cop told me to walk down the side street on my own and she would follow. Within 20m, an unmarked cop car pulled up and demanded me to stop. I shit my pants like you wouldn't believe. That's my only brush with the law. To say I shit myself is an understatement. I had finished my studies, had a crappy job and living with my parents. I was tempted because a dickhead (Matt - I couldn't stand him) I worked with mentioned he always see street walkers hanging around there. The police were sympathetic, I was 100% cooperative. I was almost bashed walking back to my car after leaving the police station (10:30pm). The wait till the court date was traumatic (almost stopped eating completely, I thought about this 24/7 leading up), as was the day. About 5 other blokes got caught. We all stood up together, we all pleaded guilty, and were fined $350 each without conviction (the court was like a production line - low level stuff, eg weed) . It literally took 90 seconds. They walked out in a group talking between themselves, I slunk out behind them in shame. I remember one old bloke saying, "I didn't even know it was illegal". Everyday after getting caught until well after the court date, I bought the paper early in the morning to see if I was mentioned. I can't describe the dread. There was write up about the sting, no individual names mentioned, but it was referred to as "Operation Ambush".
A few years after this (and many times since), I had to get police background check for a new job. This haunted me every time I changed workplaces. A little over ten years after the incident, I had to get a government security clearances for a new job. I never mentioned the incident (though I did shit myself) and it has never been a barrier. I've since carved out a niche and work for myself - it's highly unlikely I'll ever need another check (and I know it won't be an issue if I do). For a long time, it was my #1 life regret - I'm well and truly over it now. I actually wouldn't care now if people knew. At the time, I was worried about family finding out, the shame, and the impact it would have on my career. I've got a very high tolerance to stress, but fuck I felt the pressure during that period. In hindsight, it was irrational and an overreaction, but it didn't seem like it at the time. As mentioned, I was young, this was a one-off and I never contemplated the possibility of getting arrested growing up.
And that's my never before told story about street walkers in the valley in the 90s.
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