April 17, 2010

Every morning my wife and I after getting out of bed get our coffees and sit down to relax. This relaxation is the prelude to the major relaxation that comes later in the day.

We sit in the living room and for about an hour and a half watch the Early Show which is a CBS production.

This show is part news, part useless advise and part tabloid. But they are all the same and we are just partial to CBS.

The main characters in this program are overpaid clowns who really do not realize how lucky they are that they have this job.

Lately they came out with a few items that they were discussing on the air. These things were so lame that I couldn't just let them go without some remarks.

First item.

It seems there are some people across the country who want to reintroduce corporal punishment in schools.

I'm all for it.

When I was going to elementary school there was a male teacher who had the reputation of slapping kids who misbehaved.

He did not slap hard but hard enough to make his points. Parents didn't object because kids didn't dare tell the parents that they gave a reason to the teacher for the slap.

If we behaved we didn't get slapped, if we didn't we got it. It was that simple.

He was not a sadist, he was not a sexual deviant. He just wanted discipline in his classes, and he got it.

And none of us turned out any worse or are wearing this scar for the rest of our lives. We just simply learned how to behave.

A slap with a 12" ruler is not the end of the world but it is a deterrent.

If they would worry less about kids' rights, and if they would let teachers teach we might have better people at the end.

Second item.

There was talk about jealousy or couples trusting or not trusting each other.

I think the question was raised if it was permissible for one party to check on the other. Like where he is, what is he doing, reading his e-mail etc.

I just wrote he because it was simpler than she but it applies to both sexes.

I think the whole subject is sick.

Jealousy is lack of confidence. The person who is jealous of his/her partner lacks the confidence of their relationship.

I have been married for almost 30 years. And very happily, I have to add. In all the years of married life I never had one second when I doubted the depth of our relationship. I never followed my wife, I never questioned her about her whereabouts. I was just not jealous.

We are not two saints, we both have our faults just like everybody else. But we do trust each other unquestionably.

Whenever the subject of jealousy arises in a relationship they should just shake hands and walk away from each other.

That is my psychological analysis of the subject.

Another item.

And this thing bugged me a lot.

The program invited a volcanologist, some scientist, to explain the happenings in Iceland. This person sits there for hours and waits to get on front of the cameras.

Finally They start asking questions, he goes in some very interesting explanations about the whole mess when after ten seconds they say "thank you very much" and go to a commercial. When the show returns he is nowhere to be seen but some idiotic item comes on.

I think they realized that he was too smart for them and that is why they got him off.

Generally, these people really don't care about any of the answers. They just want to hear themselves speak.

But comes tomorrow morning we will be up, with our coffee in hands and will be watching.