Monday, February 23, 2009

Am I Martian?

Occasionally, I think I might be from another planet. Some of the reasons why:

From a book on sholom bayis: "Men need to measure every word they say to their wives. Even an innocently intended remark can easily hurt a woman's feelings and bring her to tears."
My own experience: I've known my wife for over a decade. In that time, I've seen her cry perhaps 5 times.

From a speech our local Rabbi gave this week (to women): "I hear all the time from men, who complain their wives are spending hours and hours online and neglecting the house and children as a result."
My own experience: My wife couldn't find the Internet with a map, and you could perform surgery on our kitchen table (hmmm. Perhaps there is a connection.)

From the woman who lives down the block: "Men are so funny. When they get hungry they really believe that meat is the only solution. And God-forbid you try to get them to eat vegetables."
My own experience: As readers of my posts from the 9 days know, I find dairy perfectly satisfying, and believe vegetables are the perfect snack food.

From some of the locals (who, in most other ways, are quite decent): N-word, N-word, S-word, N-word
My own experience: Only really horrible people still speak that way.

Now, I'm glad to concede that I'm in the minority on all these points... but all that admission does is make the feeling of strangeness more acute.



Toss a tip in the hat, please, and buy my book. (thanks!)

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