Interesting comments, and most of my thoughts on the hypotheticals have already been addressed.

But one add-on to Matt’s comment about desperation. My initial impulse is to side with Matt on this, in the sense that a lady who comes across as confident and successful tends to be more attractive to me. But Amanda should know. :) But whichever of them is right, there’s still something about her explaining WHY she needs the cash that bothers me. That is, it might work on me but still annoy me a bit.

It’s the mixture of business and charity.

If it’s a business proposition, the relevant factor is whether I would value what I receive in the exchange as much or more than what I give in the exchange. Her reasons for needing the money aren’t a justification for it as a business proposition — they’re an attempt to influence my charitable impulses.

Mixing business and charity that way may work in P4P — I’ll take Amanda’s word for it, I guess, and certainly I’ve seen a lot of such attempts by the ladies over the years. But it’s relatively rare in other business settings, and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I encounter it. Even if it works. :) Unless it works so effectively I don’t even notice it. :)

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With respect to the original question, I’m not sure how I would react. It would depend on so many factors that it’s hard to predict. Under some circumstances — possibly. Assuming that she’s also polite/personable in making the offer, even if I declined, I wouldn’t be offended. Unless I was with my wife. :)

But I probably would be curious about why she approached ME instead of some other guy in the restaurant. Not a suspicious curiosity necessarily, and not because there’s any reason she shouldn’t approach me, but I would wonder. If she’s in that situation, and decides she wants to make that offer to someone, how did she go about deciding whom to approach? Do I look for some reason as though I would be receptive to the offer? Or at least not be angry or offended by it (as some people might)? How did she choose? I would be intrigued by her thought process in carrying that out. As well as whether she came to the restaurant with the intent to ask someone — why there? — or whether it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and if the latter, what triggered it.

Of course, if I noticed her going up to a lot of different guys making the same offer . . . I wouldn’t be curious about why she approached me as well, but I suspect I would be less likely to take the offer. Part of the attraction and one factor influencing me to say yes might be that she singled me out. Even though rationally I know it’s probably random and meaningless, or even negative if she thought that I looked gullible :) , it’s still nice to be singled out, isn’t it?

A real pro also recognizes when a person can’t be played or, in your view I’m guessing, isn’t worth the trouble..

I’d probably have the same suspicious reaction to a sob story rather than a straight proposition – though the test for the sob story would be to offer to give the woman help with the problem rather than money, and see what her reaction is.

If you’re a guy, eating in that same restaurant, and a woman you found reasonably attractive approached you and said she’d blow you in the bathroom or your car for $200, how would you react?

probably I’d do a spit-take.

How would it make you feel that she approached you and offered to begin with?
I’d be bemused.
My wife, not so much.

Would it make a difference if she stated that she really needed the money lest she have her electricity turned off?

No – I’d probably go the (kind of) Christian route – stand up and say to the crowd “Attention! The lady here needs some cash to keep her electricity on – if we all kick in $20 we can do two good things – We can keep her lights and heat on and we tip the waiter at the same time!”

An alternative approach –
I’d offer to paypal (some of) the money to her utility account from my iPhone and forego the blowjob.

Now, if I were approached by a woman offering me a blowjob for $200, I would likely not accept that offer. I would be polite, but I am not interested in a $200 blowjob. There are lots of places to get a blowjob for free. So for me, the offer would have to be something else. Not sure what to tell you it would have to be, but a blowjob isn’t enough of an enticement.

The first thing that came to mind when I thought about her saying that she was only doing this because she needed the cash, was that now I can haggle on price. I know that might be seen as a dirt-baggish response, honestly it is the first thing I thought of. I guess I am a capitalist at heart.

On the other hand, knowing myself, I am more likely to say to her that there are other options for money than selling sex. Again, not because I have a judgment that selling sex is bad, but because I imagine that if she were feeling the need to defend herself by explaining that it is for survival, SHE has judgments on her activities. And, if she has judgments, then perhaps this is not the best course of action for her. Perhaps there are other options.

Keep the great scenarios coming.