It Takes One To Know One!
It Takes One To Know One!
For the benefit of the few remaining unsullied members of the dominant species on planet earth usually referred to as "humans', it is time we dropped the pretense, faced the facts, and got on with the business of living - which, as you may know, is complicated enough without examining every deviant action attributed to the two legged males and females who make headlines because of an 'affair'. The operative driving force that leads to this long, philosophical opening sentence is not, and we repeat, IS NOT the current focus on the Governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford. No, it is simply time some attention was paid to the very word that sparks interest, arouses possible dormant feelings of a sexual nature, and/or, sends a message of unspoken thoughts racing through the recesses of the human brain - and the word is "affair".
It would take more space than we have available here to analyze the many descriptions or interpretations of an 'affair' as we know it (hence the title of this piece!), however it is the study by ViewPoint's own staff that has revealed the existence of some 27,473,002 males and 2985 females who own up to having a recent, or current affair, that establishes beyond a doubt that the human condition includes a strong tendency to deviate from any set pattern of relationship that demands unequivical adherence to the status quo.
History is a resource that provides ample proof that Kings, Queens, and ordinary serfs and slaves, were as vulnerable then as now to consider, try, repeat and enjoy affairs with the same intensity as the other human condition - survival at any cost! So, what is it about affairs that brings on gasps and gapes when the public is let in on the details. Would it be fair to say that several million men and woman of all ages, races, cultures, etc., devour the news for one reason: there but for the grace of some deity, go I!!!
As indicated earlier in this startling piece, there is no clear definition of an affair in the first place. Is an affair a lunch with a subordinate at work - with suggestions that another lunch would be nice? Or does it take a relationship that goes from lunches across tables to whispers across beds to make the case? In this day and age, is an affair an unusually close relationship between two persons of the same sex?? Or, can an affair actually be a mind set,as one President stated in an article in Playboy, as 'lusting' after a female???
So many paths were followed as the ViewPoint team studied the subject - even to the in depth revelation that cave drawings depicting warriors with spears and animals ranging from deer to jungle cats, may have been the earliest recognition that beastiality was not only rotten behavior! Then, it became really complicated when the study made it plain that the diffference between and 'affair' and 'dating' was a piece of parchment or ordinary paper, or better yet, some spoken words, preferably when spoken by a highly regarded person wearing extravagant clothing or having a small headpiece called a "yarmulke" on his or her head.
So, back to the headliners of our time, Eliot Spitzer, Jim McGreevey, Mark Sanford, Bill Clinton, and too many others to name them all, who thought that an affair was their business and no one else's! Once we identify the 'perps' we tend to be holier than thou, and either ignore the existence of our own foibles (if that is what we may call them), or cringe a bit and wonder why liking, loving, or longing for another person is a crime of nature. Breaking a vow, if there was one, is nasty business - but the study showed that we break vows all the time. It is more likely that breaking a religious vow is considered the most devastating action - and may be the basis for many, if not most, divorces. But there are oaths of office spoken by those who achieve the highest office, and they are also vows. So are the words spoken by newly inducted members of the armed forces, or, the many who stand before an authority and vow to be good citizens as they become Americans in fact, as well as in name.
Would it be a better world if an 'affair' was deemed to be a state of mind rather than a condition of the human variety of relationships? Would we be be more tolerant if a simple statement like "I'm having an affair with my boss." meant that we get along wonderfully and enjoy each other's being?
It may be said that there is no way to change human nature. We fear death, we enjoy good health, we hate poverty, we love good movies, we accept sex as an element of living well. Why can't we add one more human condition - affairs are enjoyable bypaths that fullfill a need and achieve the similar effect of 'coming out of the closet'!
Stories have been written, songs have been heard, sermons have been preached, all touching on the absolute need to seek and welcome multiple human relationships. All that remains for the future is the understanding that unlike the Hippocratic Oath which vows that a medical person shall do no harm, an affair can bring joy and happiness, but also despair and denial - and instead of shame, an affair of any kind would be one more aspect of the human condition - not to be accepted or rejected, but to be understood and appreciated.
It is more than wishful thinking. It is happening now. It may be a ViewPoint that had it righgt!
