Southwest Shipping - Part 6

[ElJefe]

Dancing with the advanced class.


Southwest Shipping

Nobody answered the door at the facility, so Natalie let herself in with her card. She wondered whether she should change right away, and decided that she should verify that Will wasn't there first. When she found the entire suite of offices at the front of the building empty, she took the long walk through the building to the far end of the warehouse floor.

The first place she looked was the slave quarters, and there he was, sprawled out on a chair facing two rows of slaves, all nude and kneeling in the Down position.

"Well, glad you could make it," he observed with a smile. Natalie thought she heard tittering.

"Hi, Will. Er, ladies." It seemed reasonable to at least acknowledge they existed, even if they were on the bottom of the totem pole.

"We saved you a spot," he said, pointing to an empty floor mat at the end of the back row of four.

"Uh, I'll just go change." She looked around, seeing only the open facilities where the slaves eliminated and cleaned themselves. "Is there a restroom around here?" She recalled having to walk all the way back to the office section when she needed to pee at team meetings.

"Right over there," Will indicated the exposed slave facilities with his chin.

"I was hoping for something more private." This time, she was sure she heard a slave stifle a laugh.

Will regarded her with an amused grin. "Well, then, come here, I'll give you directions."

As she approached, he pointed to the floor. "Just set your bag down there for a moment."

Confused, she did so. But her clothes were in the bag, how was she going to change into her workout stuff without it? There always seemed to be a catch of some sort. He strolled over to her, and turned her by the shoulders until she was facing the others. They formed two rows, all kneeling with knees apart, their bodies available for inspection. Although their eyes were all downcast, Natalie detected signs of amusement on some of their faces.

"Is something funny going on?" She felt like she had just missed the punch line of some joke.

"I explained to them that you were going in for a grading and needed help with your block moves. So, I reckon they're rather amused at practicing their block routines with a free woman."

"Ah."

"Now, strip."

"What!?" Her partner had just casually demanded that she strip down in front of a group of slaves. Natalie was taken aback.

"Do you see any of them wearing clothes?"

"Well, no, but..."

"But what? They're slaves? You're going in for a grading, right?"

"Right." More titters.

"Well, what do you think you're going to be wearing when you're graded?"

"I...I know I have to be nude there, but here?"

"Oh, you think the first time you ever shuck your panties in front of a big crowd will be at your grading, and that you'll do just fine?" At least one of the slaves was working hard to suppress a laugh.

He called out. "12 22, did you get your first grade at the same time you were enslaved?"

"No, Master."

"What did you wear at your grading?"

"This slave was slave naked, Master. All this slave wore at her grading was a collar." More titters.

"But you weren't enslaved that day, right? You were a free woman?"

"Master, this slave was the property of the company that graded her for a few hours. But then she became free again."

"18 41, what did you wear to your first grading?"

"This slave was slave naked, Master."

"Did you leave the auction barn free or slave?"

"This slave was freed at the end of her grading, Master."

"26 14, tell me about the clothes you wore to your first grading."

"Master, this slave did not wear any clothes to be graded."

Natalie interjected. "Ok, I get it."

Will met her gaze, no longer the affable business partner, but now the slave wrangler. "Good. Now, strip."

"Right here?"

"Unless you want to call the whole thing off. I mean..." He trailed off and broke into a grin as she started to unbutton her blouse, a petulant scowl on her face. She began stuffing her clothing and heels into the bag atop her workout clothes, clearly displeased at being treated that way. Soon, she stood before him and a little to one side, as nude as the day she was born, facing away from the slaves, hands clasped together over her sex but only partially blocking it from view.

He took two steps to stand before her, and lifted her chin with the side of his forefinger. He spoke softly, his voice menacing in its understated power. "Little slave, better get that expression off your face or you'll get your little ass whipped for sure. You think anyone wants to buy a slave that'll look them in the eye and go tell them to fuck themselves?"

He was right. If she was going to fetch a good grade, she had to at least play along with the charade of being a submissive, pliable sex toy. "No, sir."

"No, sir?" His voice raised enough to be heard well in the back row, and there was another round of titters. He hugged her around the shoulders with one arm, and walked around in a half circle until she was facing the slaves.

"NO, MASTER!" He punctuated each word with a hard, stinging slap to her buttocks, catching her left arm as it instinctively moved to cover her tail after the first swat so as to ensure a free target for the second one.

