My first reaction to the news about Robert Kraft was shock. My second was embarrassment. For both him and his family. You knew it would be seconds before this man who had done so much for his community became a punch line.
And I was not immune to those temptations.
I thought, "Maybe Kraft was just trying to up his street cred in the rapper community." And "Thank god the articles all pointed out that Kraft was arrested as a 'John' because I don't need the images of the alternative floating in my brain (but if you think about it I'm sure there's some of both sexes who would pay good money to have sex with an NFL owner)." Mea culpa.
Kidding aside the more I thought on it the more my feelings mirrored this:
I didn't care about Malia Obama having an underage drink. Why would I care about Bob Kraft committing a misdemeanor crime?
From a Michael McCann SI article "a first time conviction of solicitation is a misdemeanor offense that does not lead necessarily to any jail time." What probably grabbed many's attention from the article was that suspects "allegedly paid $59 for a half-hour and $79 for the full hour." I can picture many men reading that and thinking "Only $59? Hmmm...." Meanwhile I wondered "who needs the full hour?"
The answer to that last question is lonely men willing to pay for release and for human company. I feel bad for those poor souls.
And I also agree that this shouldn't be a crime. And according to former President Bill Clinton oral sex isn't even sex - so what's the big deal? Legalize it and many of the seedier aspects of the situation are removed.
Which brings us to the darkest aspect of this story. The girls working in these "spas" were allegedly being forced to do so. Call it sex trafficking if you like. To me it is slavery and slavery is evil. Legalize the massage parlors and have the places that cater to these needs be inspected and pay taxes on services rendered. Let's stop being puritans about basic human needs and turning a blind eye to the problem of loneliness that plagues our society.
I've seen some getting on their high horse about the aspect of sex trafficking involved here but I guarantee that these sorts of establishments exist in almost any community over a certain size in the US. I've never been to one of these places but I can tell you of three in Worcester that have been operating for years and I'm sure there are others that I've never noticed (of the ones I've noticed one is next to where I buy cigars, one is across from a popular restaurant and one is next to a bar a friend owns). I can't ever recall seeing anyone going into or leaving one of those places but the fact that they've been open for years must mean they have their share of customers.
If you feel strongly about the sex-trafficking aspect of this story feel free to identify the "spas" working in your community and then volunteer to do something about it.
As for me - now that I've written down these thoughts I will try to move on from this story to concentrate on things I can improve in my own life. Not sure about you but I know I'm imperfect however I'm self aware enough to know that spending time judging the venal sins of others won't improve my condition.
