1 As the first rays of sunlight filter over the hills of California's Silicon Valley <1>, Charles Winget opens his eyes. It is barely 5 a.m., but Winget is eager to go. Meanwhile, his wife pulls up the covers and buries her face under the pillow. "For the past fifteen years," says Winget, "we've hardly ever gotten up together."
2 The Wingets' situation is not uncommon. Our bodies operate with the complexity of clocks, and like clocks, we all run at slightly different speeds <2>. Winget is a morning person. His wife is not at her best until after nightfall. Behavioral scientists long attributed such differences to personal eccentricities or early conditioning <3>. This thinking was challenged by a theory labeled chronobiology by physician-biologist Franz Halberg. In a Harvard University laboratory study, Dr Halberg found that certain blood cells varied predictably in number, depending on the time of day they were drawn from the body. The cell count <4> was higher at a given time of day and lower 12 hours later. He also discovered that the same patterns could be detected in heart and metabolic rates and body temperature.
3 Halberg's explanation: instead of performing at a steady, unchanging rate, our systems function on an approximately 25-hour cycle. Sometimes we are accelerating, sometimes slowing down. We achieve peak efficiency for only a limited time each day. Halberg dubbed these bodily cadences "circadian rhythms".
4 Much of the leading work in chronobiology is sponsored today by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Charles Winget, a NASA <5> research physiologist and authority on circadian rhythms, says that circadian principles have been applied to astronauts' work schedules on most of the space-shuttle flights.
5 The space-age research has many useful applications here on earth. Chronobiologists can tell you when to eat and still lose weight, what time of day you're best equipped to handle the toughest challenges, when to go to the dentist with your highest threshold of pain and when to exercise for maximum effect. Winget says, "It's a biological law of human efficiency: to achieve your best with the least effort, you have to coordinate the demands of your activities with your biological capacities."
6 Circadian patterns can be made to work for you. But you must first learn how to recognize them. Winget and his associates have developed the following approach to help you figure out your body's patterns.
7 Take your temperature one hour after getting up in the morning and then again at four-hour intervals throughout the day. Schedule your last reading as close to bedtime as possible. You should have five readings by the end of the day.
8 Now add your first, third and fifth readings and record this total. Then add your second and fourth readings and subtract this figure from the first total. That number will be an estimate of your body temperature in the middle of the night-consider it your sixth reading.
9 Now plot all six readings on graph paper <6>. The variations may seem extremely small-only one-tenth of a degree in some cases-but are significant. You'll probably find that your temperature will begin to rise between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., reaching a peak sometime in the late morning or early afternoon. By evening the readings start to drop. They will steadily decline, reaching their nadir at around 2 a. m.
10 Of course, individual variations make all the difference. At what hour is your body temperature on the rise? When does it reach its highest point? Its lowest? Once you have familiarized yourself with your patterns, you can take advantage of chronobiology techniques to improve your health and productivity.
11 We do our best physical work when our rhythms are at their peak. In most people, this peak lasts about four hours. Schedule your most demanding activities when your temperature is highest.
12 For mental activities, the timetable is more complicated. Precision tasks, such as mathematical work, are best tackled when your temperature is on the rise. For most people, this is at 8 or 9 a. m. By contrast, reading and reflection are better pursued between 2 and 4 p. m., the time when body temperature usually begins to fall.
13 Breakfast should be your largest meal of the day for effective dieting. Calories burn faster one hour after we wake up than they do in the evening. During a six-year research project known as the Army Diet Study, Dr Halberg, chronobiologist Robert Sothern and research associate Erna Halberg monitored the food intake of two groups of men and women. Both ate only one, 2000-calorie meal a day, but one group ate their meal at breakfast and the other at dinner. "All the subjects lost weight eating breakfast," states Sothern. "Those who ate dinner either maintained or gained weight. "
14 If foods are processed differently at different times of day, certainly caffeine, alcohol and medicines will be too <7>. Aspirin compounds, for example, have the greatest potency in the morning, between 7 and 8. So does alcohol. They are least effective between 6 p. m. and midnight. Caffeine has the most impact around 3 in the afternoon. Charles Walker, dean of the College of Pharmacy at Florida A&M University <8>, explains, "Stimulants are most effective when you are normally active, and sedatives work best when you're naturally sedate or asleep."
15 Knowing your rhythms can also help overcome sleep problems. Consult your body-temperature chart. Your bedtime should coincide with the point at which your temperature is lowest. This is between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. for most people.
16 Dr Michael Thorpy of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City offers other circadian sleep tips; go to bed at the same time every night and get up at the same time every morning, even on weekends. "Irregularity in sleep and waking times is the greatest cause of sleep problems," Dr Thorpy says. The best way to recover from a bad night's sleep is simply to resume your normal cycle. Beware of sleeping pills. "Most Sleeping pills won't work for periods longer than two weeks," warns Dr Thorpy. And there is real danger of drug accumulation in the blood.
17 Visit a doctor or dentist as early in the day or as late in the evening as possible, since your highest pain threshold is between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.
