With a prostitute in the Red Light District in Amsterdam. This was a long time ago when I was a major alcoholic, and my only "friends" were guys who were hoping to get with me.

One day we were passing through the Red Light District. When I emerged from a sex shop, my friend pulled me over and said that he had a present for me. He brought me to a window, where there was a prostitute popping her head out the door and smiling at me.

I was obviously like wtf, no. We argued for a bit. He held out his €50 and said she wouldn't get the money unless I went in there. I felt bad that we were wasting her time. I realised I might as well take this idiot's money and give it to her.

So I went inside and explained that I didn't want to do anything, but here have the money. She was pretty confused ("He said you were lesbian", "I am, but I don't want to do anything"). She was touching me, not in a gropey way, just flirty like she didn't know how else to relate to me. Eventually we just talked normally. She'd been a prostitute for 7 years to pay off debt, which she paid off in a week. She said it was nice to have a woman drop by for a change. She hated all the tourists taking photos, she just wanted to do her job and not be shamed for it. She got a lot of repeat customers, men who saw her once a week for example, and a lot of them were married.

She was often treated roughly, which she didn't like. But despite that, she still felt that her clients treated her with more respect than other people. That really stuck with me.

That's all I remember from her story. Other than that I said I liked how her hair was braided, and she showed me how to do it. And I gave her a double shot of my vodka.