Natalie was shocked. He had just disciplined her in front of all the other slaves, as if she was a slave herself. Worse was the smug expression on their faces, as if they were thrilled with the role reversal. She hadn't just been brought down to their level, she was below them, the stupid new girl who needed her ass spanked so that she could perform at their standard.

That wasn't the most shocking thing; but she didn't know which of the two following events was. It had to be either the swiftness with which she replied, "Yes, Master!", or else the tingle of sexual excitement she felt as her buttocks smarted from the blows. What the hell was happening to her?

Will wasted no time with further explanation, pointing to the empty mat. "Get to your place, slave!"

"Yes, Master!" Natalie scurried into place amid a giggle or two, kneeling like the others.

"Slaves are to recite their block mantras as they perform! Three horniest cunts get some D afterward, so look sharp! Present!"

As one they all rose and recited, "I live to serve you, Master!"

Natalie scrambled to follow, recalling her moves from the night Will had stayed over in her apartment. Her eyes roved over the body of the woman in front of her, blond, toned, an athlete's body. Of the seven, perhaps two could rival Natalie's appearance, and this woman was one of those two.

Her right buttock bore the same circle-star logo as the other blond at the team meeting the other day. Natalie scanned the four asses in the front row; only one bore that mark.

"Back Hands!"

She crossed her wrists behind her back. "I am yours to use as you wish, Master!"

"Down!"

She noticed the other women kept their hands crossed behind their backs as they knelt, and struggled to do likewise. "Please fuck my face with your huge cock, Master!"

"Collar!"

They all assumed the position, lifting their hair away from their neck with their right hands while resting their left hands on their hips, reciting, "Please buy me and make me your slut, Master!"

She knelt there, eyes on the floor after saying her mantra as the form directed, but there were no further commands. She could hear his footsteps, and saw his legs and feet approach from the edge of her vision. He stood over her, she could feel him next to her. She hoped he'd not seen some fault to correct.

And then she felt a collar against her neck, and felt the momentum of the device as it swung shut around her with a click.

"I didn't want anyone to feel...under dressed for this performance." The laughter wasn't as suppressed as it had been before they started. She burned with embarrassment as his footsteps faded away.

"Fours!"

She dropped to all fours, then lowered her elbows to the mat. "I'm your bitch, Master - won't you take me doggy-style?"

He'd stripped and collared her, and was putting her through her paces as a slave. And he was doing it in front of other slaves, who could serve as witnesses! She wondered if she'd crossed the event horizon of the "Beetlejuice Rule".

"Up!"

"Your slave is ready to serve you, Master!"

She was but one of a writhing mass of bodies, contorting and stretching to please her Master. She compared herself to the others around her, at first to keep up with each new position and to perform it as well as the others, then to compete with the others for his attention as the positions came with more and more ease. As her body moved, her arousal increased, and it all began to make more sense. Her grade was an indication to buyers how pleasurable she'd be as their plaything, and the block routine was her sales pitch for her sexual fitness. If you were buying a slave for sex, you'd want a horny one, one who could (and would) fuck on a moment's notice. And if a slave was advertising that, how better than to become aroused on the block, displaying her wantonness to the buyers? Intuitively, she knew she was competing for the attention of her Master, and that the more she desired him, the more he would desire her. She felt the beginnings of a sheen of perspiration as she performed the moves, and a slickness between her legs as well. And she was sure that she detected the aroma of pussy all around her, she wasn't the only one.

"Fours!"

She lowered her head and thrust her hind cheeks skyward for the umpteenth time, declaring her readiness to copulate. There was a pause; she waited for the next order, but it didn't come. She could see Will close to the girls in the front row, over on the other side, examining something. She felt an emptiness behind her, the exposure of her newly denuded sex to the open air, a longing to be touched back there, caressed, filled, fucked. Natalie raised herself on her elbows just slightly, just enough to drag her stiff nipples across the mat, just a centimeter or two at a time, writhing like a slut.

He was moving down the line now, and she could see. He dipped two fingers into the vagina of the girl ahead and to her left, sampling her, testing the quality of her pussy. Natalie felt jealous, she wanted him to finger her, not that slave bitch!

