Insane Earthlings

“How did the two of you meet?” asked the social worker. She was conducting a home study that would determine if we were fit to adopt a child from China. My wife and I exchanged nervous glances. We had not done a mock interview like a politician prepares for a debate. We had not thought to anticipate what types of questions might be asked. We could have answered this question two different ways. However, as we looked at each other, our anxious faces melted into a shared smile. It was clear that we each knew what the other was thinking. Simultaneously, we answered, “We met at a bar.” It was one of those magic moments when two people in love know each other so well that a quick glance communicates volumes.   The social worker judgmentally clucked her teeth and clicked her pen a couple of times. Then she said flatly, “I’ll say you met at a social club.” Since our mutual friend, James, had been at the bar with me and had made the introduction, we could have just said that we m...

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Robert Frost It’s a miracle that I was never held back a grade by the time I got to high school. My report cards were littered with the letter F.   Somehow, I managed to squeak by each year. Lots of last minute extra credit work. This pattern followed ...