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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Adultery Meets Schoolhouse Rock

I heard a radio ad this morning that has been bothering me all day. It's for Ashley Madison, a dating site for married people seeking extramarital affairs. And, I think, people with a soft spot for Schoolhouse Rock.

This isn't about swinging, it's not about two people who both want life to be a sexual all you can eat buffet. This is about what's called 'discrete,' meaning illicit by even the most libertine standard, affairs.

Thing is, it's not that I don't get the idea of being trapped in an unhappy marriage, been there, done that, got the t-shirt. But the notion that a 'discrete' extramarital affair is helpful?

The CEO of the company is, according to NPR, married and not disposed to cheat. I have to wonder how he sleeps at night. I know, opportunity knocks, it rings the bell over and over and checks to see if the door is locked, but would he be so cavalier about this if he caught his wife at it with some other guy?

This company's slogan, and they've trademarked it, is 'Life is short. Have an affair.' The CEO cops the predictable 'I didn't invent infidelity' plea, but really, who's he think he's fooling? Bernie Madoff didn't invent the Ponzi Scheme (and neither did Charles Ponzi), Pat Roberston didn't invent stupidity, Michael Moore didn't invent leftist propaganda, Lady Gaga didn't invent bad music, and Hitler didn't invent killing Jews.

Not inventing something doesn't mean you're not culpable.

Affairs happen, bad marriages happen, but when you go to a party and someone asks what you do, do you want to be the guy who says, 'I make a profit off of helping married people make their bad marriages worse through infidelity?' It's not quite the George Tiller level of rationalizing evil, but it's a good piece down the slippery slope toward it.

Like the Heart Attack Grill letting people who weigh in over 375 lbs eat free, you have to smoke a turd in hell for making a living off the misery of others.

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