"You, go shower." One of the other women he had just fingered rose and trotted off to the side, not the one he had just examined. He crouched beside the woman in front of Natalie, the muscular blond with the marked right back cheek. He spread her open, Natalie thought the woman's anus must be completely exposed although with her own head near the floor, she couldn't see it. He plunged two fingers into the woman's birth canal; Natalie was sure she could hear the other woman whimper as he did so.

"Shower." Footsteps pattered off while the taught buttocks before her remained. He moved over to the start of the back line, at the other end.

"Shower." Andrea was over there, it came to her that the little girl two down from her had to be Andrea, as she was the smallest there. Natalie wondered if she would be chosen.

He was at the woman next to her now, a tall, willowy woman, one of the three blonds in the group along with the muscular one still kneeling before her. Natalie turned her head to the side, and met the woman's gaze, looking into another woman's eyes for the first time that evening. As she did so, the woman transformed. She was no longer just a collection of fuckable, servile flesh in female form, but a human being, a person. Her bangs lolled to the side as she laid her head on the mat, smiling. She was clearly enjoying Will's touch, enjoying having her pussy manipulated and tested.

The bitch!

Then her eyes broke contact, and they rolled to glance over her shoulder. Will was moving, no longer inside her, and both women were aware of that fact.

"Shower." Someone rose and left, their bare feet pattering on the cement, but it wasn't the blond bitch beside her. He was stooping down, stooping to examine his cunt. His property.

Don't you dare leave me like this, was all she thought. Then she felt the electric sensation of his fingers, invading her, sliding past the corrugations of her hole. She clamped herself around his fingers, almost involuntarily.

His thumb found her little button, and she whimpered with pleasure. It no longer mattered that she was head down, ass up in a room full of people, wearing a slave collar and getting fingered. Her trainer was now paying attention to her, and just for a moment that put her back at the top of the pecking order, or at least the highest female in it.

"Shower", and his fingers withdrew. It didn't seem directed at her, and just as she turned to look up at him, another woman scampered off.

"81 75, fours, over there. 12 22, fours, next to her. 63 28, fours, right side." He patted Natalie's rump twice as he called her number, establishing that this was how she was to be known.

Natalie could hear the sound of running water as she moved as directed, taking a place on the front row of mats. The other slaves were off to the side, cleaning themselves, but these three had been selected for something...she hoped it was for some special purpose, something that would allow her to stand out.

She was beside thin blond bitch again, who seemed entirely too enthusiastic about being selected. Had they been allowed to speak, she was certain the other woman would have told her something. The blond kept turning her head to make eye contact with Natalie, then looking the other way at the more athletic woman on her other side.

Will knelt behind the first girl, and Natalie thought she saw him caress her back. She lifted her head for a better view, trying to see over the intervening woman between them. She saw his hips rock forward violently, and first woman's flesh ripple from the impact. Then he did it again. And again.

The bastard was fucking a slave, right in front of her. How dare he!

"Nice tight pussy, 81 75. Good work today. Pleasure yourself and come on my cock."

"Yes, Master," the woman gasped. The sound of his hips slapping her buttocks filled Natalie's ears.

The blond in the middle turned back to Natalie, her smile turning to a frown when she saw the scowl on Natalie's face. The woman shook her head in disapproval, silently mouthing "No". Then she started rocking back and forth, thrusting her butt backward in time to Will's rhythm, smiling and rolling her eyes up into her head in a pantomime of mindless pleasure.

The message was not lost on Natalie. Pretend to be a happy fuck and stroke his ego even if you want to rip his head off.

The sounds of their copulation grew awkward with time. Sooner than she would have thought plausible, the woman at the opposite end announced, "I'm coming, Master," and apparently did just that.

Not long after the first woman's orgasm must have subsided, Will shuffled over to the kneeling blonde beside her, and started pumping her like the first. She faced Natalie, and nodded vigorously. Yes!

Yes, to what? Yes, I needed this? Yes, you're going to get fucked, too? Yes, this is how you do it? Natalie tried to decipher the nod.

"12 22, come on my dick. Touch yourself so 63 28 can see what a good slut you are."

12 22 gazed into Natalie's eyes, grinning broadly. "Thank you, Master. I hear and obey you." Her left hand mauled her breasts while her right dove down to her pussy, rubbing circles on her clit. Her mouth gaped, slack jawed, lost in pleasure.

