Mail Problem for German Males with Problems

Most people find it hard to talk about their inadequacies. Men, who are notoriously bad at talking about their feelings, are probably the worst. It's especially difficult for men to discuss sexual problems.

Even admitting their shortcomings to a partner usually involves a lot of mumbling, coercion...and alcohol. Admitting there's a problem in the bedroom to just one person, even the one who they share that room with and one they trust more than any other, is a big deal for a guy.

So spare a sympathetic thought for the two German men who have had their sexual failings transmitted to a large section of the country's civil servants, and possibly the larger general population as well.

It must be especially painful for the partners of Anica G. and Christina S., two colleagues and friends who work together at the Federal Labor Office. These two men didn't even talk about their problems to their lady friends. Anica and Christina just got their heads together over a lunch break to moan about their partners' poor sex drive.

Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly a physical tête-à-tête but one conducted via e-mail. And that's where things start to go a little pear-shaped.

A problem shared?

The Internet exchange between the two women attracted a larger audience when the emails between Anica and Christina, which contained graphic details of how the women tried but failed on a number of occasions to arouse their partners, were first sent by accident to other colleagues in their department at the Labor Office.

But it didn't end there. The juicy details were first forwarded on by mischievous co-workers to thousands of addresses throughout the Labor Office and other government agencies and then on to thousands more contacts by way of mailing lists.

The men's potency problems have now been cropping up in inboxes all over Germany as the mail takes on a life of its own.

"Everyone stares at us now and whispers behind our backs," 21-year-old Anica told the mass circulation tabloid Bild on Saturday. Anica told the daily she and her colleague had not broken any rules because the e-mails were written on breaks.

Such justification will surely not be enough to spare the on-going blushes and ridicule the male partner's are likely to suffer.