I have been reading the occasional column by Ms. Smith with interest. At the risk of offering unintended insult, I will say that at first I thought that Mr. Reynolds was pushing his wife’s columns out of sheer nepotism, but after the first one or two columns, it became apparent that Ms. Smith has what I suspect to be a first-class mind, and an obviously cogent style of expression.
At any rate, after reading this thread, it occurs that a man might respond to such sexist crap as what was uttered by the knocked-up waitress by politely repeating (rephrased slightly) what she said, with a raised eyebrow, more than a hint of disbelief and an implied question as to whether she really meant it. The waitress might have the grace to be ashamed at realising what she had just said. If he wanted to make the point more forcefully, he could actually and explicitly ask whether she preferred that men leave the restaurant as unwanted excess.
I will add thanks to Ms. Smith for having hosted such illuminating columns and subsequent threads on the perils of marriage in modern American society. I now am determined to exercise extreme caution about marriage, explicitly refusing to accept such an arrangement without an ironclad prenuptial agreement and perhaps, finances permitting, a shared apartment or home aside from primary or secondary residences to ameliorate the consequences of a maddened bitch (that had slipped past screening) suddenly levelling false accusations of abuse as a potent revenge mechanism (think the loss of home, of guns and other fundamental rights). The prenuptial agreement in particular makes matters difficult, but a real man may very well be utterly unwilling to accept the mere risk of such abusive and frightening tactics, even if it means losing an otherwise attractive prospect.
In all of this, there is of course the ever present awareness that very many women apparently are terminally poisoned by often buried anti-male resentment, and that it will be wise, notwithstanding the obvious attraction (men particularly know exactly what I mean, but I prefer to be a gentleman about it), to be ready to abruptly walk away from a relationship that appears headed for physical violence or other abusive behavior (such as emotional abuse, which can be vicious indeed). It’s just not worth it.
I do realise that this last is rather more easily said than done, but a rational man will force himself regardless to see clearly how terribly the legal system screws over men at the slightest hint of problems. Until this is changed, drastically, a rational man will, with deep reluctance at this perversion of justice and gentility, behave as if he were living in a virtual bunker, besieged by fair-faced enemies.