Natalie stared, glancing over her left shoulder to run her eyes up and down the woman's body. She had never watched another human get fucked before, not live and not right in front of her. Oh, there was the porn that some of her boyfriends had put on, but this was different, this was real. This other woman, this stranger just inches away, was getting pounded, and getting pounded by her Will. Natalie still felt jealousy, but it was fading. The arousal was still there. And fear...she had the most acute sensation of being vulnerable, her cunt unprotected, legs apart, ass skyward, waiting to be plundered.

"Master, Master, I'm coming!" 12 22's eyes rolled up, just as she had pantomimed earlier. The woman seemed to lose touch with reality as she climaxed. Natalie resisted an urge to touch her, to stroke her as she came.

Will's thrusts slowed, and for a terrible moment, Natalie thought her turn wouldn't come. She found the thought alien, she was about to be fucked in front of an audience for the first time, and all she could think about was missing the opportunity. Will moved behind her. She could feel his member, wobbling against the inner curve of her cheeks, poised to violate her.

"81 75, come here. I want you to kiss her and play with her tits while I fuck her."

What? I never agreed to this! But then two things happened at once.

She felt him enter her, in one long stroke, the weight of his balls against her hood, the sexual sensations every bit as pleasurable as she had anticipated.

And she heard the other woman agree, "Yes, Master", even as she started moving to comply.

Will started thrusting, hard, and impaled as she was, Natalie couldn't form a coherent protest. She felt his hands at her shoulders, lifting her torso, and pulling her back to him so that she was almost upright on her knees. She felt his chest against her back, felt his warmth, his power. He craned his neck to stage-whisper in her ear, far too loudly for the intimacy associated with such a gesture.

"Call out your orgasm, cunt, or I'll have you bent over, still getting your ass whipped when Mike gets back here."

And 81 75 started suckling a nipple, as exquisitely as any man ever had, and all Natalie could think to say was, "Yes, Master!"

Will's tool stroked inside her, and his hand reached for her clit. 81 75 rose, smiled, and embraced them both, sinking in for a deep French kiss. Natalie relaxed, enjoying the kiss from this woman as her pussy thrummed with sexual pleasure. Then the realization struck.

As the woman withdrew from the kiss, Natalie looked into her eyes again, confirming. As softly as she could, she whispered.

"Sasha. You're Sasha."

The other woman smiled, and gave her another kiss, this time grasping a nipple between each of her thumbs and forefingers, rolling them to send Natalie's pleasure even higher. After their tongues slid against each other for a few moments, she broke the kiss, leaned forward, and whispered ever so softly in Natalie's ear: "Come for him, sister. Come for him."

Then she started suckling Natalie's breast again, and it was all over. Will's hand diddling her button, his cock impaling her, and even the way her buttocks bounced off his thighs all combined to push her over the edge. She grunted twice, then remembered something important...she had to...

"I'm coming, Master!" Her voice heavy, she continued. "I'm coming for you! I'm...oh God, oh..."

The contractions continued, seeming to take forever. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a half-circle of women gathered around her, finished with their showers, grinning in amusement. Natalie flushed, she'd just been the star performer in a live-action porno for the benefit of a bunch of slaves. And before her, Sasha had the silliest grin on her face, the grin of one who could empathize with someone who had just been very well fucked, because the broad shouldered woman had just been very well fucked herself.

Natalie felt strong arms wrap around her from behind, being held by this man as if she was just a trinket, some possession he wanted to cling to at the moment.

"And that, cunt, is exactly what you want to do on the auction block to bring the highest price. Now, when your heart gets back to normal, get up and let the other slave cunts show you how to clean up after a good hard fucking."

He gave her another squeeze, then stood with her as if he was lifting a sack of potatoes, and set her on her feet. Still holding her, he kissed her on the temple, then released her and sent her to shower with a mighty slap - ow! - on her right ass cheek.

Sasha and 12 22 led her off as he instructed the other slaves to prepare their kennels to bed down for the night.

"You're lucky to have him for a boyfriend."

"What makes you think he's my boyfriend?"

Sasha smirked. "He certainly doesn't treat you like someone's sister or partner."

Natalie sniffed. "He seemed to treat the two of you the same way."

"Don't be unkind, sister." 12 22 spoke. "You know we can't compete with free women."