18 Winget and fellow NASA chronobiologist Charles DeRoshia also offer advice to diminish the debilitating effects of jet lag: a week or so before departure begin adjusting your daily activities so that they coincide with the time schedule of your destination. Eat a small, high-protein low-carbohydrate meal just before your trip. Get plenty of sleep in the days before your trip. In flight, eat very little, drink lots of water and avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks. When you arrive, walk around, talk to people, try to adapt to your environment. Before retiring, have a light meal, high in carbohydrates. Take a warm bath.
19 Knowing your body's patterns is no guarantee of good health. But what chronobiology reveals is the importance of regularity in all aspects of your life and of learning to act in synchronization with your body's natural rhythms.
2010年9月25日星期六
Healthy Living
there is virtually an epidemic of sleepiness in the nation. "I can't think of a single study that hasn't found Americans getting less sleep than they ought to," says David F.Dinges, a biological psychologist at the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia.
Even people who think they are sleeping enough would probably be better off with more rest.[1] This was revealed by studies of several hundred college students conducted at Stanford University[2], Brown University and Henry Ford Hospital[3] in Detroit.
In one experiment, 16 percent of students who averaged between seven and eight hours of sleep a night could doze off during the day in five minutes if allowed to lie down in a darkened room. That's evidence, researchers said, that those students were sleep-deprived.
Researchers further discovered that even the students who did not quickly fall asleep under test conditions could benefit from more sleep. If they spent one week getting to bed an hour to 90 minutes earlier than usual, they improved their performance on psychological tests.
As added evidence that people don't sleep enough, psychologist Wilse Webb, a sleep-research pioneer at the University of Florida in Gainesville, cites the bedside alarm clock. "If that's how you wake up every day," he says, "you're shortening your natural sleep pattern."
The beginning of our sleep deficit[4] crisis can be traced to the invention of the light bulb a century ago. From diary entries and other personal accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries, sleep scientists have deduced that the average person used to sleep about 9 1/2 hours a night. "The best sleep habits once were forced on us, when we had nothing to do in the evening down on the farm, and it was dark," says Dr Howard P.Roffwarg, director of the Sleep Study Unit at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
By the 1950s and 1960s, that sleep schedule had been reduced dramatically, to between 7 1/2 and eight hours. Now social and economic trends are slicing ever deeper.[5] "People cheat on their sleep, and they don't even realize they're doing it," says Dr Roffwarg. "They think they're okay because they can get by on 6 1/2 hours, when they really need 7 1/2 , eight or even more to feel ideally vigorous."
Perhaps the worst robber of sleep, researchers say, is the complexity of the day. Whenever pressures from work, family, friends and community mount, many people consider sleep the most expendable item on the agenda[6].
"In our society, you're considered dynamic if you say you only need 5 1/2 hours' sleep," says Dr Neil B. Kavey, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. "If you say you've got to get 8 1/2 hours, people think you lack drive and ambition."
Often, though, our efforts to squeeze ever more tasks into our days and nights backfire. The person who gets a full night's sleep, experts say, will benefit in terms of heightened productivity, creativity and focus.
Another thief of sleep is shift work, in which people work regularly in the evening, at night or on rotating schedules. Researchers say the brain has difficulty varying sleep times, which means that these employees — one-fifth of the work force, according to Harriet Presser, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland — usually suffer a net loss of sleep.[7]
Nowadays television is available all night long. So instead of going to sleep, people stay up late to watch late-night programs. Not so long ago most TV stations signed off at midnight or 1 a.m. With "The Star-Spangled Banner,"[8] which served as a reminder that it was time to go to bed.
To assess the consequences of sleep deficit, researchers have put subjects through a battery of psychological and performance tests requiring them, for instance, to add columns of numbers or recall a passage read to them only minutes earlier. "We've found that if you're sleep-deprived, performance suffers," says Dr Charles Czeisler, director of Circadian and Sleep Disorders Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Short-term memory is impaired, as are abilities to make decisions and to concentrate."[9]
Because their reaction time and attention span are affected, sleepy people may be more prone to making mistakes on the job. Surveys by the Department of Transportation suggested that one to ten percent of traffic accidents may be sleep-related, and that perhaps as many as 20 percent of all drivers have fallen asleep at the wheel at least once. Recent studies have also found that sleep-deprived people are impaired by smaller quantities of alcohol than rested people are.
Just one bad night's sleep can make a person less efficient on mental tasks. Worse still, the effects of sleep loss are cumulative.[10] A person who chronically sleeps 90 minutes less per night than is necessary will feel far worse on Friday than on Tuesday. "By the fifth night, you've lost 7 1/2 hours, or virtually a whole night's sleep," says psychologist Dinges. "That's the day when you're just praying to get through it."
Sleeping in on weekends does help the body recover. "But in chronic cases, you may need weeks of catching up to reverse the effects of sleep loss," says Dr Charles P. Pollak, head of the Sleep Wake Disorders Center at New York Hospital — Cornell Medical Center.
