During working life, I have had several distinctively different careers. I began as a cabinet maker. Progressed into engineering. Diverted abruptly to youth support, teaching, and then child psychology.
However, as a young man, there was a brief flurry with hairdressing. In my naivety, I thought that this would be a good way to meet girls. No, not even close. For a couple of weeks, I worked in a posh hair salon in a well-to-do seaside town. The clientele were older ladies that did lunch.
The shame does not end there, it worsens. My wage as a trainee, was low. The ladies liked a lot of attention and theatrics. So, I rapidly learned that the more camp I acted, the more money I made. Soon, I was being paid to be more of a host, than a hairdresser.
Once, one of our very glamourous ladies handed me the keys to her Jaguar XJS, and told me to bring it home when I was done working.
Being camp was paying me well, and getting me lots of female attention. Yet, I loathed it. I would often sneak off to a local biker bar, and "Man up" again, and did so nearly every night before coming home.
It was a strange period for me. I was astonished by how many of the seemingly straight laced middle-class ladies, lusted after the prospect of educating a camp, innocent, non-threatening, young man.
It all seems like several lifetimes ago.