just back from being away from home, visiting w/ family and friends for thanksgiving. it is my favorite holiday, .... , good cheer, lots to eat, warm houses from the cooking, and just convivial people.
it's the holiday where men gather, and it seems to me when they are most social.
i've known a lot of accomplished men, in politics, law, medicine and even in the arts. i've known a lot more just "ordinary joes," working stiffs, tradesmen, craftsmen and guys who do the labor, drive the trucks, pound the nails, cut the beef, and work behind the counters.
they all manage to get mixed in during thanksgiving, chiefly by the function of family gatherings, and helping prepare the food and even to wash the dishes.
you know what they talk about? (and these topics run across the various social strata and "status" among the various men i know.)
guns.
old cars.
airplanes.
the history of war.
and, well, ... , dogs.
a lot of guys like to hunt in my neck of the woods, and the most enthusiastic of all the hunters are the ones who hunt with horses and dogs. especially the dogs. unabashedly, they worship their dogs. the good ones have their virtue and prowess extolled to the high heavens, and rare the dog with a good nose who is not praised, even in the face of some bad habits. and, the halt, the maladroit, the lazy, the plain bone headed mutts who cannot find their own butts with both hands (yes, i know, but it is the best description of a dumb dog i can come up with) are forgiven all their sins for one good retrieve, and for being good friends.
a dog can go a long way with a guy, just by being his friend. (and, if you think dogs don't know this, you gotta another think coming.)
and, most guys have little patience or affection for guys who treat their dogs like servants. dogs are friends. companions. and, mostly a good dog is a colleague.
ladies, make of this as you will, utilize, exploit, or ignore this information as you will. but, i am telling you straight out, this is what guys talk about, and this is what guys are interested in, and this is what garners a fellow's affections.
oh, a grand kid who is not a knot head gets an affectionate mention, and a child who is working out o.k. or is making his way in the world with some panache is in for a little bit of praise now and again, but, the "time of possession" for the various subject matters at hand is overwhelmingly in favor of dogs.
i know of nothing that gets the wistful affection that a good dog gets, whether long or recently departed, whether in his prime, or whether failing & soon to be gone, or facing diminishing skills, and vigor, or the loss of his nose. ladies, if you will know a man, learn, understand and appreciate what it is for a good dog to loose his nose. (a good place to start is to know what the nose knows. it is an extraordinary thing, a dog's good nose.)
not once in the last week did i hear the mention of george f. will, or thomas sowell, or any worthy in public life. nor, of marlyn monroe, nor julia roberts, nor any other heaven sent example of feminine pulchritudinous.
dogs.
if you want to gain the favor of a man, a man of any stripe, just understand that the way to his heart and affection runs through a dog.
go figure. -- i have brought you enlightenment. make of it what you will.
john jay @ 12.01.2013
p.s. my guess is that if zeke emanuel has a dog, it is one of those rare dogs who though he may be genuinely well disposed toward the run of the mill human being in general, that he does not like or has little regard for his "master."
that is my estimation of zeke emanuel. and, yes, it is pretty low.
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