Are you getting enough sleep? Sleep needs vary, and there is no absolute standard, but most people require about seven to nine hours a night. To determine your optimum sleep schedule, experts suggest tracking your hours of sleep over ten days. If you feel refreshed and vigorous each morning and able to concentrate throughout the day, the average number of hours you've slept per night is close to your ideal.
If you need an alarm clock, or if you feel sleepy while doing a repetitive, sedentary or undemanding task, like driving or sitting in a conference, try sleeping an extra 30 to 90 minutes a night. If you can't do that on weekdays and need to make up for lost sleep on the weekend, experts advise going to bed earlier rather than sleeping later. If that is not possible, they suggest taking a midafternoon nap for an hour or less on Saturday or Sunday.
But even the specialists have trouble taking their own advice. "I get by on maybe six, 6 1/2 hours," admits Kavey. "I'm just too busy to get a good night's sleep."
Even people who think they are sleeping enough would probably be better off with more rest.[1] This was revealed by studies of several hundred college students conducted at Stanford University[2], Brown University and Henry Ford Hospital[3] in Detroit.
In one experiment, 16 percent of students who averaged between seven and eight hours of sleep a night could doze off during the day in five minutes if allowed to lie down in a darkened room. That's evidence, researchers said, that those students were sleep-deprived.
Researchers further discovered that even the students who did not quickly fall asleep under test conditions could benefit from more sleep. If they spent one week getting to bed an hour to 90 minutes earlier than usual, they improved their performance on psychological tests.
As added evidence that people don't sleep enough, psychologist Wilse Webb, a sleep-research pioneer at the University of Florida in Gainesville, cites the bedside alarm clock. "If that's how you wake up every day," he says, "you're shortening your natural sleep pattern."
The beginning of our sleep deficit[4] crisis can be traced to the invention of the light bulb a century ago. From diary entries and other personal accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries, sleep scientists have deduced that the average person used to sleep about 9 1/2 hours a night. "The best sleep habits once were forced on us, when we had nothing to do in the evening down on the farm, and it was dark," says Dr Howard P.Roffwarg, director of the Sleep Study Unit at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
By the 1950s and 1960s, that sleep schedule had been reduced dramatically, to between 7 1/2 and eight hours. Now social and economic trends are slicing ever deeper.[5] "People cheat on their sleep, and they don't even realize they're doing it," says Dr Roffwarg. "They think they're okay because they can get by on 6 1/2 hours, when they really need 7 1/2 , eight or even more to feel ideally vigorous."
Perhaps the worst robber of sleep, researchers say, is the complexity of the day. Whenever pressures from work, family, friends and community mount, many people consider sleep the most expendable item on the agenda[6].
"In our society, you're considered dynamic if you say you only need 5 1/2 hours' sleep," says Dr Neil B. Kavey, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. "If you say you've got to get 8 1/2 hours, people think you lack drive and ambition."
Often, though, our efforts to squeeze ever more tasks into our days and nights backfire. The person who gets a full night's sleep, experts say, will benefit in terms of heightened productivity, creativity and focus.
Another thief of sleep is shift work, in which people work regularly in the evening, at night or on rotating schedules. Researchers say the brain has difficulty varying sleep times, which means that these employees — one-fifth of the work force, according to Harriet Presser, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland — usually suffer a net loss of sleep.[7]
Nowadays television is available all night long. So instead of going to sleep, people stay up late to watch late-night programs. Not so long ago most TV stations signed off at midnight or 1 a.m. With "The Star-Spangled Banner,"[8] which served as a reminder that it was time to go to bed.
To assess the consequences of sleep deficit, researchers have put subjects through a battery of psychological and performance tests requiring them, for instance, to add columns of numbers or recall a passage read to them only minutes earlier. "We've found that if you're sleep-deprived, performance suffers," says Dr Charles Czeisler, director of Circadian and Sleep Disorders Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Short-term memory is impaired, as are abilities to make decisions and to concentrate."[9]
Because their reaction time and attention span are affected, sleepy people may be more prone to making mistakes on the job. Surveys by the Department of Transportation suggested that one to ten percent of traffic accidents may be sleep-related, and that perhaps as many as 20 percent of all drivers have fallen asleep at the wheel at least once. Recent studies have also found that sleep-deprived people are impaired by smaller quantities of alcohol than rested people are.
Just one bad night's sleep can make a person less efficient on mental tasks. Worse still, the effects of sleep loss are cumulative.[10] A person who chronically sleeps 90 minutes less per night than is necessary will feel far worse on Friday than on Tuesday. "By the fifth night, you've lost 7 1/2 hours, or virtually a whole night's sleep," says psychologist Dinges. "That's the day when you're just praying to get through it."
Sleeping in on weekends does help the body recover. "But in chronic cases, you may need weeks of catching up to reverse the effects of sleep loss," says Dr Charles P. Pollak, head of the Sleep Wake Disorders Center at New York Hospital — Cornell Medical Center.
Are you getting enough sleep? Sleep needs vary, and there is no absolute standard, but most people require about seven to nine hours a night. To determine your optimum sleep schedule, experts suggest tracking your hours of sleep over ten days. If you feel refreshed and vigorous each morning and able to concentrate throughout the day, the average number of hours you've slept per night is close to your ideal.
