A member of Congress responsible for investigating sexual harassment claims has — you guessed it — been accused of sexual harassment.
The New York Times reported that Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pennsylvania), a member of the House Ethics Committee, settled his own harassment case involving a younger aide last year — using taxpayer money.
The 62-year-old married father of three admitted that he viewed the younger woman as "a soul mate" and allegedly got upset when he learned she was dating someone else, creating a hostile work environment that forced her out of her job. Based on interviews he's done since, it doesn't seem that he thinks there was anything wrong with his actions.
On the Jan. 24 episode of "The Lead with Jake Tapper," CNN White House reporter Kaitlan Collins shared a lesson for Meehan and other men.
"Let this just be a message to all of the grown men out there that the younger women who work for you do not want to date you," Collins said. "They do not want to be your soul mate. They do not want to go to ice cream with you. They do not want to be your partner."
"The younger women who work for you do not want to date you. They do not want to be your soul mate." GIFs from CNN/Twitter.
"And when they start dating someone else, you cannot get angry with them for that and try to pay them money to cover it up," she continued, exasperated. "That is just a lesson I should not have to say to people. I'm a 25-year-old woman. I shouldn't have to say that to anyone, that when a woman goes to work, they don't want to date their boss."
"When a woman goes to work, they don't want to date their boss."
It's really simple: If you're someone's boss, you shouldn't be getting hung up about who they're dating or expressing your own romantic feelings for them.
That's harassment. Even if feelings are mutual, supervisor-subordinate relationships are an extremely delicate issue that often invites trouble. With imbalances in power dynamics — say, if the person you're pursuing has to worry whether you'll fire them for rebuffing your advances — it's probably just best if you avoid the issue completely, keeping things professional in the workplace.
"When I discussed her boyfriend, I stated that I wished I could be better at accepting it right now but I probably needed a bit of time," Meehan told the Inquirer — a major indicator that his interest in his aide was inappropriate. In a letter to the woman, Meehan discussed going to the Vietnam Memorial, finding her last name, and tracing it back to someone with his own name.
The whole thing is just really, truly, unnecessarily weird and creepy.
Don't be creepy.
Watch Collins offer up her lesson for grown men about the younger women who work for them below.
A message from @kaitlancollins to grown men: The young women that work for you do not want to date you. They do not want to be your soulmate. They do not want to get ice cream with you. They do not want to be your partner. I shouldn’t have to tell you this. pic.twitter.com/C3WiQGIhAH
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) January 24, 2018
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids… 
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie? 
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
Ladybug unexpectedly found during colonoscopyPhoto credit: 
Close-up of bottom of ladybug found in colonPhoto credit: 
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."