She was right. Men enjoyed fucking slaves, but they practically went insane at the prospect of sex with a free woman. Natalie knew that much from some of the things she'd heard them say at the team meetings.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."

"Here, we'll show you how to shower. Do you know where you're going to be graded?"

"I think he said HCI."

Sasha shook her head. "I've never been there. Master Will bought me in San Antonio. And Bradley is from Fort Worth."

Natalie realized she was talking about 12 22. "Oh, you're Bradley, nice to meet you."

Bradley appeared apologetic. "We just know you as Ms. Mortellaro or 63 28. How did you get a number if you've never been graded?"

"Oh, you can call me Natalie. And I don't know, maybe he just made it up."

"Show us your lip."

"My lip?"

Bradley and Sasha peeled down their lower lips to reveal numbers tattooed upside down, so that when they pulled their lips down, the numbers appeared right side up. Bradley's read 813-41-1222, and Sasha's read 214-60-8175.

"Oh, I don't have one of those."

"Show us."

Natalie displayed her unmarked lip.

"Well, you'll get one when you get graded."

"Does it hurt?"

Sasha shrugged. "Not as much as you'd think it would."

"Not as much as this," Bradley said as she turned to display her right bottom cheek.

"What is that? Can I touch it?" The skin of the design appeared raised in relief.

"My convict brand. Go ahead, feel me up."

Natalie ran her fingers over the ridges. "Your convict brand?"

Sasha turned to display a similar mark. "Yeah, I've got one, too. We're the two jailbirds of the group."

Natalie let her hand glide over Sasha's bottom as well. "You were in jail?"

Sasha nodded. "Convicted felon. Branded my ass right outside the courtroom. Hurt like hell."

"What did you do?"

"Arson. Long, stupid story."

Bradley snickered. "It's a good story, too. Too bad we don't have time."

Natalie wondered if Bradley had a similar story. "What did you do?"

"A boring, stupid crime. I embezzled a bunch of money from my job. Would have been able to plead down to a private indenture, but it was a family business and they really felt betrayed."

"And you got branded in court, too?"

"Right beside the Tarrant County Courthouse for all to see. Butt naked, bent over with my butthole and whoo-haa hanging out for all to see. Least I didn't piss myself."

"I'm...really sorry."

"Hey, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. My first manumission hearing is in two years, so no complaints."

"I still have three years," Sasha added.

"Wait, manumission?"

"Felons serve for life, but in practice, you're given a manumission date. The earliest you can be let go for good behavior. You keep the brand on your ass for life, though. Would really suck to have to show your brand to a judge in a courtroom, they would throw you under the bus the second time you did a felony."

Although there were three shower heads, the slaves explained to her that they were expected to crowd at least two or three to one stream of hot water, their soapy bodies rubbing against each other. They were allowed one squirt of liquid soap that was expected to double as shampoo and body wash, so they tried to not wash their hair too often. There there was another shower head that was the cold rinse (only one was needed for the entire group!), a sort of dryer rack that resembled something from a car wash, and a station where they had to share the same three hair brushes that all the other slaves used. It was a meager, miserly way to clean up, but with their help, Natalie managed.

"We have to go back to our kennels now," Sasha explained.

"When you take your collar off, you become our Mistress once again," Bradley added.

"I'm...I'm sorry I took you guys for granted."

Sasha shrugged. "We're slaves. We're used to it."

Natalie approached Will, who smirked at her. "Collar."

She knelt on the closest mat, lifting her hair, grinning back at him, as he removed her collar.

"Your things are right there. I expect Mike won't be back for another 15 or so, but you don't want to push it."

"I can get dressed quickly." Natalie reached for her bra. "You know, I never consented to being treated like a prostitute in front of all those other women."

"You didn't object much, either." He momentarily seemed more interested in the pattern of the mat segments on the floor. "If you can get that horny at your grading, you might be able to pull off that prime grade. You'd have to cum to seal the deal, though." After another pause, he added, "That is, if you still want to go through with it."

He just fucked me like a two-dollar whore in front of a room full of slaves, and he thinks I'll chicken out now?

"You bet your ass I do." She slipped her heels on and asked him to walk her out.

[jeepster]

Better and better! She is so focused on being a Fino ! Almost makes you wonder what she is not seeing on the Finance side!

