One of the news headlines out of Providence the other day was a story about a police raid at a brothel. Such raids are a rarity and the word caught my eye. Brothel is such an interesting word. Thought to be of Germanic origin meaning a ramshackle structure that harbors prostitutes.

It got me thinking about what sort of men, for it is invariably men who are the paying customers, avail themselves of such services.

I looked to the oracle of the modern world, Google, for information on the demographics of the typical brothel customer.

There was no single socioeconomic indicator.

Nor racial, ethnic, or religious similarities.

No single factor in common among those arrested for frequenting prostitutes.

But I knew human nature shares a commonality, there must be something that such “pay to play” individuals shared.

With a little creative data analysis, in-depth information sorting, and thorough check and cross-checking of sources I found the answer.

The one common element present in each customer of this and all American Brothels.

They were all Red Sox Fans.

I am still working on the data on the “sex workers.”  I’ll post that when I finish my analysis. But I have my suspicions…