If you need an alarm clock, or if you feel sleepy while doing a repetitive, sedentary or undemanding task, like driving or sitting in a conference, try sleeping an extra 30 to 90 minutes a night. If you can't do that on weekdays and need to make up for lost sleep on the weekend, experts advise going to bed earlier rather than sleeping later. If that is not possible, they suggest taking a midafternoon nap for an hour or less on Saturday or Sunday.
But even the specialists have trouble taking their own advice. "I get by on maybe six, 6 1/2 hours," admits Kavey. "I'm just too busy to get a good night's sleep."
Friends and Friendship
Today millions of Americans vacation abroad, and they go not only to see new sights but also-in those places where they do not feel too strange-to perhaps meet new people. No one really expects a vacation trip to produce a close friend. But surely the beginning of a friendship is possible. Surely in every country people value friendship.
2 The difficulty when strangers from two countries meet is not a lack of appreciation of friendship, but different expectations about what constitutes friendship and how it comes into being. In those European countries that Americans are most likely to visit, friendship is quite sharply distinguished from other, more casual relations, and is differently related to family life. For a Frenchman, a German or an Englishman, friendship is usually more particularized and carries a heavier burden of commitment.
3 But as we <1> use the word, "friend" can be applied to a wide range of relationships-to someone one has known for a few weeks in a new place, to a close business associate, to a childhood playmate, to a man or woman, to a trusted confidant. There are real differences among these relations for Americans-a friendship may be superficial, casual, situational or deep and enduring. But to a European, who sees only our surface behavior, the differences are not clear.
4 Who, then, is a friend?
5 In France, as in many European countries, friends generally are of the same sex, and friendship is seen as basically a relationship between men. Frenchwomen laugh at the idea that "women can't be friends," but they also admit sometimes that for women "it's a different thing <2>." And many French people doubt the possibility of a friendship between a man and a woman. There is also the kind of relationship within a group-men and women who have worked together for a long time, who may be very close, sharing great loyalty and warmth of feeling. In French eyes this is not friendship, although two members of such a group may well be friends.
6 For the French, friendship is a one-to-one relationship that demands a keen awareness of the other person's intellect, temperament and particular interests. A friend is someone who draws out your own best qualities, with whom you sparkle and become more of whatever the friendship draws upon <3>. Your political philosophy assumes more depth, appreciation of a play becomes sharper, taste in food or wine is accentuated, enjoyment of a sport is intensified.
7 And French friendships are compartmentalized. A man may play chess with a friend for thirty years without knowing his political opinions, or he may talk politics with him for as long a time without knowing about his personal life. Different friends fill different niches in each person's life. These friendships are not made part of family life. A friend is not expected to spend evenings being nice to children or courteous to a deaf grandmother. These duties are primarily for relatives. Men who are friends may meet in a cafe. Intellectual friends may meet in larger groups for evenings of conversation. Working people may meet at the little bistro <4> where they drink and talk, far from the family.
8 In Germany, in contrast with France, friendship is much more distinctly a matter of feeling. Adolescents, boys and girls, form deeply sentimental attachments, walk and talk together-not so much to polish their wits as to share their hopes and fears and dreams, to form a common front against the world of school and family and to join in a kind of mutual discovery of each other's and their own inner life <5>. Within the family, the closest relationship over a lifetime is between brothers and sisters. Outside the family, men and women find in their closest friends of the same sex the devotion of a sister, the loyalty of a brother <6>. Appropriately, in Germany friends usually are brought into the family. Children call their father's and their mother's friends "uncle" and "aunt." Between French friends, who have chosen each other because they have similar points of view, lively disagreement and sharpness of argument are the breath of life. But for Germans, whose friendships are based on mutuality of feeling, deep disagreement on any subject that matters to both is regarded as a tragedy <7>. Like ties of kinship, ties of friendship are meant to be permanently binding. Young Germans who come to the United States have great difficulty in establishing such friendships with Americans. We view friendship more tentatively, subject to changes in intensity as people move, change their jobs, marry, or discover new interests.
9 English friendships follow a still different pattern. Their basis is shared activity. Activities at different stages of life may be of very different kinds-discovering a common interest in school, serving together in the armed forces, taking part in a foreign mission, staying in the same country house during a crisis. In the midst of the activity, whatever it may be, people fall into step-sometimes two men or two women, sometimes two couples, sometimes three people-and find that they walk or play a game or tell stories or serve on a tiresome and exacting committee with the same easy anticipation of what each will do day by day or in some critical situation. Americans who have made English friends comment that, even years later, "you can take up just where you left off." Meeting after a long interval, friends are like a couple who begin to dance again when the orchestra strikes up after a pause. English friendships are formed outside the family circle, but they are not, as in Germany, complementary to the family nor are they, as in France, separated from the family. And a break in an English friendship comes not necessarily as a result of some irreconcilable differences of viewpoints or feelings but instead as a result of misjudgment, where one friend seriously misjudges how the other will think or feel or act, so that suddenly they are out of step <8>.
