Dear supercao:

Because it is a small town and people have observed your behavior: drinking too much alcohol, using marijuana and flirting with a woman who is not your wife, a behavior not suiting a married man and the town police officer, do you think it is a good idea for you to make a PUBLIC STATEMENT to the town people, acknowledging your inappropriate behavior, apologizing for it, and declaring your full intent to not repeat any of these three behaviors?

In the U.S., public officials often … misbehave, then apologize publically, making an apologetic public announcements and are surprisingly forgiven by the public and are ever re-elected to their position, again and again.

I wouldn’t recommend it to a person who has done terrible things, but the three things you did, in my opinion, are not enough for you to quit your job, to leave town, or worse. Every person in the world makes mistakes sometimes. In your case, all three happened at one time in one place, one leading to the other.

Forgive yourself and if it is a good idea, make a public announcement and apologize to the public you serve. You can state that you will no longer attend private parties, so to avoid such mistakes in the future.

The public statement, if you make it, needs not be long. If you want, compose it here and I can give you my input on it.

* Will be back in a couple of hours.

anita