As my way of saying 'sorry,' here is the first draft of an unfinished chapter destined to be included in a YA (young adult) novella currently underway (as are several others) The story will be called The Idiot Savant of Dating. Half of the book features the relationship between two girls. The other half involves street-smart Dave taking clueless Ted under his wing, in this case, explaining men's shortcomings.
Degree of attachment - Idiot Savant of Dating
Scenario Dave puts to Ted:
"You're in a hospital waiting room. The only other people in there are a woman and her baby. The baby's crying. Your first emotion?"
"Poor kid."
"Kid cries for more than a few minutes?"
"Annoyance."
"Which factors would alter your reaction?"
"If the kid was family."
"You'd be more sympathetic?"
A nod.
"There is one other scenario where the child is not family, but you'd still be sympathetic, isn't there?"
A shake of the head. "I doubt it."
"No? What if you found the mother attractive?"
Ted turned his head to meet Dave's gaze. He opened his mouth, but Dave stopped him.
"You're about to bluff. Don't bluff, just tell the truth."
Ted opened his mouth again.
Dave dropped his chin toward his head and made eye contact with his friend.
"Alright. Yes. If I found the mother attractive, I'd more than likely be sympathetic toward her, okay?"
"But you know you have no chance with the woman. The odds are she's happily married, has just given birth to an heir for her husband. Nothing can come of it... so why does she deserve more sympathy than say a less attractive woman in which you have no interest?"
Ted let go of a deep sigh. "Because I'm disgusting?"
"While that may be true, the real reason is that all males are hard-wired to conquer and procreate. The instinct is so strong, it overrides common sense and even reason. If just one percent of you thought you had a chance with the attractive woman, you would still show concern toward her and her child that you wouldn't toward a woman you were not attracted to. It's our curse."
"Why a curse? Why not simply describe it as a male urge."
"Because, Ted. As men, our sworn duty is to protect women. Protect them whether they're short or tall, black or white, attractive to us or not... but our raging hormones let us down, make our thoughts more or less impure."
"You mean sexually oriented instead of a more appropriate response?"
Dave sat back in his seat and stared straight ahead. "Exactly. Our base desires will always try to take over from rational thinking. Like I said, it's a curse all men bear."
"What if you're gay?" The look on Ted's face suggested he had found a loophole in Dave's argument. For his part, Dave said nothing but merely stared at his friend.
Ted wagged a finger in Dave's face and in an effeminate voice, said, "Bitch, you need to keep that child quiet. He's playing havoc with my sinus. Migraine alert!"
Dave grinned, despite himself. "Stereotype Ted. Not good."
Ted grinned straight back. "Did I ever mention my cousin Drake is gay?"
"Your Aunt Edna's son?"
Ted nodded. "He's my partner when we're on the pool table trying to hustle some cash."
"I've seen him play," Dave replied. "He's good."
Ted chuckled. "Nobody realizes just how good. His mannerisms at the table make him look like a dufus. It's all an act."
Dave nudged his friend. "Why don't you partner with me?"
"For the simple reason, on a pool table, Drake acts like a dufus, but you are one."
A huge grin split Dave's features. "Whose turn is it to buy the beer?"
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