10 What, then, is friendship? Looking at these different styles, including our own, each of which is related to a whole way of life, are there common elements? There is the recognition that friendship, in contrast with kinship, implies freedom of choice. A friend is someone who chooses and is chosen. Related to this is the sense each friend gives the other of being a special individual, on whatever grounds this recognition is based <9>. And between friends there is inevitably a kind of equality of give-and-take <10>. These similarities make the bridge between societies possible, and the American's characteristic openness to different styles of relationships makes it possible for him to find new friends abroad with whom he feels at home.
2 The difficulty when strangers from two countries meet is not a lack of appreciation of friendship, but different expectations about what constitutes friendship and how it comes into being. In those European countries that Americans are most likely to visit, friendship is quite sharply distinguished from other, more casual relations, and is differently related to family life. For a Frenchman, a German or an Englishman, friendship is usually more particularized and carries a heavier burden of commitment.
3 But as we <1> use the word, "friend" can be applied to a wide range of relationships-to someone one has known for a few weeks in a new place, to a close business associate, to a childhood playmate, to a man or woman, to a trusted confidant. There are real differences among these relations for Americans-a friendship may be superficial, casual, situational or deep and enduring. But to a European, who sees only our surface behavior, the differences are not clear.
4 Who, then, is a friend?
5 In France, as in many European countries, friends generally are of the same sex, and friendship is seen as basically a relationship between men. Frenchwomen laugh at the idea that "women can't be friends," but they also admit sometimes that for women "it's a different thing <2>." And many French people doubt the possibility of a friendship between a man and a woman. There is also the kind of relationship within a group-men and women who have worked together for a long time, who may be very close, sharing great loyalty and warmth of feeling. In French eyes this is not friendship, although two members of such a group may well be friends.
6 For the French, friendship is a one-to-one relationship that demands a keen awareness of the other person's intellect, temperament and particular interests. A friend is someone who draws out your own best qualities, with whom you sparkle and become more of whatever the friendship draws upon <3>. Your political philosophy assumes more depth, appreciation of a play becomes sharper, taste in food or wine is accentuated, enjoyment of a sport is intensified.
7 And French friendships are compartmentalized. A man may play chess with a friend for thirty years without knowing his political opinions, or he may talk politics with him for as long a time without knowing about his personal life. Different friends fill different niches in each person's life. These friendships are not made part of family life. A friend is not expected to spend evenings being nice to children or courteous to a deaf grandmother. These duties are primarily for relatives. Men who are friends may meet in a cafe. Intellectual friends may meet in larger groups for evenings of conversation. Working people may meet at the little bistro <4> where they drink and talk, far from the family.
8 In Germany, in contrast with France, friendship is much more distinctly a matter of feeling. Adolescents, boys and girls, form deeply sentimental attachments, walk and talk together-not so much to polish their wits as to share their hopes and fears and dreams, to form a common front against the world of school and family and to join in a kind of mutual discovery of each other's and their own inner life <5>. Within the family, the closest relationship over a lifetime is between brothers and sisters. Outside the family, men and women find in their closest friends of the same sex the devotion of a sister, the loyalty of a brother <6>. Appropriately, in Germany friends usually are brought into the family. Children call their father's and their mother's friends "uncle" and "aunt." Between French friends, who have chosen each other because they have similar points of view, lively disagreement and sharpness of argument are the breath of life. But for Germans, whose friendships are based on mutuality of feeling, deep disagreement on any subject that matters to both is regarded as a tragedy <7>. Like ties of kinship, ties of friendship are meant to be permanently binding. Young Germans who come to the United States have great difficulty in establishing such friendships with Americans. We view friendship more tentatively, subject to changes in intensity as people move, change their jobs, marry, or discover new interests.
9 English friendships follow a still different pattern. Their basis is shared activity. Activities at different stages of life may be of very different kinds-discovering a common interest in school, serving together in the armed forces, taking part in a foreign mission, staying in the same country house during a crisis. In the midst of the activity, whatever it may be, people fall into step-sometimes two men or two women, sometimes two couples, sometimes three people-and find that they walk or play a game or tell stories or serve on a tiresome and exacting committee with the same easy anticipation of what each will do day by day or in some critical situation. Americans who have made English friends comment that, even years later, "you can take up just where you left off." Meeting after a long interval, friends are like a couple who begin to dance again when the orchestra strikes up after a pause. English friendships are formed outside the family circle, but they are not, as in Germany, complementary to the family nor are they, as in France, separated from the family. And a break in an English friendship comes not necessarily as a result of some irreconcilable differences of viewpoints or feelings but instead as a result of misjudgment, where one friend seriously misjudges how the other will think or feel or act, so that suddenly they are out of step <8>.
10 What, then, is friendship? Looking at these different styles, including our own, each of which is related to a whole way of life, are there common elements? There is the recognition that friendship, in contrast with kinship, implies freedom of choice. A friend is someone who chooses and is chosen. Related to this is the sense each friend gives the other of being a special individual, on whatever grounds this recognition is based <9>. And between friends there is inevitably a kind of equality of give-and-take <10>. These similarities make the bridge between societies possible, and the American's characteristic openness to different styles of relationships makes it possible for him to find new friends abroad with whom he feels at home.
