RELATIONSHIPS

You can't live with them; you can't live without them. Whenever we use the word, without qualification, we are always talking about the romantic kind. There are other kinds, to be sure, but we always specify it whenever we're referring to them. "My relationship with my mother..." and so on.

To be perfectly honest, I don't believe that men and women even like each other. Really. They might need each other, but they don't like each other. And men definitely need women more than women need them. Even the Bible says it:

It is not good for the man to be alone.

(Genesis 2:18)

God Himself said this, and there is no similar statement about the woman.

I also don't believe that men need women as much as they need their "parts." Haven't you noticed the way they're always talking about boobs, butts and lips? This is all they want. Of course these features are enhanced if they are attached to a woman, but basically it's all they really want. It's sort of like what you do with a book sometimes. Who hasn't got one in their hands, not to read every word of it, but just to flip through it looking for the good parts? You wouldn't want those particular pages ripped out and handed to you. Hell, no. You'd want them to be in the book, because that's where they belong, but still, when all is said and done, it's all you're really interested in. Just the good parts.

Personally, I don't care for relationships. It's like having a job, which means that, if you have a relationship and a job, it's like you have two jobs! Screw that. Working at a relationship (as we've so often heard) is the secret to maintaining it. Did you notice the words? Working at a relationship, and maintaining it? This isn't coming just from me. You hear lots of people say it, on the talk shows and everywhere else. So there must be something to it.

If I had to say what I dislike the most about relationships, I would have to say the dishonesty. It's always circulating as a sort of undercurrent. It starts at the very beginning, when the couple first meet each other. Both the man and the woman usually do their best to look their best, put on their manners, exhibit perfect etiquette and so on. Basically try to make a good impression. Erich Fromm was right, people are just trying to market themselves, even in relationships. Both the woman and the man are essentially trying to sell themselves to each other.

I don't know what the answer is, but I'm convinced there has to be a better way to live your life than be involved in some kind of relationship. The obligatory burden of trust is just too onerous. There are so many other things in life to devote our minds to that the thought of placing ourselves in a postition in which the element of trust must be central seems downright foolish. (The human animal did not evolve in an environment that requied trust as much as cunning.) Again, I must quote the Bible:

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.

(Proverbs 31:10-11)

Isn't it interesting that the very first thing the writer says about a "virtuous" woman is that she is completely trustworthy? These words were written over 2,000 years ago. Some things never change.