MISCONDUCT IN THE SUBURBS

We have a town newspaper which is distributed each week at no charge. One of the features is a "police blotter" which I scan through pretty quickly. It runs a week or two behind and if anything really interesting has happened, I have usually heard about it already.

It reports the usual accidents, shoplifting's and prank phone calls. Last week there was a new category Massage Misconduct. So that is what they are calling the "happy ending" these days.

I live in a suburban city with a quaint little downtown, good schools, some really expensive country clubs and homes, expansive sports parks and lots of churches. Within walking distance of our little downtown house there are at least 4 massage parlours. I am counting the ones with neon signs advertising that they are open at all hours of the night and day.

Tom used to have his office in a building with one of them. He said there really wasn't a steady stream of clientele from what he observed. Over time he came to believe that the reason the proprietors of the business were driving extremely expensive cars had less to do with massages and tips and more to do with, perhaps, money laundering.

That particular estabishment was asked to move from the premises when a children's art school moved in and the owner of the building had a guilty conscience about the kids potentially running into the clients in the hall. The ladies left and moved to another location down the street - the one which was cited for massage misconduct.