Uncomfortable for me, at least. I'm here on assignment, trying to think up an alibi. These days, AIDS prevention groups hold well-attended educational seminars here, and once or twice a week set up a table where they hand out brochures and answer questions about safe sex. There is none of this here tonight, however, as I walk into a maze of dim corridors with chocolate-colored walls and a patterned brown carpet. Fifty-two rooms are packed together on each side of the halls.
Men cruise the hallways clad in nothing but towels.
A tall Asian man with a beard is stroking his genitals and staring intently out the door. An obese man lies on his side, reading a book. Others watch TV, either cable or porn. Bathhouse etiquette suggests that those who lie on their stomachs prefer the bottom in sexual encounters. The tops are lying on their backs.