Friends, Good Friends — and Such Good Friends
Convenience friends are convenient indeed. They'll lend us their cups and silverware for a party. They'll drive our kids to soccer when we're sick. They'll take us to pick up our car when we need a lift to the garage.[8] They'll even take our cats when we go on vacation. As we will for them.
But we don't, with convenience friends, ever come too close or tell too much; we maintain our public face[9] and emotional distance. "Which[10] means," says Elaine, "that I'll talk about being overweight but not about being depressed. Which means I'll admit being mad but not blind with rage[11]. Which means that I might say that we're short of cash this month but never that I'm worried sick over money."
But which doesn't mean that there isn't sufficient value to be found in these friendships of mutual aid, in convenience friends.
Special-interest friends [5] These friendships aren't intimate, and they needn't involve kids or silverware or cats. Their value lies in some interest jointly shared. And so we may have an office friend or a yoga friend or a tennis friend or a friend from the Women's Club.
"I've got one woman friend," says Joyce, "who likes, as I do, to take psychology courses. Which makes it nice for me — and nice for her. It's fun to go with someone you know and it's fun to discuss what you've learned, driving back from the classes." And for the most part, she says, that's all they discuss.
"I'd say that what we're doing is doing together, not being together," Suzanne says of her Tuesday-doubles friends[12]. "It's mainly a tennis relationship, but we play together well. And I guess all we need to have is a couple of playmates."
I agree.
Historical friends [5] We all have a friend who knew us when maybe way back[13] in Miss Meltzer's second grade, when our family lived in that three-room flat in Brooklyn, when our dad was out of work for seven months, when our brother Allie got in that fight where they had to call the police, when our sister married the dentist from Yonkers.
The years have gone by and we've gone separate ways and we've little in common now, but we're still an intimate part of each other's past. And so whenever we go to Detroit we always go to visit this friend of our girlhood. Who[10] knows how we looked before our teeth were straightened[14]. Who knows how we talked before we lost our Brooklyn accents. Who knows what we ate before we learned about artichokes[15]. And who, by her presence, puts us in touch with an earlier part of ourselves, a part of ourselves that's important never to lose.
Crossroads friends [5] Like historical friends, our crossroads friends are important for what was — for the friendship we shared at a crucial, now past, time of life. A time, perhaps, when we roomed in college together; or worked as eager young singles in the Big City[16]together; or went together, as my friend Elizabeth and I did, through pregnancy, birth and that scary first year of new motherhood.
Crossroads friends forge powerful links, links strong enough to endure with not much more contact than once-a-year letters at Christmas[17]. And out of respect for those crossroads years, for those dramas and dreams we once shared, we will always be friends.
Cross-generational friends[5]Historical friends and crossroads friends seem to maintain a special kind of intimacy — dormant but always ready to be revived — and though we may rarely meet, whenever we do connect, it's personal and intense. Another kind of intimacy exists in the friendships that form across generations in what one woman calls her daughter-mother and her mother-daughter relationships.
Evelyn's friend is her mother's age — "but I share so much more than I ever could with my mother" — a woman she talks to of music, of books and of life[18]. "What I get from her is the benefit of her experience. What she gets — and enjoys — from me is youthful perspective. It's a pleasure for both of us."
I have in my own life a precious friend, a woman of 65 who has lived very hard, who is wise, who listens well; who has been where I am[19] and can help me understand it; and who represents not only an ultimate ideal mother to me but also the person I'd like to be when I grow up[20]. It's another kind of pleasure — playing wise mother to a questioning younger person. It's another very lovely kind of friendship.
There are good friends, and pretty good friends, and very good friends indeed, and these friendships are defined by their level of intimacy. And what we'll reveal at each of these levels of intimacy is determined with care. We might tell a good friend, for example, that yesterday we had a fight with our husband. And we might tell a pretty good friend that this fight with our husband made us so mad that we slept on the couch. And we might tell a very good friend that the reason we got so mad in that fight that we slept on the couch had something to do with that girl who works in his office. But it's only to our very best friends that we're willing to tell all, to tell what's going on with that girl in his office.
The best of friends, I still believe, totally love and support and trust each other, and tell each other the secrets of their souls, and run — no questions asked — to help each other, and tell harsh truths to each other when they must be told.
But we needn't agree about everything (only 12-year-old girl friends agree about everything) to tolerate each other's point of view. To accept without judgment. To give and to take without ever keeping score[21]. And to be there, as I am for them and as they are for me, to comfort our sorrows, to celebrate our joys.
But we don't, with convenience friends, ever come too close or tell too much; we maintain our public face[9] and emotional distance. "Which[10] means," says Elaine, "that I'll talk about being overweight but not about being depressed. Which means I'll admit being mad but not blind with rage[11]. Which means that I might say that we're short of cash this month but never that I'm worried sick over money."
But which doesn't mean that there isn't sufficient value to be found in these friendships of mutual aid, in convenience friends.
