An Introduction

As an avid fan of the History and Discovery Channels, I’ve learned that mankind has had porn from just about the time we could write on cave walls. Drugs, or at least efforts to alter our consciousness, have been around even longer. I feel the need to point this out before the reader goes any further. It’s very easy to look at porn stores and head shops as beacons of vice that should be eradicated off the face of the earth. However, from a historical standpoint, it’s fairly obvious that any attempt at outlawing any product simply creates an underground market for it.

I’ll freely admit that sale of these items does have a tendency to attract the underbelly of society. That’s one of the reasons why these stories are so amusing. Anyone who’s been at a bar at closing time has seen this too. It just comes with the territory of mind-altering products and I’ve chosen to view these incidents as amusing, rather than shameful. If each of us takes a look at our own experiences, we’ll each find embarrassing experiences on drugs or alcohol that we’d prefer weren’t told.

This is not academically-based, non-fiction and since the action takes place in adult bookstores, it will be easy to be judgmental towards the wide variety of clientele that come through the doors. Yes, there are people who are mentally ill and addicted to sex that frequent porn stores simply looking for anything to fuck. But on the other hand, I met a lot of sincere individuals and couples that came into the store honestly looking for some tools to make their loving connections stronger and more exciting. There are two sides to every story and while the content may focus on the freaks and weirdoes (they tend to be more entertaining), know that not everyone who shops at adult bookstores is the type of person who would, given the chance, violate you with a turkey baster.

I use to feel conflicted when I worked at the adult bookstore/head shop in a small, Minnesota college town. There were lots of people coming in to buy pipes that looked like they should be spending this time getting their lives in order. And since this town didn’t have a safe and accepted gay hangout, lots of young, gay guys would troll the back video booths, looking for a “date.”

But life is about choices and the fact that Mankato didn’t have decent outlets for the young people who live there, nor a gay bar or social club to allow homosexuals to meet new people in a non-sexually deviant environment isn’t the fault of the store. We provided goods that people were looking for and this, my friends, is how America works.

It’s unfortunate that compulsive people have based their lives around drug use or random sexual encounters with strangers, but you might as well ban alcohol or casual sex based on these factors. The majority of customers weren’t coming in everyday and weren’t trying to hump each other in the back.

Sit back, relax and have some fun taking a look at the strange things that happen when you sell “tobacco” supplies and mature content.