Diary: It's only sex.

Just suppose that they had an internship program for adults and that you decided to spent a year as a Congressional page. Maybe you're 23, 47, 62, it doesn't matter so long as you are of legal age.

So you show up for work, learn the ropes, and the first thing you notice is that the elected officials you are working for keep making sexual suggestions to you. So you ask another page, "Are they always like that?"

"Yes," you're told, "they've exempted themselves from the sexual harassment and equal opportunity laws that effect most employers. You don't have to go along with them, but if you complain you're likely to get fired. And the people who do go along with them tend to get good jobs after their internships."

Okay. But now you have another job duty that wasn't written into your job description. Now in addition to running errands, you have to spend time fending off or submitting to sexual advances. Some people enjoy this part of their job and some don't. How do you feel about it?

Maybe you consider it harmless fun, something to lighten up the workday, just the normal way adult humans interact with each other. Or maybe you are one of those people committed to only interacting in any sexual way with your significant other and you consider it an offensive imposition to have to interact sexually with other people. Maybe you're one of those people who feel that mixing business with pleasure can often lead to trouble, and you deeply resent having to go out of your way to avoid certain Congressmembers and to try to make up believeable excuses for when you do run into them. Or you might be one of those religious fundamentalists who thinks that sex outside of marriage is a sin and that anyone who suggests it is violating your religious beliefs.

There are probably as many different ways in which people react to sexual harassment on the job as there are people.

I think everyone is entitled to their own personal preferences. If you enjoy sexual banter, fine, but please don't impose it on those who don't, or label them prudes for not taking part.

The real problem, as I see it, is that Members of Congress have a lot of responsibility. So much responsibility, in fact, that they often don't even have time to read and try to understand the impact of the legislation they're voting on--legislation that can have permanent effects on everyone in the country and on everyone in the world. So how is it that they can find time to fool around?

Just asking.