History -
Tales from Today's PHAs
Junior - from Dean Mason
One of the more colorful
characters I ever met was Junior, a well-known entrepreneur and
"player" in Miami, Florida. Junior was courteous, hairpin
neat, jewelry laden, and an immaculate dresser, who drove beautiful
new Cadillacs. I was successful in gaining Junior's trust, which
translated into his bringing his 4 to 8 "models" into the
62nd Street Clinic on a regular basis for check-ups. Junior managed
an infamous bar on 79 St., as well as the row houses behind the bar
where ladies would take their dates for the evening (hour). Junior
agreed that I could conduct serologic tests (I drew blood and
performed RPR screenings for syphilis) in the kitchen of one of
these row houses, once a month. This was done between 10 PM and 2 AM
on a Saturday night. We were extremely successful in identifying
early stage syphilis cases during the 1.5 years that this
arrangement was in effect. The interesting thing about Junior was
his versatility. He did not drink, smoke or indulge in drugs. It was
essential that he close the bar on time and not stay out late on
Saturday nights. The reason: Junior was also a church
organist.
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