A Capitol Hill Courtesan, I Am Not

So.

Did I ever tell you kids about the sketchy Democratic political consultant who tried to put the moves on me several months ago? I think I was probably too traumatized at the time to delve into it. It was a situation I fell into by accident. Unlike some women in DC, I don't go about my days and nights hoping to run into unattractive older men with strong political ties who I can seduce for glory and fame. This dude I ran into near one of my favorite hangouts. Strongly affiliated with an organization I used to work for, he invited me upstairs to his office to catch up. Silly me thought I was being lent the ear of an influential power-broker with party ties that could maybe someday come in handy when job-hunting. I viewed it as networking, something I suck at. I figured I needed the practice. So. Sketchy Democratic Political Consultant gives me a beer and we chill out for a while in his office. Everything is fine. I'm even managing to sound good-natured about my old job and why I left. After all, I'm here to network and nothing is less becoming of a potential job seeker than bad-mouthing old employers. We shoot the shit, I start to realize that I've consumed at least four adult beverages since 7 pm and that I should be going home. I start to leave but before I know it I am being escorted into a dark room with a bed in it. He sits down and invites me to do the same. I suddenly realize that I am dangerously close to being molested by this dude and I make up a fancy excuse about it being late and I BOLT. I leave, feeling extremely stupid. At some point between my first sip of beer and the incident in the room with a bed (a BED? in a consulting office?) I had given him my email address (for networking purposes, I thought).

Skip ahead several months later.

Every once in a while I receive an email from Sketchy Political Consultant. It's not addressed to me, but to this other woman. I don't know her, but from what I can glean from the emails he sends her, she's somewhat important in progressive politics. For some reason, I am cc'd on these emails. He obviously isn't including me on purpose, but part of me laughs whenever I receive one. In addition to being unattractive and sketchier than hell, he clearly lacks a basic command over Outlook or whatever software runs his PDA. I'm tempted to respond one of these days offering my two cents on the topic at hand, but I'd rather not draw attention to my presence. Maybe someday the topics will get juicer and I'll have some great info to do something dastardly with (it's a sad testament to my inherent niceness that I can't for the life of me imagine what I would do with this potential information). More than anything else, I simply don't want to interact with the guy.