Headline, April04, 2014

"' WHAT?...WA​LK ?!! "' :: 

"' !!! SAVE YOUR LIFE 

-BUT- LOSE YOUR SOUL !!! "'

AS SOON as I told them to shut up,  the yobs  were no more the problem. The problem was my wife. She pointed out-

Later, when we were alone  -that our daughter had been so busy colouring in My Little Pony characters that she had not heard a word said about the slutty sister.

But  -so my wife insisted  -our daughter had heard every profanity spat out by her psychotic father.

When you swear, you sort of hope that your family will love you more if you make a stand.

You hope they will be grateful that you are the kind of man who does not just turn his cheeks and say, "Go ahead, and have me, and everyone humiliated and shamed."

You think they might even be proud of you.

Not a bit of it. Like the wife in  Brokeback Mountain,  my wife was appalled at the level of rage I had to summon up before I could say anything.

My wife was as appalled as Alma in Brokeback Mountain. And I am not even having a secret affair with Jake Gyllenhaal.

But the truth is, we do not do it for them. The brutal fact of the matter is that  -if we dare to speak up  -we are doing it almost exclusively for ourselves.

Our women  -those pragmatic companions, those hard-headed wives  -think that ultimately it is not worth it.

Risking your life for a random bout of inappropriate behaviour    -it is       the madness of the macho man. It's nutty.

"" I personally think that men such as  Kevin Johnson  are modern-day heroes and we could use a million more like him. But his son will miss his father everyday of his life "":

And at some point he will have the right to ask, "Was it worth it, Dad?"

Fight or Flight?  These two disparate instincts have the same function  -to save your hide.

^> ! But sometimes doing nothing saves your life and robs you of your soul<^! .

Ultimately, the only argument that matters is about the kind of man you want to be.

>>> And when did we stop being the kind of men who want to protect those we love? <<<

When the hell did that go out of style !?

My old martial arts teacher had a wonderful recipe for dealing with trouble:

"Walk away," he would tell me, after hundreds of hours of teaching me to kick and punch and block. "Walk away."

Someone spills your drink? Walk away. Someone bumps into you? Walk away. Someone shouts insults? Walk away. And on and on and on.  It's true      -most trouble you can just walk away from:

You can smile. You can apologise. You can put the pillow over your head.

'But there comes a point when walking away means that you will think of yourself less of a man.'

For most of us, it is when some careless stranger is far too close to our women and our children and our dear friends.

And I, be assured, don't, won't,  and never will walk away from that  -whatever,  no matter what the wife thinks, wants and says. That's where I draw the line. For sure.

I don't want no trouble. Honestly.

Really. But it's just like the Heath Ledger character says in Brokeback Mountain.

"" ?!You need to shut your slop-bucket mouths  -you hear me?! ""

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world; and then the rest of the world.  See Ya all on !WOW! -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

"' The Soul Of Honour "'

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless