The “Box Girls” at the Standard Hotel

For three years on and off, I’d spend seven hours at a time inside a 15-foot-long, 4-foot-wide, 5-foot-tall see-through glass box in the lobby of the Standard hotel in West Hollywood.

The “box girls” at the Standard had to wear white tank tops and little white shorts and “light, natural makeup.” They hung out on a nice comfy bed, and could “do whatever they wanted in the box: use their computer, talk on the phone, read, listen to music, even sleep,” as long as they pretended not to be listening when foreign businessmen asked if they were for sale. Okay, so there are pros here, there are cons here, and there’s the undeniable fact that you’ve got to look like a Barbie to get paid an hourly wage to nap gently in public so the question I’m about to ask is a moot one for me and many, perhaps most, among us. But: how much money would you need to say yes to the box? [LA Mag]