Dr. Fletcher

(writing notes) Many people with OCD have irrational worries about AIDS, and I was concerned this would become a problem when Gary reported that a new coworker of his is HIV-positive.

Gary

...because we were welcoming this new member of the team. And so we all got on this bus and went to the Olive Garden. We all sat down around this big table in the conference room and the new guy got up and introduced himself and said what he had been doing recently. Then he started babbling on about AIDS activism and AIDS - it was pretty confusing, it seemed pretty confusing and really out of place. But then after we got our drinks he really conspicuously took out a big handful of pills and took it down with his iced tea.

At that point I thought it was - at that point it became pretty apparent to me and everyone else that this guy did, indeed, have AIDS. At this point everyone else started acting really weird towards him. They didn't want to share any of their food with him. He ended up with an entire thing of breadsticks to himself, which is unheard of at the Olive Garden.

I didn't want him to feel that bad about himself. People were turning away when he tried to talk to them and covering their mouths. It was really preposterous. He was telling jokes and he was trying to fit in and I started laughing at things he would say.

Every time, I would give him a big high five. But I was actually giving him a high five because this guy Bob, who was sitting next to me, who I shared a cubicle with last year, who wears this horrible musk that I - he's contaminated, I can't deal with him on any level. He was equally disgusted as everyone else with this AIDS guy, so he was really impressed at the way I was acting.

So every time I would give this guy a high five, he would give me a high five, so I'd have to give this guy a high five because my hand was contaminated and I have to touch someone else. Otherwise I pass out just like that.

Dr. Fletcher

(writing notes) Adam Mitchell wrote on www.helpmypatients.com: "Adam Mitchell: Just try imagining how different life would be without OCD. I lost sight of that but remembering it really helped me."

Dr. Fletcher

You know, I know that a lot of people with OCD have a big concern about AIDS, so that must have been hard. I wonder if you've ever thought about what your life would be like if you didn't have the OCD - if you've ever imagined how things would be different.

Gary

This really didn't have anything to do with OCD. I mean the AIDS - the real reason that my OCD was set off was because of Bob, because he's a fat, disgusting, smelly pig.

Anyway, so after the meal, before we got back on the bus, everyone was sort of milling around. A group of people including Bob came up to me and they said, 'Gary, we're really impressed at how you dealt with that situation back there.' Because all of them didn't want to have anything to do with the AIDS guy and I guess I laughing along with him, giving him high fives and stuff. I was glad to take the credit for that. If anything it made me feel good about myself which is something that rarely happens.

And then Bob came up to me and he was really contrite. He apologized to me for his behavior towards the AIDS guy and he went in for a double high five. And I said, 'No, I'm not going to give you a high five, because the way that you behaved is despicable. Everyone knows that you can only get AIDS from - what is it? - semen, blood or breast milk. There's no fucking way you could contract AIDS from this guy by sharing a breadstick with him. I'm disgusted.'

And he walked away. And I didn't have to touch his hand.

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