Not when someone can be paid more than $6,000 to answer calls and talk on the phone.
Meet Melissa, 22, an ex-model. She is one of 20 chatline 'Angels' that callers pay 99 cents a minute to make small talk with them.
In turn, the girls can expect to receive a monthly salary of between $3,500 and $6,500.
Commission is also paid, but Discreet Services, the company behind the chatline, did not want to give a breakdown of the rates, or how much it makes.
The money was what enticed Melissa to join Angels.
Melissa said: 'I joined also because of the flexible working hours. The company is kind enough to let us choose our work shifts.'
Details about Melissa were scant. We don't know her education qualifications, nor what shifts she works exactly.
Typically, chatline companies prefer to be discreet; they do not reveal the identities of their chatline operators.
We could interview Melissa only via e-mail. And she would not give her full name.
On her job, Melissa said: 'It is really interesting to talk to people from all walks of life.
'I did telemarketing before and I can tell you chatting is so much more fun then selling.'
While chatline companies normally use scantily clad or pretty, young models in their advertisements, The New Paper on Sunday understands that those featured in the ads are usually not among the real operators.
Discreet Services was one that did not mind revealing the identities of their girls. It said: 'Angels' goal is to make chatlines more transparent. We want to change the bad image of the chatline industry. Also, the misconception that chatline girls are ugly have to be broken.'
A line on one of its advertisements reads: 'All the models involved in this photo shooting is our actual operators (sic).'
The company started its chatline service in mid-September.
There are about 30 full-time and part-time operators. Of these, 20 have their photographs posted on the company's website.
Responding to our queries, Melissa said she was initially reluctant to have her identity revealed in the company's advertisement because she didn't want her relatives and friends to know that she is working as a chatline operator.
After all, some sex predators are known to make use of the services to look for victims.
'But after I understood my duties, I'm proud to tell people that I'm a chatline operator,' she said in an e-mail.
'This is because Angels is a professional chatline and we care about our customers' feelings and provide what they need, which is professional advice.
'Now, even my friends ask me to recommend them to work as Angels.'
However, she could not elaborate on what sort of 'professional advice' they give.
What does she and the other girls talk about with their callers?
'PROVIDE ADVICE'
Without elaborating, Melissa said: 'I have been trained by the operation manager... and my duties are to understand the customers' needs and provide advice over the phone.'
Again, she declined to elaborate.
Stalkers or nuisance calls are par for the course.
Melissa said: 'Definitely, there will be people with extraordinary demands. But we will go only by the book. (There are to be) no sexual, political and religious topics.
'There's so much to chat about, so there's no point talking about things that will not benefit the customers or us.'
Melissa said her company 'scrutinises and chooses Angels very carefully'. She said: 'Nine in 10 applicants usually don't make it. So I'm very lucky.'
For instance, in their advertisement, the company states that they will hire only 'beautiful and young girls' between 18 and 25.
Not only that, the recruitment ads dictate that 'possession with a great body is a plus (sic)'.
But why? Aren't the girls supposed to only chat on the phone?
When we raised the question, Discreet Services would only say that it won't allow Angels to meet up with any customers.
However, its website and advertisements give the impression that callers have the chance to meet the girls one day.
On its website, it said: 'Our chat system is designed such that our Angels can chat in a safe environment to have a chance to know strangers that can potentially become real life friends and maybe more.'
Also, before callers can get any of the Angels' private telephone numbers, they have to 'show their sincerity through constant conversation'.
This allows the Angels 'to know that their chat partner is financially dependable and sincere in friendship'.
The website also states that 'callers can connect to any Angels through our system for any meet ups as we are able to connect callers directly to our Angels' mobile phone without revealing our Angel's private number (sic)'.
To that, Discreet Services insisted that their operators are not allowed to meet any callers.
The spokesman said: 'But we have Angels who eventually fall in love with callers and subsequently quit their job.'
They do that without ever meeting in person?
Melissa said she has exchanged photographs with callers via the Internet. She has also done video chats with some callers online.
She said: 'A lot of our customers eventually become our close friends where there is no boundary for secrets.
'It's really not necessary to meet nowadays as everything can be done through the phone.'
