NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - A lot of people are reading the story about Morgan Stanley firing four men for going to a strip club with a client. And it's darn certain most of those downloads (I can see them on my magic counter) are coming from guys in shirts and ties thinking: "There but for the grace of God go I."

That, no doubt, is what Morgan Stanley has in mind ... at least as far as its own operations are concerned.

If you haven't been following the company's travails, it settled a sex discrimination lawsuit in mid-2004 for $54 million. Since that settlement, the company has set up a policy against employees going to "exclusionary" events. Going to a "gentlemen's club" is an exclusionary event. (Some Neanderthals among you may argue that strip clubs don't 'exclude" women. Go stand beside a Chippendales dancer and see if you want the comparison.)

These guys, an analyst and three sales staffers in the institutional stock division, broke that policy by going to a strip club with a client while hosting a Morgan Stanley investment conference in Arizona.

Yes, they are scapegoats on the altar of Political Correctness. I will note that the client in this case is not being dismissed. A spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley had no comment on that or any other part of the story.

Fact is businessmen go to strip clubs. Especially during conventions. It's tradition. And by golly, it's fun.

But if this case is any indication, such frolics are likely to fade away. And some of us will be sad about that.

Then again, some of us probably miss the days of smoking in the office and three-martini lunches. But of course, now people are a little healthier and business is a little saner.

So this politically (and legally) correct abstinence from tawdry indulgences would generally be a good thing. Deals ideally should be based on facts and figures and honest negotiation ... not on who paid for the most lap dances.

Except the ideal will not be reality in many cases.

Face it: Boys will be boys and will find ways to do the usual grade school bonding. And probably some bonding will be done on the basis of a little anti-woman backlash against having their puerile behavior schooled. Heck, they'll still probably go to the strip joint and just have a "he-man woman haters" oath not to get busted.

Eventually such "Little Rascals" will grow up.

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Allen Wastler is Managing Editor of CNNMoney.com and appears on CNN's "In the Money." He can be emailed at wastlerswanderings@cnn.com.