Maddenation
Happy Father’s Day
Karina and I disagree about how to handle this. We have a cool Father’s Day present for Dad, but I never bothered to check when Father’s Day was until two days ago, the day I mailed it (I thought it was at least a week away still). So it’s going to get to him late. I really wanted him to get it on Father’s Day, because it would be more important then. But since I’m a numbskull and didn’t send it on time, he won’t get it. Unless…
I think it’s nearly as good to give Dad a taste of what he’s getting by showing it here. He’ll see what it is, know that it’s coming, and feel all the good Father’s Day feelings he should have felt had I mailed the gift on time. Karina thinks it’s better not to show the gift here, so he’ll be surprised when he gets the actual physical object.
Through the miracle of modern technology, Dad can decide whether he wants to see what the present it today or wait until it arrives to get the real thing. And meanwhile, the rest of us can do the same (or, if we’re far away from Dad and wouldn’t be able to see the real deal, we can just see it here). That’s it. Simple. Sort of like us getting the ultrasound and sending a note to Karina’s mom about the then-unborn Pato’s gender. Sort of like The Lady or the Tiger story by Frank R. Stockton.
In any case, Dad, Happy Father’s Day. And thank you for your touching entry. We all, I, Karina, Pato, Adi, appreciate all you do and are. We love you.
Patrick • News • 06/15/03 • 4 comments
Comments
Dad • 06/21/03 • 11:53 PM:As you now know, I looked at my present, and anxiously await its arrival. I also enjoyed reading The Lady, or the Tiger? again. While I did so, I wondered why certain words were linked to a dictionary while other, more obscure words were not. For example, himself is defined, but not self-communing; hearing, but not inevitable; pleased, but not ingrafted. This distraction did not ruin the delight of the story, however, nor dampen my enthusiasm for speculation. Of course, my choice whether or not to look at the gift is really not very much like the choice presented to the young lover, is it? The only downside to my looking is that it transplants the surprise of the gift a few days backward. It may even enhance my anticipation of the gift by giving me a small taste of it ahead of time. In any event, it falls far short of the life or death decision Stockton’s young hero must face.
Now to a brief (I hope) discussion of the story’s ending. It seems to me that the author missed a great opportunity to heighten the intrigue. In his version of the story, the youth trusts the princess completely and immediately chooses the door on the right. What if Stockton had ended the story with the youth still agonizing over his decision? This would have doubled our agony. First, we would have to be concerned about the princess’s motivation. Did she love him so dearly that she couldn’t bear to see him killed, or did she let her jealousy get the best of her and decide that she couldn’t bear to see him with another woman? Then we must consider whether or not the youth will trust his lover or select the opposite door. In the original version there are only two possible options, now there are at least four. There could be even more. Maybe she was really indicating which door contained the tiger so the youth could avoid it. Does he really want the lady over the tiger, given his deep love of the princess? Did the princess’s gesture mean anything at all, or was she merely stretching her arm? Given all these considerations, is the youth better off flipping a coin than deciding whether or not to agree with the princess?
I don’t remember what I decided when I first read the story, but now I think the lady was on the other side of the door. What do you think?
Dad • 06/28/03 • 10:33 AM:I’m looking through the site for entries with no comments, and I find this one with only 1 comment, and I’m surprised that nobody commented on the Lady and the Tiger story. It’s a great, all-time story that provokes lots of discussion if you let it. It’s fun, if you have the time or make the time and aren’t afraid to let your mind wander where it will and then tell somebody else about it without self-consciousness. I mean, when I tell you I think the lady was behind the door, doesn’t that make you want to disagree and say you think it was the tiger, lunging forward and hungrily malling and snapping the neck of the surprised young lover? Or does it remind you of Monty Hall (owner of Monty’s Video?) and “Let’s make a Deal” and the continual bargaining for the unknown items behind the doors? And isn’t it funny how you imagine you’d be fine with your fate (if you were the contestant) until Monty says, “I’ll give you $500 for whatever is behind door number two.” And isn’t it like life, where our plans are always changing based on our imaginings about what we can’t know? Like when I retired and mom and I went to this “retirement planning” seminar and the first thing you have to decide is how long you’re going to live, and the second thing you have to decide is how much you will need to spend, and the third thing you need to decide is what the inflation rate will be, and then maybe you want to speculate about what the stock market will do with your money and all of these questions are unanswerable except in some “average” way based on the history of other people. So you make God laugh by telling Him your plans and then something else happens and you react as best you can and life goes on. And then at times you find yourself aware of how wonderful and terrible it is at the same time. How beautiful and ugly at the same time. How joyful and exciting and horrible and terrifying all at the same time.
So we all stand before the quantum-mechanical doors and God tells us, “Do not be afraid” and we choose, not knowing for sure what the outcome will be, until after the fact, when, if we are lucky, we can breathe a sigh and hopefully say, “Cool.”
Patrick • 06/28/03 • 10:54 AM:As for me, I’d ask one of the guys guarding God’s quantum-mechanical doors “Which door would the other guy tell me to pick?” And then I’d pick the opposite. And behind it would be neither the tiger nor the lady, but the princess herself.
Dad • 06/28/03 • 11:03 PM:Yeah, and then a photon hits her right between the eyes, killing her.
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