So Smart It's Scary.

Women frighten me. I tried to do a column in West End's Best Magazine on that subject, but my boss (or should I say, his wife) nixed it. I really wasn't denigrating women. I was simply commenting on the fact that the way they think frightens me. At least, that's what I thought I was trying to say. In retrospect, and having been sincerely humbled, I now know that what I meant to say is that women amaze me...maybe even intimidate me with a brilliance and a way of reasoning that goes far beyond that of the mortal male.
So, while I had intended to write a column praising the modern-day woman, it evidently came out in a somewhat less than flattering way. And, for that, I'm truly sorry.
The reason I bring this up, is that just yesterday the brilliance of women was driven home to me. I was speaking with a brilliant lady at a local private school. She is a client of the magazine. And, we were discussing my columns. I was telling her an anecdote that I had included in my banned column about my wife. Just for perspective, I'll relate that anecdote:
One evening we had the television on, but no one was watching. As we came into the room with the TV blaring, a particular show was ending. "That's not fair," my wife said.
"What's not fair?" I asked.
"Well," she answered, "this show will get the credit for us having watched it, and we didn't"
"Huh?" I said politely. "Who knows we had the show on our TV?"
"They do," she replied, as if that solved everything. But, when I questioned her as to who "they" were. She gave me a look to suggest I was a moron. "The Nielsens."
Well to make a long story, just a tad shorter, I explained that the Nielsen ratings households were electronically wired to record their viewing habits, and that participants were aware of the fact their viewing habits were being monitored.
There's more to the original sotry, but that will do for now. The reason I bring it up, is because of the conversation I had yesterday with this lady at the school. And, I will reiterate, she is, by all indications, a very intelligent, peresonable young woman. But, as I started to tell her about my wife's reaction to being monitored, the lady exclaimed, "That's right, the Neilsens. I never thought about that. We are being watched."
What could I say. I could only commend her for being as brilliant as my wife. I walked away scratching my head. I can only wonder, "Why can't men be that intelligent."