Living
many, many years gives me time to ponder many things. Like a young child, I have boldness to keep asking why.
1.
Why
does a blow to a man’s crotch provoke hilarious laughter? Just wondering.
2.
Why
must women flex one knee slightly when posing for a photo and men can stand
straight and tall? What’s wrong with standing firmly on two feet?
3.
Why,
when athletes are asked to comment on a
game, out comes mumbled syllables:
“We didwhatwehadda do .... haddado ..... haddado ....”
4.
Why
does a teen shows obvious terror when a customer hands over a $20 bill and the charge is $13.62—and no computer?
5.
Why
do movie directors have the leading lady wear stiletto heels while fleeing from
the villain over cobblestones while he is wearing hob-nailed boots?
6.
Why
are deaths of in-the-womb babies considered murder and killing of
out-of-the-womb grownups in combat considered okay?
7.
“Tell
me a little bit about ....” releases a
flood of words, as if a hydrant has broken. “Little bit” is no longer just
a few words. Why?
8.
Why
has the word “sin” almost disappeared
from our vocabulary? Instead I hear “Everyone makes mistakes,” “I goofed,” “I’m not perfect.”
9.
I know that language changes. It’s a living
thing, but the changes should make sense.
Why is “Jane gave the balls to Betty and myself” acceptable in modern
parlance? I won’t even mention the difference
between “lie” and “lay.”
10.
The
ancient scribe of Proverbs wrote: “There are three things that are too amazing
for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way
of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of man with
a maiden.”
No
one can trace exactly the eagle’s
flight, the snake’s slithering, the ship’s path in the sea. But I think he was pondering a man’s
courtship of a woman. Like the others,
it can’t be described exactly.
Courtship
is sometimes slow, but always wonderful, mysterious, and memorable. It can’t be replicated.
My
question: Why has courtship disappeared
from our society?
