Urrrg!!
I stuck around after my Dynamics of Addiction class today, hoping to get some insight into an intake I sat in on yesterday. We never got that far. In the course of conversation with other students who had stayed after, the instructor brought up Senator Craig and wondered about the what addictions this man might be dealing with.
It gave me pause for thought, because I've never really considered the addictive aspect of such behavior: the high he must be getting from the thrill of illicit behavior, the unbridled narcissism of handing a stranger your business card in such an inappropriate context, and the effects of keeping such an enormous secret. Can you imagine the mountain of shame it must take to have a U.S. Senator readily sign a guilty plea? He is 62 years old and his life has just gone straight into the toilet...er...no pun intended. Do you think he's going to head home saying, "Well, it was a good run while it lasted." Not likely.
After thinking about this aspect of recent events, I was telling myself I should feel more compassion for this man. I couldn't. There is a part of me that acknowledges that there is compassion worthy material here. The rest of me is so pissed off at the negative impact this man has on my life, it's just not going to happen. This guy has just confirmed every negative stereotype about homosexuals the moralistic wingnuts hold near and dear to their hearts: they lurk in bathrooms; they are only interested in sexual thrills; they are reckless and morally irresponsible. That doesn't even begin to touch that he is a man of influence and power and he has used that influence and power to make sure that sexual minorities remain second class citizens in this country.
So now my blood is boiling, but given the context of the discussion I have to ask myself, what would I do—what should do—if someone like him ends up in my office? Do I recuse myself because the odds of my developing a compassionate stance toward this individual are not very good? Do I suck it up, keep my mouth shut, do my best to help him (and then go take it out on my supervisor) and hope that compassion wanders in at some point in the process? Do I start out by saying, "I think you should know that I believe you to be a complete bastard, but I will do my best to assist you anyway. Where should we begin?" I'm pretty sure the third option is out, but I really don't know about the first two.