It's the Thought, Stupid
Mark Twain once said that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral because we're not the person involved. I've long felt that the reason we fear death is because birth was so traumatic, going from the warm, comfortable safety of the womb to the harsh place that is this world in a matter of minutes by being squeezed through an opening half our size. From here, things might get better if you believe certain preachings, but based on actual experience it could only get worse.
posted by John M Crowther @ 6:48 AM
5 Comments:
John... this cartoon simply must find it's way onto the front of a belated birthday card! I suspect that more women than you could poke a stick at could identify c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y!
My wife, for one, Jean, I hesitate to admit. I've often thought it might be a good idea to send everyone I know a birthday card on January 1, to cover the coming year.
>> … going from the warm, comfortable safety of the womb to the harsh place that is this world in a matter of minutes by being squeezed through an opening half our size. <<
John,
Unlike you, I have no conscious memory of that first journey from the inside-out because I suspect that my baby brain, surely not as developed as yours was then, couldn’t have possibly processed where I had been delivered to; consequently I don’t think I was traumatized then. That came later in adolescence when I learned I had to pick up my clothes by myself. I am still having a hell of time figuring out where I am, and as for that return trip to that other place you mention, the one the Danish prince referred to as “the undiscover’d country,” I’ve asked my travel agent to hold back on the booking.
Shouldn't that be "I'd've got...," for "I would have got..."
I know it sounds like the word "of," but it isn't.
Mike, setting aside the fact that I'd've is one of the ugliest contractions I've ever seen, "I'd of' is exactly what I wanted, since it most accurately captures the speech pattern of that particiular character. But thanks for your observation.
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