Persistence of peddling porn.

Been getting a nice and shiny crop of hopefuls enquiring about securing a position with the store lately. Other than allowing me to witness the execrable abortions that the average prospective believes is a good résumé, it leads me to reflect how long the average adult store employee remains.

I’ve never worked at one of the really raunchy stores. You know the type. The lighting is jarring and uneven. Movies are jammed onto the shelves with only the briefest nod toward organization. The rest-room is covered in graffiti. The arcade is squalid and septic. From people I’ve chatted with who have the experience, it’s a hard, brutal tour of duty. Grounds for termination can come out of nowhere like a sniper round from payroll. Three to six months seems to be the norm. Those lasting longer have hooked in like some sort of parasite or have become so beaten down by life to never look in askance toward the environment of lingering toxins.

Fortunately, those types of establishments are increasingly rare. They seem to wither in the face of competition for some odd reason. Anyway, that leaves us with what I consider to be the rest. Regardless of how polished or successful a store might be, if it’s more than a jack-shack, it’s going to be the staff that determines rate of churn.

Not many people determine to make working at an adult store their career. Many will apply out of some prurient delusion for what the job entails. The store naïve enough to hire them on will generally keep them from anywhere between three and twelve months depending on the employee’s laziness in looking for another job and usually anemic work ethic. The sub-set of this variety are the "shrinkage-ninjas" and chemically dependant. Every industry has them in the labor pool and all you can do if one slips through the cracks onto your sales floor is hope you find and pink-slip them rapidly.

Still others are looking for a good place to work who are not bothered by sexually oriented merchandise. Barring inter-staff politics, pay requirements, and scheduling conflicts, these people are typically going to be there for two to three years. A strong stratum of these people on the payroll is usually what separates the best from the rest.

I’ve been in this industry a long time as it’s measured. I’ll probably be in it for a while to come. Management hath its advantages. Besides, the pay’s better at the top.