Thought for the Day (July 21)

Subject: Thought for the Day (July 21)
From: Peter T.
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 08:35 AM

A SLICE OF WEDDING CAKE

Why have such scores of lovely, gifted girls
Married impossible men?
Simple self-sacrifice may be ruled out,
And missionary endeavour, nine times out of ten.

Repeat: 'impossible men' -- not merely rustic,
Foul-tempered or depraved
(Dramatic foils chosen to show the world
How well women behave, and always have behaved).

Impossible men: idle, illiterate,
Self-pitying, sly,
For whose appearance even in city parks
Excuses must be made to casual passers-by.

Has God's supply of tolerable husbands
Fallen, in fact, so low?
Or do I always over-value woman
At the expense of man?
Do I?
It might be so.

--Robert Graves.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day (July 21)
From: Allan C.
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 08:49 AM

Wow! Peter T., what a great quote. I have found many, many men with whom I felt some degree of camaraderie until I was exposed to the way in which they treated their significant others. It usually boils down to simple selfishness - of which self-importance is a subset.

I don't understand what causes this kind of behavior in a lot of men. All I know is that because of it, I have found very few men I could really like to be around.

On the flip side, I have seen similar behavior on the part of some women, but it doesn't appear to me to be as rampant.

Allan C. (trying to offend as few people as possible...)