Thank you, CarolC. You definitely would (like my friends) and Moonjen, you returned the favor, albeit an evening laugh.

Well, I, for one, neither swell nor tell, and I'm also grateful as hell whenever something lovely comes along. I just expect the gratitude to be a two-way street -- being "serviced" is utterly icky, and sometimes it seems that's how men think of it. At least that's how it occurs to women when we hear phrases like "grateful as hell." However, I think if we penetrate this issue a bit (yup, that was I.P. -- intended pun) -- we might see that one of the best things about men's character and emotional makeup -- and a part that usually goes completely unrecognized -- is how much they love pleasing women. Sexually, sure, and in many other ways. Not all of them, by no means, but it IS an important aspect of the male psyche, I believe. But because we have such weird and warped ideas about sexuality and about emotion -- and about men -- this impulse devolves into the "servicing" ickiness.

However, radical that I am and the soul of compassion, I think it's simply generous of me to give my (strictly hypothetical) man the opportunity to express the best of his inner nature ... I look on it as my very own missionary work.

ww