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May 28, 2005
Colleagues in Conflict
A criminology professor and a psychology professor once got into a debate about some trivial matter, as faculty often do.
The dispute started out as a petty disagreement but soon evolved into a heated exchange. After much screaming and threatening, one thing led to another and the psychology professor was pushed down a flight of stairs.
When the police arrived to investigate the accident the psychology professor was being treated for some bruises and abrasions. The police asked the criminology professor what happened, and he simply replied, "Isn't it obvious, it was a Freudian slip."
Posted by fstone at May 28, 2005 6:56 PM
Comments
I have read many of y our web logs dear brother and have concluded that you have way too much time on your hands. What you need is to have a child or two!
Despite this simple observation, I have found many of your ideas interesting:
"vows to change" - some people really do need salt and pepper shakers. In fact, couples have often been found in severe disagreement about what style of shakers works best for their lifestyle. In the most severe cases, divorce even becomes a solution citing dysfunctional shakers. One might conclude, then, that the ceremonial process of registering for wedding gifts has far more to do with learning to give and take and learning to work together than it has to do with 'stuff'. Take us for example. We registered for very specific bathroom fixtures that I wanted and in turn, she got to pick out the dishes. This worked great until we were opening gifts after the wedding and everyone gave us the wrong bathroom stuff. I later commented to my wife that it was strange that everyone bought us the wrong set for our bathroom, but that it was a matching set given by about 10 different people. She had to confess that after we registered, she went back to the store when I wasn't there, and changed the order.
"ritual over reason" - This is how we avoid the insanity of wedding ceremonies. Burn all children's stories about princesses and princes. Every time I sit down to read Avery a story about a princess, as well as see her desire to "dress up" like one, I see money leaving my bank for some future wedding with a groom who will never be good enough anyway.
"shake it off" - If one were to be biblical, we would actually be kissing each other. Someone along the line decided a simple handshake would be better. Ultimately, there is something about physical contact that breaks downs the isolationism that is so prevalent in the Japanese culture. You will not avoid germs on a daily basis. Touching a shopping cart, a hand rail at the mall, or the door handle at a public bathroom will give you more bacteria than ever thought possible. A simple cure to all of these ailments would be to carry around a small bottle of liquid hand wash. It is cheap and very effective - hands back up.
Just some thoughts on a hot summer Phoenix night!
Posted by: Pauly at June 4, 2005 12:51 AM
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