Awesome, how fear shapes our world, isn't it?
Interesting episode of This American Life today, in which the second act focused on a local news channel that "broke" an exclusive story about a registered sex offender who was working as a hockey referee for the local youth hockey league. They made a huge deal about it, expressing outrage and getting the community all riled up. They showed a very old photograph of the dude (it was a color photo, but they broadcast it in B&W to look like a mugshot) on screen with mixed-in video of 5-7 year old kids skating around. Like he's a child molester.
The truth of the matter was, when he was younger, he slept with someone who was just under the legal age of consent. Further, he was never convicted as a sex offender, the case was dropped, and he was required to register as a sex offender as a condition of his probation. Fourteen years later a well-informed hiring committee deemed him acceptable for the job.
The news report ruined his life.
When I entered college, I was dating a girl who was just under the age of consent (17 in NY). One day, while she was visiting me and I was setting up my dorm room, things got hot and heavy, and I put the brakes on just shy of removing her underoos (kidding, they weren't really underoos, but this post needed comedy). To this day, I've been pissed at myself for stopping. Pissed because a) we cared about each other and the time was right, b) seriously, who the hell was gonna report an 18-year-old sleeping with his slightly-underage girlfriend? and c) I've always wondered if somehow I made her self-conscious because I stopped so abruptly.
But that was until this day. Today, I changed my mind. I'd fucking die if I were that guy. Those vultures didn't give it a moment's thought. All they fucking wanted was ratings.
Sorry kiddo. Didn't mean to hurt your feelings if I did, but hopefully you understand.
The truth of the matter was, when he was younger, he slept with someone who was just under the legal age of consent. Further, he was never convicted as a sex offender, the case was dropped, and he was required to register as a sex offender as a condition of his probation. Fourteen years later a well-informed hiring committee deemed him acceptable for the job.
The news report ruined his life.
When I entered college, I was dating a girl who was just under the age of consent (17 in NY). One day, while she was visiting me and I was setting up my dorm room, things got hot and heavy, and I put the brakes on just shy of removing her underoos (kidding, they weren't really underoos, but this post needed comedy). To this day, I've been pissed at myself for stopping. Pissed because a) we cared about each other and the time was right, b) seriously, who the hell was gonna report an 18-year-old sleeping with his slightly-underage girlfriend? and c) I've always wondered if somehow I made her self-conscious because I stopped so abruptly.
But that was until this day. Today, I changed my mind. I'd fucking die if I were that guy. Those vultures didn't give it a moment's thought. All they fucking wanted was ratings.
Sorry kiddo. Didn't mean to hurt your feelings if I did, but hopefully you understand.