This is a funny story.

After my closing shift last night I went out for a drink with J ane (yes, that Jane) and another girl, Stacy, from work. We were just shootin' the shit, talking about boy drama, the new guy in Stacy's life and whatnot. I really just wanted to tag along to catch up on the latest gossip that I've been missing out on recently. Jane and Stacy exist within a little bubble of scandal and intrigue, so I had to take advantage of being invited into that bubble for one evening.
Stacy lives with Clarissa, another barista, in a little apartment across town. Stacy doesn't enjoy living with Clarissa, however, because Clarissa is a major headcase and everyone knows it. Clarissa is so completely beyond just benefitting from the advice of her loving friends. She needs professional help, and a lot of it. She comes from an opressive family who's always belittled her and taken out all their anger towards her wild and crazy older sister on her. This has created a tiny little monster out of her. A self-loathing demon who breaks into tears at the drop of a hat over the myriad discomforts of her life. Don't ever allow yourself to be in a room alone with her, because she will bring you into her torured exisatence and drench you in her incessant tears and you will be forever stained by her misery.
Clarissa is one of my favorite people at the cafe, don't get me wrong. She's smart, funny, incredibly stylish and energetic. She just happens to be the most depressed girl on the face of the planet. God damn stupid families! Don't they realize the horrible things they say and do to their daughters in the midst of their crucial formative years? I don't blame Clarissa for being the way she is. I simply feel the frustration of not being able to help her out of her hole. I'm thinking about staging a big old intervention.
This is what Clarissa did a couple months ago. The fact that she never told me this herself, that I had to wait for Stacy and Jane to tell me in private, means that she must really be suffering the utmost shame because of it. Had I gotten myself into the same situation, I wouldn't tell anyone either.
Clarissa responded to a bizarre ad on Craigslist for a "fashion shopper" of some sort. I don't know the details of the ad, just that it was weird from the getgo. She drove to this guy's house somewhere upstate one day. He answered the door in his wheelchair. This was why he had to advertise for this shopper position. Because it was something he couldn't take care of himself. He provided her with a list of different clothing items he wanted her to go to the mall and acquire. She thought nothing strange of it at first, even when he told her to be sure and get the clothes in her size. He explained that he was a photographer, and the clothes would be worn by a model during an upcoming shoot.
Clarissa bought everything on his list, and returned to his place the day of the shoot. I guess she was uncomfortable, but not completely turned off, when he instructed her to put on the clothes and model for him while he photographed her. She did it. From what I understand, she was just wearing skirts and tanktops. No lingerie or pasties and dildos or anything.
Anyway, when Clarissa went home that night, she felt that he'd violated her and she had to get back at him. Clarissa has been dating this complete loser guy in his 30s on and off for over a year. He's mean to her but he spoils her with expensive gifts, and because Clarissa's family never even cared enough to shower her with material affection, she thinks what they have constitutes a real relationship.
Clarissa brought her boyfriend, Greg, to the photographer's house a couple days after the fateful shoot. I believe the intention was to kick the poor wheelchair-bound guy's ass for being such a nasty perv. Unfortunately, he wasn't home that day, so no ass-kicking took place.
Greg encouraged Clarissa to go to the police and report the evil photog. When she did, however, the cops informed her that the guy didn't really do anything illegal and there was nothing they could do for her. Clarissa is a smart, capable 25 year-old woman wwho had clearly consented to this photo shoot. She had to come to terms with her own naivete.
So now Clarissa is ashamed and keeps this matter hushed. I understand why.