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From: trb@floyd.UUCP (Andy Tannenbaum)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: New Topic - Lots of good thoughts from Glenn Reid
Message-ID: <1978@floyd.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 19-Sep-83 16:12:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: floyd.1978
Posted: Mon Sep 19 16:12:37 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 20-Sep-83 19:24:29 EDT
References: <171@pyuxvv.UUCP> <1081@uwvax.ARPA>
Organization: Bell Labs, Whippany, NJ
Lines: 51

Oh, Glenn!  Diplomacy!  NOOOO!

From the 4bsd fortune file (approximately)
-----
A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggy" until you can find a rock.

A diplomat is a man who can convince his wife she'd look stout in a
mink coat.
-----

What's the common thread here?  Yes!  That diplomacy is dishonesty in
a tie and tails!  That's the way we perceive it, therefore that's the
way it is, in a practical sense.  I know some can argue about
semantics, but practically, I'm right.

So.  Glenn gives us an example of how total honesty can reach
seemingly absurd proportions ("I was comparing you to another woman,
etc...") but I maintain that speaking your mind is better than keeping
quiet.

To thine ownself be true.  Ever hear that?  It's all you have!  This
was expressed eloquently in the play/movie "A Man for All Seasons" where
King Henry VIII is trying to slaughter his latest wife for not
producing a son, and the King needs the consent of the court, and that
means Thomas More.  More won't grant consent, although it would be
politically and socially beneficial for him to do so.  More is put
under great pressure, into prison, etc.  When asked why he didn't give
consent to the King, he said (approximately, oh I wish I had the
script) "All we have to protect us are laws.  If we can bend them in
our favor, then nothing will keep criminals from bending them all as
easily."  He had a great analogy about the forest of laws that protect
us, the land, but I've forgotten it.

Anyway, in a relationship, honesty and therefore trust, are of
infinite value.  Where are you with them?  Where are you without
them?

It would be humorous to call me an authority on relationships, my
relationships with women have been few and far between.  I haven't yet
had lasting success, though I have had success.  I'm not the easiest
person in the world to get along with, I only hope that a person who
relates with me can find the experience rewarding.  I've heard lots of
complaints about me, but never about my honesty.  I have enough trouble
managing my life without having to remember what I lied about to whom.
Being without a relationship is hard, but it has to be less hard than
being in an empty relationship.

	Andy Tannenbaum   Bell Labs  Whippany, NJ   (201) 386-6491