![\"Police](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Right-Wrong-Thing-for-Ellen.jpg?resize=125%2C180\")
<\/a> though still on stage. \u201cThink of Macbeth roaming the halls of his drafty castle in a reeking bearskin cape. He didn\u2019t wander with furrowed brow in an agony of emotion. He was cold and hungry, his eyes were blurry and his back ached.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nMy first acting assignment was to observe people at work. But I wanted more. I wanted to be<\/em> the person I was observing. That\u2019s what drew me to the Majestic Ballroom on Times Square. Down the stairs I went, following the neon arrows and the aging photographs of buxom women with sullen, pouty faces. The manager hired me on the spot. The supervising dance hostess handed me a floor-length strapless tube of stretch jersey with a padded bra that catapulted my bosom into a fleshy shelf. I squirmed into it, trying not to think about the health habits of its last occupant.<\/span><\/p>\nMy training was short and to the point. \u201cTease the clients. Promise something while promising nothing. The longer you hold a customer\u2019s attention, the more money he\u2019ll spend. String the guy along until closing time, then have the bouncer throw him out on his ass. Turn in your chits at the end of the week for cash.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe hostesses were a cast of female archetypes. An avatar of Marilyn\u00a0Monroe smiled provocatively and shook her pearly blonde wig. Cleopatra assumed a regal pose while clucking disapprovingly at an aging siren with deflated breasts who stood near the door blowing obscene kisses and making juicy smacking sounds to the patrons as they descended the stairs. To one side, a forlorn and disheveled Ophelia talked to no one but herself, her endless babbling an apparent comfort to the steady stream of silent men who paid for her company.<\/span><\/p>\nMarissa wore a simple cocktail dress that zipped down the front so that she could run to the dressing room on breaks and nurse her baby under the watchful eye of the child\u2019s grandmother. \u201cDon\u2019t sleep with anyone you don\u2019t love, like those putas, \u201d she whispered to me with the saintliness of a Madonna and the sad traces of firsthand experience.<\/span><\/p>\nOur clients were a motley bunch. Morose and somber, some were barely able to make small talk or eye contact. No one seemed to be having any fun except for the occasional drunken frat boy who fell through the door on a dare, laughing and shouting obscenities.<\/span><\/p>\nMike was unlike the soggy-faced shufflers who had been stepping on my toes and breathing in my face. He was young and talkative. \u201cI chose you,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause you look different from the other girls.\u201d I was elated to be recognized for what I was, not what I was pretending to be. I poured out my tale: dedicated-young-actress-embarked-on-a-meaningful-but-dangerous-venture-into-the-skin-trade-for-the-love-of-theater. My\u00a0confession must have pierced the armor of his anonymity. An eighth note after the music finished, he bolted across the dance floor and made for the stairs. With his hand on the door, he turned and shouted at me: \u201cHey you. My name\u2019s not Mike.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAt closing time Cleopatra rode off in a Cadillac with a man who looked to be half her age. Marilyn Monroe hailed a taxi. The old siren stuck a cigarette in her nearly toothless mouth and headed for an all night bar. Ophelia skittered off into the darkness. Marissa left with her mother and baby. At the end of the week I tried to transfer my chits to her account, but I was told it was against the rules.<\/span><\/p>\nIt took me years to connect my brief stint at the Majestic Ballroom to my career as a police psychologist. Granted, police officers and dime-a-dance hostesses are very different and I hope I\u2019m not insulting either when I suggest they share some similarities. Both need to protect themselves emotionally and psychologically from people who want them and reject them in equal measure. The occupational personas they are forced to adopt are tools of the trade; virtual masks that simultaneously crush them and free them to do their jobs. Emotional control is vital to their ability to function in uncertain, potentially explosive circumstances. And social distance is their bulwark against the misery and despair they see every day.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Majestic Ballroom no longer exists, probably replaced by on-line porn sites. Cleopatra, Ophelia, Marilyn Monroe, and Marissa have gone on to do other things that are, I imagine, less gratifying than the opportunities and experiences I have had. It makes me sad that they will never know how much they influenced my life and for how long.<\/span><\/p>\nBlog Administrator: Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nPlease share this article from down below.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nPlease join the email list on the top of the sidebar and you can get these sent to your email.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nCome back regularly for more updated blogs on police psychology<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police Psychology | When You Start Out You Never Know Where You\u2019ll Wind Up By Ellen Kirschman I started out to be an actress and ended up as a police psychologist writing mysteries inspired by my clients. \u201cActing is physical,\u201c my first drama teacher roared as though still on stage. \u201cThink of Macbeth roaming the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17168863,17168797,17168831],"class_list":["post-944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories","tag-ellen-kirschman","tag-police-psychology","tag-police-stress"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5092,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=5092","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":0},"title":"Police Psychology | The Obsessed Mind-Body Connection","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"January 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | The Obsessed Mind-Body Connection by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Thoughts","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168878"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4552,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=4552","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":1},"title":"Police Psychology | Emotional Pinball","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"October 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | Emotional Pinball by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.\u00a0 ABPP \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Emotions"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Emotions","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17165629"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5013,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=5013","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":2},"title":"Police Psychology | A Real “Blue” Christmas","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"December 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | A Real \"Blue\" Christmas by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6005,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=6005","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":3},"title":"Police Psychology: Good Stress: Bad Stress","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"May 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology:\u00a0 Good Stress: Bad Stress by Gary S. Aumiller Ph.D., ABPP \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Resilience"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Resilience","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168882"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4767,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=4767","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":4},"title":"Police Psychology: Holidays in Law Enforcement","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"November 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | Holidays in Law Enforcement by\u00a0 Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.\u00a0 ABPP \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Avoiding Being a Missing Person"","block_context":{"text":"Avoiding Being a Missing Person","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168886"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4386,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=4386","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":5},"title":"Police Psychology Video: The Joy of a Missing Persons Case","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"October 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | The Joy of a Missing Person Case by Det. Gary Travers Produced and Intro by Sara Gaertner \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Thoughts","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168878"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p60sbO-fe","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=944"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":948,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions\/948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Police](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Right-Wrong-Thing-for-Ellen.jpg\")
<\/a> though still on stage. \u201cThink of Macbeth roaming the halls of his drafty castle in a reeking bearskin cape. He didn\u2019t wander with furrowed brow in an agony of emotion. He was cold and hungry, his eyes were blurry and his back ached.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n