Special-interest friends [5] These friendships aren't intimate, and they needn't involve kids or silverware or cats. Their value lies in some interest jointly shared. And so we may have an office friend or a yoga friend or a tennis friend or a friend from the Women's Club.
"I've got one woman friend," says Joyce, "who likes, as I do, to take psychology courses. Which makes it nice for me — and nice for her. It's fun to go with someone you know and it's fun to discuss what you've learned, driving back from the classes." And for the most part, she says, that's all they discuss.
"I'd say that what we're doing is doing together, not being together," Suzanne says of her Tuesday-doubles friends[12]. "It's mainly a tennis relationship, but we play together well. And I guess all we need to have is a couple of playmates."
I agree.
Historical friends [5] We all have a friend who knew us when maybe way back[13] in Miss Meltzer's second grade, when our family lived in that three-room flat in Brooklyn, when our dad was out of work for seven months, when our brother Allie got in that fight where they had to call the police, when our sister married the dentist from Yonkers.
The years have gone by and we've gone separate ways and we've little in common now, but we're still an intimate part of each other's past. And so whenever we go to Detroit we always go to visit this friend of our girlhood. Who[10] knows how we looked before our teeth were straightened[14]. Who knows how we talked before we lost our Brooklyn accents. Who knows what we ate before we learned about artichokes[15]. And who, by her presence, puts us in touch with an earlier part of ourselves, a part of ourselves that's important never to lose.
Crossroads friends [5] Like historical friends, our crossroads friends are important for what was — for the friendship we shared at a crucial, now past, time of life. A time, perhaps, when we roomed in college together; or worked as eager young singles in the Big City[16]together; or went together, as my friend Elizabeth and I did, through pregnancy, birth and that scary first year of new motherhood.
Crossroads friends forge powerful links, links strong enough to endure with not much more contact than once-a-year letters at Christmas[17]. And out of respect for those crossroads years, for those dramas and dreams we once shared, we will always be friends.
Cross-generational friends[5]Historical friends and crossroads friends seem to maintain a special kind of intimacy — dormant but always ready to be revived — and though we may rarely meet, whenever we do connect, it's personal and intense. Another kind of intimacy exists in the friendships that form across generations in what one woman calls her daughter-mother and her mother-daughter relationships.
Evelyn's friend is her mother's age — "but I share so much more than I ever could with my mother" — a woman she talks to of music, of books and of life[18]. "What I get from her is the benefit of her experience. What she gets — and enjoys — from me is youthful perspective. It's a pleasure for both of us."
I have in my own life a precious friend, a woman of 65 who has lived very hard, who is wise, who listens well; who has been where I am[19] and can help me understand it; and who represents not only an ultimate ideal mother to me but also the person I'd like to be when I grow up[20]. It's another kind of pleasure — playing wise mother to a questioning younger person. It's another very lovely kind of friendship.
There are good friends, and pretty good friends, and very good friends indeed, and these friendships are defined by their level of intimacy. And what we'll reveal at each of these levels of intimacy is determined with care. We might tell a good friend, for example, that yesterday we had a fight with our husband. And we might tell a pretty good friend that this fight with our husband made us so mad that we slept on the couch. And we might tell a very good friend that the reason we got so mad in that fight that we slept on the couch had something to do with that girl who works in his office. But it's only to our very best friends that we're willing to tell all, to tell what's going on with that girl in his office.
The best of friends, I still believe, totally love and support and trust each other, and tell each other the secrets of their souls, and run — no questions asked — to help each other, and tell harsh truths to each other when they must be told.
But we needn't agree about everything (only 12-year-old girl friends agree about everything) to tolerate each other's point of view. To accept without judgment. To give and to take without ever keeping score[21]. And to be there, as I am for them and as they are for me, to comfort our sorrows, to celebrate our joys.
2010年9月10日星期五
Angels on a Pin Alexander Calandra
Some time ago, I received a call from Jim, a colleague of mine, who teaches physics. He asked me if I would do him a favor and be the referee on the grading of an examination question. I said sure, but I did not quite understand why he should need my help. He told me that he was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, but the student protested that it wasn't fair. He insisted that he deserved a perfect score if the system were not set up against the student. Finally, they agreed to take the matter to an impartial instructor. And I was selected.
I went to my colleague's office and read the examination question. It said: "Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer." The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top of the building, tie a long rope to it, lower the barometer to the street, and then bring it up and measure the length of the rope. The length of the rope will be the height of the building."
I laughed and pointed out to my colleague that we must admit the student really had a pretty strong case for full credit since he had indeed answered the question completely and correctly. On the other hand, I could also see the dilemma because if full credit were given to him it could mean a high grade for the student in his physics course. A high grade is supposed to prove competence in the course, but the answer he gave did not show his knowledge on the subject. "So, what would you do if you were me?" Jim asked. I suggested that the student have another try at answering the question. I was not surprised that my colleague agreed, but I was surprised that the student did, too.
