Love and the Great Divide

Men and women are as different as Ragtime and Salsa. Each dance to a different tempo, inhale the sweet confection of life yet have such a difficult time finding a natural rhythm  free of demands and expectation.

I hear the conversations the disappointment and regret but rarely do I hear a willingness to find balance between preconditions and reality.

For many, greying absent a partner or companion is a frightening thing for others living alone is perfectly suitable.

Relationships are all about dropping your guard and being you. There's nothing comparable to sharing your bed with someone you find most attractive on many levels. I've never understood the separate bedroom or bed thing. What's the point of being close to someone if you can't hear their dreams or savor their scent?

The only way to make things work in an inhumanly complex atmosphere as ours is let people be themselves. You can dress a clown in a tuxedo and expect royalty but they will always fall face forward in the Stove Top Stuffing.

I see a common thread between my long married friends - they are comfortable. I'm not speaking money or anything as such - they are at ease with their spouses.

I have had single women express to me frustration in meeting men and getting as far as a second date. The deeper we get in conversation a list of qualifications arose. You ask me why this falls flat?

Men are men. We are born under hubcaps, in lawn chairs, the bleachers of a ball diamond, the back room of a card game, near a pint of ale. We are simple. Our desires are basic and our reactions as complex as strained soup. We are easy prey. We just like to hear that we look good and do something of merit occasionally after that we are an easy mark.

So you think there's a great divide between the sexes - think again.