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<DIV><SPAN class=294303019-09112004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>Welcome
aboard, Kay.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=294303019-09112004><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=294303019-09112004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>If I was
introduced to you guys, I would probably do a double take,</FONT> <FONT
face=Arial color=#0000ff>simply because it would be
unexpected.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=294303019-09112004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>If I was then
rude enough to make a comment, it probably would be something like: They
must be very special to stick together despite the looks they
get.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=294303019-09112004><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=294303019-09112004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>I don't think
the floral industry could have CREATED this difference. Granted that they
have tweaked it to the max. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=294303019-09112004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>Be assured,
that if the floral industry could get men to appreciate flowers the way women
do, they would have done so long ago.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=294303019-09112004><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=294303019-09112004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>Out of
curiosity, how long are you together?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face="Kaufmann Bd BT" size=5>greenBubble</FONT> </P><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net
[mailto:gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, November 09, 2004 1:54
PM<BR><B>Cc:</B> Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies List<BR><B>Subject:</B>
[GCFL-discuss] Re: GCFL-discuss: Old Wife Joke<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>Hey, I think it's worth talking to death. </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Siarlys, you made a dead-on observation of "fashion experts have given us
an ideal image of what a woman SHOULD look like (and they've done that to men
too) that has little or nothing to do with what most women (and men) actually DO
look like. This<BR>creates all kinds of unnecessary anxiety."</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>And Frank, the floral industry has does the same thing with flowers. They
want us to believe that someone loves us more if they send us flowers. And the
advertising has been aimed directly at us women.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Via advertising, Corporate America has done a superb job of convincing most
Americans and the rest of the world who and what we should be. But I'm not
buying into the concept. </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>I'm a 61-year-old female, disabled, overweight, salt-and-pepper hair, with
plenty of wrinkles on my face (and I've earned every one of them!), in a
long-term committed relationship with a 47-year-old overweight, little bit of
gray in his hair, laugh-lines only wrinkles, grad student male. </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>We show each other in many different ways how much we love
each other without giving each other flowers, and without me asking "do I look
old?" because I know I do and he would tell me I do! But we don't care that
I am obviously older than he. </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Other people care -- funny how in our society nobody blinks an eye when an
older man has a "trophy wife", but let an older woman be in a relationship with
a younger man, and, "OH MY GOD, What's wrong with him that he's with that old
broad? What can he possibly see in her?!" And, yes, we've actually overheard
that comment made more than once. The look of shock on people's faces when we're
introduced to new people is priceless.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>What he sees, in his words, is "The most witty, intelligent, caring,
warm, and loving person I know." And that's what I see in him. Yes, we have our
ups and downs like every couple, especially when each of us is as independent as
we are. But corporate America be damned (moderator - can I say that?). We are
human beings who try to be the best people we can be and to treat other people
just as we want them to treat us.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks for the opportunity to speak my piece. </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>I read this column frequently and appreciate the intelligent
conversation and dialogue. </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Kay </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV></DIV>
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