Gary

So Friday night I get off of work. Come home, take off my tie. I have some Annie's Mac n'Cheese. It's a slow night and a couple of my friends are out of town so I decide to maybe go to a strip club. You know, get what all guys need.

So I go to this strip club and sit at the bar next to this squirrelly-looking guy who has apparently been there for quite some time.

Dr. Fletcher

(writing notes) Gary is a patient who refuses to take medication for his Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Gary

He tells me that the best lap dance is from this gorgeous brunette in the corner. So I go over and strike up a conversation, put down a fiver on the table.

And it's getting kind of erotic. I'm fairly aroused at this point. We're about to get to the lap dance and then this woman tells me that she's actually not a stripper. She's actually a grad student.

Dr. Fletcher

(writing notes) The reality is that Gary's Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder often keeps him from doing things that he would like to do.

Gary

She's there to talk to people who come to strip clubs. So she whips out a survey and wants me to take a survey before she gives me a lap dance. This is ridiculous - I just can't deal with it. I already can't deal with libraries, books, academia.

Dr. Fletcher

It is just a personal feeling? It doesn't feel good to you?

Gary

I mean, yeah. Sometimes I feel really faint. I get hot. I can't breathe.

Dr. Fletcher

Is it an OCD thing?

Gary

I mean, I would assume it's related.

Dr. Fletcher

(writing notes) Medication, if he took it, could really free Gary up so that he could do the things he wants to do.

Gary

I asked her, 'Could you point me to someone else who could help me out?' And it turns out four of the other five girls in the strip club are actually doing similar projects to this woman's.

So I'm left with one option. That's this scrawny, blonde-haired girl. Not really my type. She's pretty ugly - she had a decent body but she had a mole on her cheek. There's a fine line between a mole and a beauty mark. I couldn't really look at her face to face. So I sat down - I knew this was my only option. The night was slipping away. I needed to get a lap dance.

I gave her ten dollars and she started going at it. And it was great. She had her back to me so I didn't have to see the mole. She was going for about five minutes and I was about three-quarters of the way through my personal journey and then all of the sudden she broke down into tears.

Dr. Fletcher

(writing notes) There are occasions when Gary's OCD leads him to do nice things for other people. And I think to some extent he really hangs onto that.

Gary

She tells me that this is the only lap dance that she's given in the past three months because these graduate students are stealing all the business.

Dr. Fletcher

So you really must have made her feel quite good about herself.

Gary

Well, I guess so. She asked me if I thought that she was pretty. I ended up telling her that I left my contacts in the car and I went out to the parking lot and got the fuck out of there.

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