A moment of madness

My Business Traveller staple

I would not say I am your typical business traveler but I do like to watch the Business Traveller programme presented by Richard Quest on CNN International.

This morning I noticed the programme was on but without the familiar, jocular and quirky presenter, it then occurred to me that he had not been on the air for quite a while.

In fact, it also highlights the fact that CNN is disappearing from hotel rooms and being replaced by BBC World – times when one could switch between news channels after plunking down on your hotel bed after a long day seems to have passed.

So, I did a quick search on the Internet to find out if Richard Quest was still at CNN, he is, so, why was he not presenting.

A further search revealed something I had missed, sometime in April, Richard was caught violating the Central Park curfew by the police and he volunteered the fact that he had an illegal drug in his pocket.

It also appears that a search of his person and consequently his vehicle revealed kinky paraphernalia but the most significant part of the arrest was that he might face drug charges.

In some ways, I could see why I did not know of this, I am interested in the news and rarely in gossip.

Control is everything

I do not use drugs and that is probably because I am some sort of control freak, I need to know where I am and what I am doing, I am too uncomfortable with situations I cannot control.

I rarely drink and anytime I have felt light on my feet, I immediately arrange to return home – to some people I may have never lived because I have never been drunk, though I have been sick once – and that was at home – and when I woke up with a headache years ago, I had to search the Internet to determine if I had a hangover and how to get the legendary “hair of the dog” cure.

Moments of madness

Anyway, back to Richard, I am saddened that a seeming moment of madness, fantasy or debauched desire for some sort of personal pleasure has lead to a public outing like this.

I am sorry that great men and men of renown have had their reputations brought to naught in situations where they should have been more aware of the possible consequences.

I suppose for some, thrill of the chase and the possibility of getting caught is in itself a means to satisfaction, but what if it all goes awry?

Too many people have allowed these seized moments of madness to become the defining issues of their lives, like filming sex scenes that suddenly get in the wrong hands, taking photographs in compromising situations, engaging in illicit activity with people who have no reputation to keep that they are ready to ruin yours.

Only human

I cannot say I have been the best behaved boy in many circumstances, like many others, we have lives we would prefer to keep private and hopefully we manage those facets of our lives with a sense of discretion and decorum, if possible – human beings have needs and they have weaknesses, not all of us can aspire to be conclusively holier than thou.

I do hope that Richard is able to live through this unfortunate episode and return to the job and role he handles with uniqueness and compelling entertainment – in the end, a man is not made by the problems he faces, but how he faces his problems.

A man should be able to accept who he is in entirety and live life to the full in the personification of who he is without fear and with creative passion – sometimes society makes the most absurd judgments on matters that individuals would tolerate to a greater degree – such is life.

Lies - Between human frailty and the law

Lying to protect - the unrecognised dilemma

Being economical with the truth or lying is something too many human beings do for one reason or another - many do think they can get away with it, but when they get caught it is never a good end result.

In the best of situations, the truth - honesty being the best policy - can come with some pain but your integrity, honour and respect is maintained, in the long run there might even be a reward.

When it comes to great men with much to protect, a reputation, a stake, a relationship or some circumstance, much as the luxury of being an observer makes one entreat the principal to come clean and be over with it, there are some extenuating circumstances that might prevent them for speaking the truth.

Sometimes, there is conflict, when dealing with the law; the truth is expected regardless of the situation, but when the issue touches on the very personal which could bring shame - the human dimension is lost whilst they who have never sinned rile the principal to derision.

This is no advocacy for lying, but put yourself in these two men's shoes.

Truth in a dress

Just about 10 years ago, a man of great importance in a long-term relationship coming to 20 years had been involved in some infidelity with an intern in his office. This improper relationship became the means by which he was assailed by his political enemies when he was asked if he had any sexual liaisons with the intern.

Now, an improper sexual relationship is not something you go and tell your wife like you just made a fantastic deal, in fact, the likelihood for any man caught in that kind of situation would be to completely deny that situation till the accuser can produce incontrovertible evidence, at which point, disgrace, dishonour and disdain are heaped on the principal as he apologises for a lying.

In this case, it was the sperm stains on the dress that caught him out, one could almost say that it as all planted to ensure that he was caught in a desperate situation. The man was Bill Clinton, the lady Monica Lewinsky and prosecutor Kenneth Stark - Mr. Clinton is the man making history, the other two who sought to bring him down do not have footnotes on those esteemed pages.

Mr. Clinton definitely should not have lied but if anyone asked you in his circumstances about an improper sexual liaison would have owned up in public?

Where did you meet?

More recently, a well-respected businessman had a relationship with a young Canadian that lasted four years. There is no doubt that the young man would have in that time grown accustomed to the style and status of his amazingly well-to-do spouse.

When the relationship ended, it would appear the wealthy businessman cut his ex-lover adrift, but having not made sufficient contingency for the welfare of his "discard", the young man in dire straits after entreaties to his ex-lover decided to monetarise the information about this relationship by selling his story to the tabloids.

Now, there was nothing improper about the relationship though it was homosexual and private, the business man being a closet gay man.

What amazes me about this whole situation is how the businessman's support infrastructure which usually is quite solid and disciplined allowed the situation to degenerate into that what we have now.

In trying to prevent the young man from selling the story, the businessman went to court and the question about where they met arose. Obviously, any respectable person would like to say they met their partner in some romantic setting; it has only become socially acceptable to say you met on some online dating site.

The businessman with a career and reputation to protect said he met the young man in Battersea - probably a gay cruising area - innocuous, but plausible, however, the young man who had nothing to lose said different; he met the businessman on a gay escort website.

Oops! Someone has been caught in a lie; the businessman on court documents - his undoing and this disgrace as this has now been exposed - a resignation with a loss of probably £20 million in payments where probably £1 million in a blackmail payment might just have kept this under wraps for another few years.

The businessman is Lord Browne who resigned as the Group CEO of BP yesterday, the young escort, Jeff Chevalier - time will tell how history would play this out. Lord Browne however could face perjury charges.

If asked and indeed you met your partner as a Pretty Woman, gigolo, on an escort website or some place of ill repute tell anyone that is where you met?

The law deals stridently with perjury, however, there has to be mitigating circumstances when it comes to what might be lies of passion.