skin and usually wore jeans with a plaid shirt or polo. He had a little bit of a tummy and black horn rimmed glasses that were always sliding down his nose, so he had to keep pushing them up all the time. There was always the scent of cheap drug store cologne on him, but somehow he was able to carry it off. He always had a smile and something pleasant to say to everyone. He was a very loving man, a sweet soul. I always enjoyed having him in the store to keep me company. He just loved all the Navy guys who came in. Cruising a lot, old Woody scored a lot of dates out of there.
Around this time, the cops started coming down on all the bookstores in the area. They’d make us take certain things off the shelves. It was starting to be a hassle and drove business away. It was the politics of the day. Community standards and all that. They decided that instead of a blanket law that you couldn’t have an adult bookstore, they’d instead leave it up to each community to set its own standards. We’d be forced to take down the bondage films and equipment. They really could have told us to remove everything, but they only objected to the most bizarre. It was the seventies and for as much freedom as women were getting, some of our feminist leaders like Gloria Steinem were raising a lot of ruckus against pornography.
I felt it was all very hypocritical. There were men’s magazines on the newsstand like Playboy and Penthouse that they weren’t bothering with. And they didn’t do anything to the strip clubs in our area, what few were around. They were just targeting bookstores. As far as I was concerned, it gave the guys a place to go. Even if they were jacking off in the back, it was a release for them. And if two consenting adults are doing what they want to do, I don’t think it’s anybody’s business.
We’d take stuff down and the next day they’d pick on some other item. It became a hassle getting staff to work the store and I had to work a lot of hours because of it. We hired a black gentleman and immediately noticed the sales were going down and merchandise disappearing. Despite the coincidence, I just didn’t feel he was the kind of person to steal.
One night on the way home, I was in the car behind him at a red light. The light changed and he wasn’t moving. I sat there trying to figure out what was going on and finally got out and knocked on his window.
He was dead asleep.
Turned out the guy had narcolepsy. He would fall asleep all the time in the store. The customers were taking stuff right off the shelves while he was snoozing. One day, I actually saw him asleep while standing. Yes, standing. I took a newspaper and winged it at his head. It scared the crap out of him. I told him, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think this is going to work. You need to go home.”
I felt bad, but it wasn’t good for business. And it wasn’t safe for him. They could have knocked him over the head and did whatever they wanted because he was falling asleep pretty regularly. But as soon as we got rid of him, sales went right back up.
So we had to give Woody more hours. I walked into the store one evening and there were two other guys there with Woody, who was behind the counter. I could feel a bad vibe in the air. Woody looked really nervous when I arrived.
I asked, “What’s going on?’ Nobody said anything. I announced, “If nobody’s going to tell me anything, you two have to leave.”
Later, Woody admitted it was a fight, a love triangle. One of the guys didn’t know Woody was seeing the other. I said, “I don’t know what to tell you, but if you’re going to do this, you have to keep it away from the store. I don’t want your boyfriends bringing drama in here. It’s not good for business.” I didn’t see any of his boyfriends or tricks after that.
Ken and I were home one night and got a call from the police that we needed to come down to the store. Something had happened. I thought maybe Woody had another spat
Around this time, the cops started coming down on all the bookstores in the area. They’d make us take certain things off the shelves. It was starting to be a hassle and drove business away. It was the politics of the day. Community standards and all that. They decided that instead of a blanket law that you couldn’t have an adult bookstore, they’d instead leave it up to each community to set its own standards. We’d be forced to take down the bondage films and equipment. They really could have told us to remove everything, but they only objected to the most bizarre. It was the seventies and for as much freedom as women were getting, some of our feminist leaders like Gloria Steinem were raising a lot of ruckus against pornography.
I felt it was all very hypocritical. There were men’s magazines on the newsstand like Playboy and Penthouse that they weren’t bothering with. And they didn’t do anything to the strip clubs in our area, what few were around. They were just targeting bookstores. As far as I was concerned, it gave the guys a place to go. Even if they were jacking off in the back, it was a release for them. And if two consenting adults are doing what they want to do, I don’t think it’s anybody’s business.
We’d take stuff down and the next day they’d pick on some other item. It became a hassle getting staff to work the store and I had to work a lot of hours because of it. We hired a black gentleman and immediately noticed the sales were going down and merchandise disappearing. Despite the coincidence, I just didn’t feel he was the kind of person to steal.
One night on the way home, I was in the car behind him at a red light. The light changed and he wasn’t moving. I sat there trying to figure out what was going on and finally got out and knocked on his window.
He was dead asleep.
Turned out the guy had narcolepsy. He would fall asleep all the time in the store. The customers were taking stuff right off the shelves while he was snoozing. One day, I actually saw him asleep while standing. Yes, standing. I took a newspaper and winged it at his head. It scared the crap out of him. I told him, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think this is going to work. You need to go home.”
I felt bad, but it wasn’t good for business. And it wasn’t safe for him. They could have knocked him over the head and did whatever they wanted because he was falling asleep pretty regularly. But as soon as we got rid of him, sales went right back up.
So we had to give Woody more hours. I walked into the store one evening and there were two other guys there with Woody, who was behind the counter. I could feel a bad vibe in the air. Woody looked really nervous when I arrived.
I asked, “What’s going on?’ Nobody said anything. I announced, “If nobody’s going to tell me anything, you two have to leave.”
Later, Woody admitted it was a fight, a love triangle. One of the guys didn’t know Woody was seeing the other. I said, “I don’t know what to tell you, but if you’re going to do this, you have to keep it away from the store. I don’t want your boyfriends bringing drama in here. It’s not good for business.” I didn’t see any of his boyfriends or tricks after that.
Ken and I were home one night and got a call from the police that we needed to come down to the store. Something had happened. I thought maybe Woody had another spat
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