SOME IDLE THOUGHTS ABOUT MARRIAGE (December 14, 2000)

Unobserved, I am watching a couple in their late twenties fussing over an infant of about six months. Assuming she is not pregnant again, which is not entirely out of the question, the wife still looks as though she has just given birth. Besides, she is ugly. Really ugly. And she is irritable. The husband, a good-looking chap, is carrying out her orders sheepishly if sluggishly. Perhaps there are not too many situations in which people would benefit from being able to read each other’s minds, but she would definitely benefit from being able to read his mind right now. In the event, their marriage would have a fighting chance.