ToplessDelivery.com

ToplessDelivery.com, the Official Website of "Topless Delivery - The Myrtle Beach Experience", is now fully operational.  The website contains a basic introduction to the book, summary descriptions of all of the major characters, answers to frequently asked questions, an online soundtrack containing links to YouTube videos of 21 of the songs mentioned in the book, and some basic information about me. 

Please check it out and let me know how you like it.  Thank you for your support.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

In this scene on pages 141-145 of "Forever Autumn", David and Ashley are taking a stroll through the Formal Gardens on her parents' plantation to break away from their Engagement Party.  Here they look back on that fateful night when he delivered her pizza at Regency Towers barely 6 months earlier.

I ask her, “Did you know that I was actually putting my job at risk merely by asking you out that night?”


She responds, “Honey, how could you have placed your job in jeopardy by asking me for a date?”

I reply, “I could have been fired for ‘sexual harassment of a customer’ under Papa’s Pizza’s nasty zero-tolerance policy. Several of my fellow delivery drivers have lost their jobs…and more…for propositioning female customers here in Myrtle Beach. The complaint doesn’t necessarily have to come from the lady herself. It could also come from the husband or steady boyfriend of the alleged ‘victim’. Sexual harassment is an extremely sensitive matter for me. I have always been paranoid about avoiding such situations.”

Ashley wraps her arm around me and asks, “Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?”

With a deep sigh I reply, “Yes, I have. Several years ago, a gorgeous colleague asked me out on a date. We went out on a nice dinner date at a favorite restaurant. The date itself went very well and we both had a very nice time together. I drove her home, she gave me a nice goodnight kiss, and I drove home. Somehow, word got out in the company about our little so-called ‘tryst’. The next morning, I was called into my boss’ office to answer to a sexual harassment charge…filed by an unnamed third party, probably her estranged husband from whom she was legally separated at the time. I answered all of the allegations truthfully and properly. Nothing of a sexual nature happened between us that night although now I’ve come to wish that something would have happened. I say that only because if we had done something that night, then the crime would have fit the punishment. To tell you the truth, no legally enforceable company sexual harassment policy could possibly have governed what happened that night because the date was by mutual consent and on our own time.

Although everyone in the company knew that I was completely truthful about my responses to the charges against me, certain major clients heard some exaggerated stories about our little date and, out of fear for their image and reputations, threatened to stop doing business with the firm unless I was fired and prosecuted on felony charges. Although the State’s Attorney’s Office found no evidence on which to bring charges against me, these clients were still not satisfied. They wanted me out. At the request of the Board of Directors, I turned in my resignation…with great regret…and moved out of the area. I have had no contact with anyone from the company ever since. Fortunately, no charges were ever brought against me.

The real tragedy is that every red-blooded American male, whether he is single or married, whether he is gay or straight, is increasingly vulnerable to allegations of sexual misconduct, wherever he may happen to be. It is indeed a very sorry state of affairs when we cannot check out the beauties on the beach, in a club, or anywhere else, let alone approach one and ask her for a date, without the very serious threat of being brought up on charges...and not necessarily by the lady herself. Even a platonic friendship or a business relationship with any woman can be very dangerous, as my personal experience has clearly proven to me over the years. There have been a few cases where I had such a basic platonic friendship, and very nearly my life, ended by a jealous husband or boyfriend…even when I was involved with someone else at the time. What's wrong with this picture?

The mere allegation of any sexual misconduct, proven or not, can have devastating, and often irreversible, effects on the lives, careers, relationships, and reputations of innocent men. Unlike those accused of other types of crimes, those accused of any type of sexual misconduct are usually presumed guilty until proven innocent. Worse yet, these men are not always given a fair opportunity to defend themselves against the charges, much less prove their innocence, in a court of law due to the stigma attached to such offenses.

The simple fact that a man is married or in a committed relationship can make him even more vulnerable to false allegations of sexual misconduct than a single man would be due to the threat of blackmail or other types of extortion. Call me paranoid if you will, but this situation can happen to any man, anytime, anywhere. While these allegations can also be made against women, the great majority of those accused are men. There must be an immediate cease-fire in the Battle of the Sexes so that we can learn to respect one another as people. Is that too much to ask?”

Ashley gives me a very tight hug and says, “David, I agree with you…one hundred percent! Every word of what you just said about false accusations of sexual misconduct is so very true. If anyone at B&C were to ever make such allegations and they turn out to be unproven, then that employee would be terminated…no questions asked. Daddy had written that policy a few years ago for the very reasons you just told me here. No one should ever have to go through what you had gone through. Honey, you were violated. It was as if you had been raped. Now I know why you’ve always been so shy around women. It all makes such perfect sense!” She finally figures it all out.

The job from which David was forced to resign was the only non-pizza delivery he had ever held until he was hired at Burgess & Cooper.  This incident is very similar to one that actually happened to me in real life a couple of years ago.  I changed a few details to protect the innocent.  The point I intend to make here is that such allegations can happen to any man.  Due to our limited ability to pick up nonverbal cues, Aspergian men are even more vulnerable than are Neurotypical men.