[Carl Bradford]

Excellent fall from grace/power reversal. In reality, a smart woman such as her should have been prepared mentally to strip off in front of the guy, but I'm sure the thrill is greater if we assume that she DIDN'T see that coming/cumming.
You are doing a superb job of habituating this free woman, bit by bit, to be a complete slave slut who can't live without the excitement of being controlled and used sexually. You haven't told us much about her internal motivations, other than suggesting she wants to get a good grade for her own self-esteem, but the whole story seems to evolve naturally, almost inevitably. I'm sure that, whether she ends up as a full slave or a FINO, she will be used and degraded by multiple co-workers, enjoying it at least at the time. Born for the collar?
Outstanding.

[ZeeChromosome]

I'm sure that, whether she ends up as a full slave or a FINO, she will be used and degraded by multiple co-workers, enjoying it at least at the time.

Honestly, Carl, I'm starting to wonder if she's going to be used by other investors, not just her employees. Wouldn't it be fun if the new female investor decides to take one of the "slaves" back to her hotel room to seal the deal? Or perhaps she lets something slip to her about the shipping experience and the new female investor ends up naked in a collar right next to her? So many fun possibilities with this story, I'm looking forward to seeing it play out.

[jeepster]

OMG Zee that is almost exactly what I was thinking!

[ZeeChromosome]

OMG Zee that is almost exactly what I was thinking!

You may have a perverted mind. Welcome to the Dark Side, Jeep .

[Carl Bradford]

Our minds are all filled with possible ways in which the cute investor/submissive could be used & abused in a collar. That said, I have learned to resist the urge to make such suggestions in public, as they only confuse the readers as to what has actually happened in the story. Based on the rate at which the author has published parts of this story to date, I am confident that said author already has a plot in mind and would prefer we just waited. I agree, though, it is hard (in both senses) to wait patiently for the further fall of the heroine into the well-drilled clutches of her slaver partner. I'm hoping that, however she ends up, like Sarah Hollister she will be able to continue her normal activities in between service as a collared slut. Once again, my compliments to the author, who has obviously captured all our filthy imaginations.

[Scman493]

She is just becoming one of the "girls"...no different than any other slut slave. Let her slave urges overtake her good judgment! Awesome. Thank you for writing.

[ElJefe]

Excellent fall from grace/power reversal. In reality, a smart woman such as her should have been prepared mentally to strip off in front of the guy, but I'm sure the thrill is greater if we assume that she DIDN'T see that coming/cumming.

It wasn't so much stripping off in front of him, as stripping off in a "public" place like a warehouse floor. When a free woman changes at a gym, she doesn't strip nude in the workout area and put on her exercise clothes, she goes to the locker room to do that. At this point in the story, Natalie still doesn't fully grasp the difference between being naked as a free person and being slave naked.

Once she fully understands that she needs to be nude for the workout, she's miffed at the way he embarrassed her in front of the slaves rather than just explaining it to her as an equal. Hence,

He trailed off and broke into a grin as she started to unbutton her blouse, a petulant scowl on her face. She began stuffing her clothing and heels into the bag atop her workout clothes, clearly displeased at being treated that way. Soon, she stood before him and a little to one side, as nude as the day she was born, facing away from the slaves, hands clasped together over her sex but only partially blocking it from view.

This is a power move. She's not fig-leafing over her pussy, she's casually folding her hands with a fair bit of it exposed. If her attitude could speak, it would say something like, "Ok, asshole. You got me naked. Now what?"

Note also that she's got her back to the slaves. She hasn't fully absorbed that "her place" during the workout is with them. If she had, she'd have scampered over to them as soon as the panties dropped, looking for an empty spot on a mat instead of thinking that she deserved special attention from Will.

[ZeeChromosome]

Excellent, enjoying the story. Only quibble is that I would think one would want to make sure the slaves hair is well washed and conditioned as it would detract from her value and appearance. Same with the slaves body, you want it to at least smell fresh and clean.

[ElJefe]

It's neither necessary nor desirable to wash the hair every day. Ask any hairdresser, over washing dries and damages the hair. Most women are well aware of this.

The conditions under which they are held simply forces them to decide carefully just how often they want to wash their hair. They're allowed to clean themselves at least once a day; skipping a single body cleaning once in a while isn't usually much of a hardship. It's really more about enforcing the humility of their status than it is about pinching a penny or two on soap.