One of my regulars was a black gal who lived at a seedy motel on the east side of town and worked as a go-go dancer, one was a bar in the industrial district of neighboring Fargo, N.D. which was near the graveyard shift of foundaries and little assembly plants just getting off.
Then, toward the close of my day shift, I took her to downtown Moorhead on the north side of the Minnesota State University campus. She told me the tips were great because black gals were a novelty there especially in the wintertime. I'm sure it didn't hurt that she was cute as well.
She always asked for me by name and told me the reason she did so was because I treated her with respect and didn't seem to look down on her for her chosen profession. When I finally worked up the nerve to ask why a pretty intelligent lady chose that line of work, she told me about the background of the 'hood in Minneapolis that she came from and just the type of people you mentioned that she needed to escape from. In addition to the good tips, her dance club work seemed like the quickest way out, she told me.
This was back in the late 1970s. I can only imagine how much worse things have gotten since.
Well, let’s hope your friend got out of it all right.
Fun side note: When I first read this: “People don’t beleive that jerks like you describe actually exist, but I do” -
I thought at first you were saying “People don’t believe that jerks like you exist” and I was like, “OH, REALLY? THEY BETTER BELIEVE IT!”