Richard Carlton
June 30, 2009
Issue No. 13
For the benefit of the few remaining unsullied members of the dominant species on planet earth usually referred to as "humans', it is time we dropped the pretense, faced the facts, and got on with the business of living - which, as you may know, is complicated enough without examining every deviant action attributed to the two legged males and females who make headlines because of an 'affair'. The operative driving force that leads to this long, philosophical opening sentence is not, and we repeat, IS NOT the current focus on the Governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford. No, it is simply time some attention was paid to the very word that sparks interest, arouses possible dormant feelings of a sexual nature, and/or, sends a message of unspoken thoughts racing through the recesses of the human brain - and the word is "affair".
It would take more space than we have available here to analyze the many descriptions or interpretations of an 'affair' as we know it (hence the title of this piece!), however it is the study by ViewPoint's own staff that has revealed the existence of some 27,473,002 males and 2985 females who own up to having a recent, or current affair, that establishes beyond a doubt that the human condition includes a strong tendency to deviate from any set pattern of relationship that demands unequivical adherence to the status quo.
History is a resource that provides ample proof that Kings, Queens, and ordinary serfs and slaves, were as vulnerable then as now to consider, try, repeat and enjoy affairs with the same intensity as the other human condition - survival at any cost! So, what is it about affairs that brings on gasps and gapes when the public is let in on the details. Would it be fair to say that several million men and woman of all ages, races, cultures, etc., devour the news for one reason: there but for the grace of some deity, go I!!!
As indicated earlier in this startling piece, there is no clear definition of an affair in the first place. Is an affair a lunch with a subordinate at work - with suggestions that another lunch would be nice? Or does it take a relationship that goes from lunches across tables to whispers across beds to make the case? In this day and age, is an affair an unusually close relationship between two persons of the same sex?? Or, can an affair actually be a mind set,as one President stated in an article in Playboy, as 'lusting' after a female???
So many paths were followed as the ViewPoint team studied the subject - even to the in depth revelation that cave drawings depicting warriors with spears and animals ranging from deer to jungle cats, may have been the earliest recognition that beastiality was not only rotten behavior! Then, it became really complicated when the study made it plain that the diffference between and 'affair' and 'dating' was a piece of parchment or ordinary paper, or better yet, some spoken words, preferably when spoken by a highly regarded person wearing extravagant clothing or having a small headpiece called a "yarmulke" on his or her head.
So, back to the headliners of our time, Eliot Spitzer, Jim McGreevey, Mark Sanford, Bill Clinton, and too many others to name them all, who thought that an affair was their business and no one else's! Once we identify the 'perps' we tend to be holier than thou, and either ignore the existence of our own foibles (if that is what we may call them), or cringe a bit and wonder why liking, loving, or longing for another person is a crime of nature. Breaking a vow, if there was one, is nasty business - but the study showed that we break vows all the time. It is more likely that breaking a religious vow is considered the most devastating action - and may be the basis for many, if not most, divorces. But there are oaths of office spoken by those who achieve the highest office, and they are also vows. So are the words spoken by newly inducted members of the armed forces, or, the many who stand before an authority and vow to be good citizens as they become Americans in fact, as well as in name.
Would it be a better world if an 'affair' was deemed to be a state of mind rather than a condition of the human variety of relationships? Would we be be more tolerant if a simple statement like "I'm having an affair with my boss." meant that we get along wonderfully and enjoy each other's being?
It may be said that there is no way to change human nature. We fear death, we enjoy good health, we hate poverty, we love good movies, we accept sex as an element of living well. Why can't we add one more human condition - affairs are enjoyable bypaths that fullfill a need and achieve the similar effect of 'coming out of the closet'!
Stories have been written, songs have been heard, sermons have been preached, all touching on the absolute need to seek and welcome multiple human relationships. All that remains for the future is the understanding that unlike the Hippocratic Oath which vows that a medical person shall do no harm, an affair can bring joy and happiness, but also despair and denial - and instead of shame, an affair of any kind would be one more aspect of the human condition - not to be accepted or rejected, but to be understood and appreciated.
It is more than wishful thinking. It is happening now. It may be a ViewPoint that had it righgt!
Richard Carlton
June 30, 2009
Issue No. 13
Love this story Richard. Is it not a small world???
Reminds me of a story Sara told of visiting a friend in Ohio soon after she moved there. The friend, recently married showed Sara her wedding album and there in the album is Sara's sister Debi who lives in Israel???? Never knew they all knew each other. A small world indeed. N
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