I am catching up on the TV shows I recorded while I was on vacation this week, and last night I thoroughly enjoyed the show The Birthday Party from CBS Live to Tell series. Did you see it?

It’s about a federal prosecutor who got abducted at gunpoint, and managed to survive being held hostage. When he was released, he called his home and found his co-workers looking for him. When he told them his story, it was so over-the-top that no one believed him at first. His story involved abduction, sex, drugs, prostitutes, etc. They thought Stanley had flipped his lid. There was quite a bit of humor in this because of who Stanley is as a person.

Stanley is a straight shooter. He is one to like rules, respect rules and follow them. Yeah, it makes sense he was drawn to federal prosecution. He isn’t one to stretch them for his convenience. That’s just not Stanley, and for his co-workers to disbelieve such an honest Abe is part of what made the story so fascinating. The second angle that was so fascinating for me was watching just how honest Stanley was when he stared down death in the face– how he truthfully he answered his captors questions. At times, I cringed. I am unusually honest in life, but I would have minimized my answers where Stanley didn’t.

When Stanley was asked what he did for a living, I couldn’t believe he said he was a federal prosecutor. I would have maybe said, “lawyer”. I thought saying federal prosecutor was going to be his death sentence, but in the end, I think with these guys, it actually saved his life.

Fascinating story! What do you think?