quote of the week

This one deserves a post of its own:

...carrying flowers or some other sacrifice to avert the wrath of the women in their life...

That's bleepin' great. Thanks Nate, funniest thing I've read in days. (And with some of the emails flying around at work, that's not an empty statement.) And yet so true. That's basically what it boils down to. Women have been programmed to expect some token gesture of effort on the part of the man, and men have been programmed to think they need perform a "special" rite on this day, as if it's somehow different than any other day or worthy of its own special treatment for falling on the 14th of February. And this whole game is held up as some kind of cardinal law that everyone mustn't dare fall short of. A sham, I tell ya! But at least it seems that Marisa doesn't seem to take it too seriously either (or you're dead, one of the two, and I like my chances with the former), which buys yet more respect points from me. Tell her to start spreading some of that wisdom around, will ye? Heck, it's got to start somewhere...wait, I'm approaching a topic I promised myself I'd shut up about for a while.

Why don't women think this holiday is degrading?

You know, that's a good question. I've wondered that for a long time myself. It seems that if someone is actually pleased by some expected ritualistic display of affection that has no spontaneity or deep meaning, their expectations are so low or they're being disrespected so much the rest of the time that such would indicate deeper issues. It's a shame I didn't read this earlier this evening or I'd have thrown it out to be answered at Crossroads. And some of them are plenty materialistic to take great umbrage to my boldness and straightforwardness in actually saying something like that, so it might have been not only informative but also exciting and funny (not sure "funny" is the word I'm looking for but it'll work) as well. It surely would have sparked a discussion, and I don't figure I have much of a "rep" in that crowd anyway so personal damage wouldn't have been a concern. Alas, an opportunity missed...