Re the Mike Pence quote: Trying to imagine what my career would look like if I'd refused to dine solo with male editors & interview subjects
— Pamela Colloff (@pamelacolloff) March 30, 2017
After reading the tweet above, I feel the need to again stress that I am talking about social meetings rather than business. If you MUST dine alone with a member of the opposite sex for business, do so wisely. Tell your spouse of your plans, tell a friend who will ask you the hard questions about feelings. We are ALL capable of keeping things strictly professional—of COURSE we are! But we are ALL also capable of NOT keeping things strictly professional, of allowing one interview to turn into two, of making excuses to see a person we have let ourselves develop feelings for that we shouldn’t have.
Friends, are we really MAD at Mike Pence for wanting to avoid being just another adulterous politician like Bill Clinton, John Edwards, and (at least BEFORE he was President) Donald Trump? REALLY? It offends us that he doesn’t want to be alone with other women because he values his marriage SO much? (Also, we weren’t allowed to judge Bill Clinton on his “personal life” when he was getting sexual favors IN HIS OFFICE while he was president from an intern but we can go APE over Pence saying 15 years ago that he won’t be alone with a woman who isn’t his wife? HUH!?!?!)
Being offended by that, my friends, is crazy talk. And just proof that if you’re on the right, you can’t do anything right. Even if you are doing EXACTLY what is right where your marriage is concerned.
As for me and my husband, we will continue to not be alone with members of the opposite sex who aren’t each other. Feel free to judge…we are definitely gaining MORE than we could ever miss out on.
