Voulez vous couchez avec moi?

So. Let us assume that I am the CEO of a rather large (ok, I’ll admit it—a very large) company. I wear very expensive and well-tailored suits. Actually, I look quite handsome sartorially. Let us assume that I was even one of those executives whose compensation rose 11% last year, even while the unemployment rate remained high, real wages of so many fell, home foreclosures continued unabated, and world economies crashed all about me. Regularly, I meet with elected officials of many countries, big and small, and negotiate large and important agreements that have tremendous impact on the daily lives of the populations.  I have great responsibility. 

So. Let us assume that I am the head of a large international organization that handles international financial arrangements (I know there is a more technical term but I am not really the head of a large international organization that handles international financial arrangement, and so I really don’t have immediate access to that vocabulary.) What I do affects the economies of the countries of the world and therefore, the daily lives of the many people who live in those countries. I meet with elected (and even non-elected) heads of many countries. I have great responsibility. 

So. Let us assume that I am the governor of a very large state in the United States of America. It is my charge to carry out the laws of the State and in conformity with the laws of the nation of which my large state is a part. I meet with the elected officials of each of the states in the United States and I meet with many various government officers throughout the country. I have great responsibility. 

So. Given one or all of the above. Let us assume that I am on a business trip and staying in a rather fancy hotel. Not, I assure you, a Super 8 or even a Country Inn. The daily cost of this hotel room equals the monthly salary of too many workers, and is the size of the entire downstairs of my present living establishment. I step out of the shower (naked, of course) and walk into the dressing room of this rather large hotel room where I will put on my very nice clothes and begin a very busy and probably arduous day in which I will make many important decisions that affect, probably, millions and millions of people. And as I exit the shower, naked because I don’t expect anyone else in my room, I see standing by the couch in the foyer of my remarkably large room, preparing to service the rooms, a very lovely and  young chambermaid. I am naked. She looks up at me and at my dazzlingly beautiful body and says, “Please, make love to me.” 

So. I consider who I am: my responsibility to the world, my citizens, my constituencies, my family, my own ethical stance. I smile a bit too politely, even swallow a bit too hard, and say, as I hurry back into the bathroom for a towel or a robe to cover myself up. “Ah, that is sweet, but no thank you,” “Excuse me,” I say, as I reenter the room semi-clothed at least, “I have to get ready for my day. Could you please come back in a little while?” When I exit the room, I might leave a slightly larger tip. 

Any other response means that I am a shit, and I don’t deserve the responsibilities with which I have been trusted.