It's a question we get all the time: "Which toy do you like best?"  And though we'd generally rather help you figure out what'll work best for you (which often isn't the same thing that works for someone else), we still like to talk about our personal favorites from time to time.  That's what our Staff Picks section is for: every month, six Babelanders share their favorite vibrators, dildos, butt toys, and more.  And every month, we interview one of those folks so you can learn a little more about what goes on behind the scenes here, and why we love our jobs so much.  This month, we've got Destin on deck.  We love Destin's humor, vast knowledge base, unending thirst to learn more, and general fabulousness -- and we think you will, too.  Read on!

Abby: What first brought you to Babeland?  Tell us the story of how you started working here.

Destin: For years, I’ve dreamed of becoming a sex educator.  My degree is in education, and I’ve long hoped that one day I could spread sane sex/sexuality knowledge to the masses.  When I moved to the Bay Area, I found myself amidst an amazing community of sex-positivity and folks fortunate enough to be working in related fields.  One of the lovely people I met was a new housemate who worked here.  When an opening came up in Customer Service, she tipped me off, and I focused every thought on getting the job.

Abby: And we're so glad you did!  Where were you before Babeland?  Give us a summary of your career!

Destin: My very first job was inflating rafts and scooping live bait shrimp at a place called the Beach Barn on Florida’s Gulf Coast.  From there, I’ve been a finish carpenter, professional handyqueer, community organizer, and I've worked a lot of various retail jobs.

Abby: What do you do here?  What's a day in the life of you at your job?

Destin: I have the fortune of being a Sex Educator/ Customer Service Rep.  I get to the office and immediately begin responding to any customer emails which have shown up overnight.  I monitor emails, the phones, and our Live Chat service to assist customers with the many varied questions that arise.  I am also called upon for assorted tasks like cleaning antique vibrators for an exhibit, packing customer orders, and doing reviews of potential products for our buyers.  I get to do all of that alongside the best crew of folks anyone could ever hope to work with.

Abby: What was your family's reaction when you told them you work at Babeland?

Destin: I was in need of a different job, and my parents knew I was miserable where I was (corporate retail management).  For years, I had been talking about wanting to be a sex educator and write curriculum.  That aspect of this job didn’t really phase them, and they understood that the emotional gains coming from this job would more than cover the pay cut.

Abby: Tell us about your favorite/most touching/life-changing/whatever moment(s) with a customer, coworker, whoever.

Destin: I feel like I’m blessed with awesomely noteworthy moments constantly here.  One that stands out in my mind was an email exchange with a person who had taken a new, long-distance, less experienced lover.  They were emotionally in love, but this person described the sex as “absolutely horrible”.  The email was heartbreaking for reasons I won’t elaborate on here.  I constructed a very thoughtful response, and didn’t hear anything until two months later when we received a response email from her stating that she’d taken my advice, and thanking me so much for it… she said they were both “quivering with anticipation” for their next visit with each other because of how well it went.  What could be cooler than helping folks get to such a wonderful place?!?

Abby: What's something you've learned about yourself through your work at Babeland?

Destin: I’ve discovered that even if I absolutely love what I do for work and the folks that I work with, I still don’t want to get out of bed before there are double-digit numbers on the clock.

Abby: And how about something you've learned about sex?

Destin: I have learned soooo much, it’s hard to narrow.  I’ll settle on saying this: as a sex-positive person who’s got a lot of knowledge, both intellectual and lived, about human variation, this job managed to surprise me with how little I actually did know about how widely humans differ.  In some ways, this knowledge makes me sad, because I’m in a position to experience so many folks laboring under the false weight of normalcy without realizing how very perfect they and their sex are.  We are all normal, because all our variations are normal for our species.

Abby: What are your favorite words for various anatomical parts?  (You choose which parts.)

Destin: Gosh, I really love nicknames!  My housemate loves to say “jam” for whatever someone has between their legs.  That’s one of my faves.  Because of the nature of the work I do all day, my coworkers and I are likely to get pretty creative with the words we use, and yet still know exactly what each other is referencing.      , and thanking me so much for it… she said they were both “quivering with anticipation” for their next visit with each other because of how well it went.  What could be cooler than helping folks get to such a wonderful place?!?

Abby: What's something you've learned about yourself through your work at Babeland?

Destin: I’ve discovered that even if I absolutely love what I do for work and the folks that I work with, I still don’t want to get out of bed before there are double-digit numbers on the clock.

Abby: And how about something you've learned about sex?

Destin: I have learned soooo much, it’s hard to narrow.  I’ll settle on saying this: as a sex-positive person who’s got a lot of knowledge, both intellectual and lived, about human variation, this job managed to surprise me with how little I actually did know about how widely humans differ.  In some ways, this knowledge makes me sad, because I’m in a position to experience so many folks laboring under the false weight of normalcy without realizing how very perfect they and their sex are.  We are all normal, because all our variations are normal for our species.

Abby: What are your favorite words for various anatomical parts?  (You choose which parts.)

Destin: Gosh, I really love nicknames!  My housemate loves to say “jam” for whatever someone has between their legs.  That’s one of my faves.  Because of the nature of the work I do all day, my coworkers and I are likely to get pretty creative with the words we use, and yet still know exactly what each other is referencing.