I told the student that I would give him six minutes to answer the question. But I warned him that this time his answer should show some knowledge of physics. He sat down and picked up his pen. He appeared to be thinking hard. At the end of five minutes, however, I noticed that he had not put down a single word. I asked him if he wished to give up, but he said no. He had not written anything down because he had too many possible answers to this problem. He was just trying to decide which would be the best one. I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to go on. In the next minute, he dashed off his answer, which read: "Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer and time its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula S = 1 /2 at2, calculate the height of the building."
At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He nodded yes, and I gave the student almost full credit.
When I left my colleague's office, I recalled that the student had said that he had other answers to the problem. I was curious, so I asked him what they were. "Oh, yes," said the student. "There are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer. For example, you could take the barometer out in a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of a simple proportion, determine the height of the building. The beauty of this method is that you don't have to drop the barometer and break it."
"Fine," I said. "Any more?"
"Yes," said the student. "There is a very basic measurement method that people will like, because it is so simple and direct. In this method, you take the barometer and walk up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units. The only trouble with this method is that it doesn't require much knowledge of physics."
"Of course, if you prefer a more sophisticated method, a method that will really show some knowledge of physics, you can tie the barometer to the end of a rope, swing it as a pendulum and determine the value of'g' at the street level and at the top of the building. From the difference between the two values of'g' the height of the building can, in principle, be worked out."
Finally, he concluded that while there are many ways of solving the problem, "Probably the best and the most practical in a real-life situation is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: Mr. Superintendent, I have here a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of this building, I will gladly give you this barometer!"
At this point, I asked the student if he really didn't know the expected answer to this question. He smiled and admitted that he did, but said he was fed up with standard answers to standard questions. He couldn't understand why there should be so much emphasis on fixed rules rather than creative thinking. So he could not resist the temptation to play a little joke with the educational system, which had been thrown into such a panic by the successful launching of the Russian Sputnik.
At that moment I suddenly remembered the question: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? We teachers are always blaming the students for giving wrong answers. Perhaps we should ask ourselves whether we are always asking the right questions.
I went to my colleague's office and read the examination question. It said: "Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer." The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top of the building, tie a long rope to it, lower the barometer to the street, and then bring it up and measure the length of the rope. The length of the rope will be the height of the building."
I laughed and pointed out to my colleague that we must admit the student really had a pretty strong case for full credit since he had indeed answered the question completely and correctly. On the other hand, I could also see the dilemma because if full credit were given to him it could mean a high grade for the student in his physics course. A high grade is supposed to prove competence in the course, but the answer he gave did not show his knowledge on the subject. "So, what would you do if you were me?" Jim asked. I suggested that the student have another try at answering the question. I was not surprised that my colleague agreed, but I was surprised that the student did, too.
I told the student that I would give him six minutes to answer the question. But I warned him that this time his answer should show some knowledge of physics. He sat down and picked up his pen. He appeared to be thinking hard. At the end of five minutes, however, I noticed that he had not put down a single word. I asked him if he wished to give up, but he said no. He had not written anything down because he had too many possible answers to this problem. He was just trying to decide which would be the best one. I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to go on. In the next minute, he dashed off his answer, which read: "Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer and time its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula S = 1 /2 at2, calculate the height of the building."
At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He nodded yes, and I gave the student almost full credit.
When I left my colleague's office, I recalled that the student had said that he had other answers to the problem. I was curious, so I asked him what they were. "Oh, yes," said the student. "There are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer. For example, you could take the barometer out in a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of a simple proportion, determine the height of the building. The beauty of this method is that you don't have to drop the barometer and break it."
"Fine," I said. "Any more?"
"Yes," said the student. "There is a very basic measurement method that people will like, because it is so simple and direct. In this method, you take the barometer and walk up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units. The only trouble with this method is that it doesn't require much knowledge of physics."
"Of course, if you prefer a more sophisticated method, a method that will really show some knowledge of physics, you can tie the barometer to the end of a rope, swing it as a pendulum and determine the value of'g' at the street level and at the top of the building. From the difference between the two values of'g' the height of the building can, in principle, be worked out."
Finally, he concluded that while there are many ways of solving the problem, "Probably the best and the most practical in a real-life situation is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: Mr. Superintendent, I have here a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of this building, I will gladly give you this barometer!"
At this point, I asked the student if he really didn't know the expected answer to this question. He smiled and admitted that he did, but said he was fed up with standard answers to standard questions. He couldn't understand why there should be so much emphasis on fixed rules rather than creative thinking. So he could not resist the temptation to play a little joke with the educational system, which had been thrown into such a panic by the successful launching of the Russian Sputnik.
At that moment I suddenly remembered the question: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? We teachers are always blaming the students for giving wrong answers. Perhaps we should ask ourselves whether we are always asking the right questions.
Half a Day Naguib Mahfous
I walked alongside my father, clutching his right hand. All my clothes were new: the black shoes, the green school uniform, and the red cap. They did not make me happy, however, as this was the day I was to be thrown into school for the first time.
My mother stood at the window watching our progress, and I turned towards her from time to time, hoping she would help. We walked along a street lined with gardens, and fields planted with crops: pears, and date palms.
"Why school ?" I asked my father. "What have I done ?"
"I'm not punishing you, " he said, laughing. "School's not a punishment. It's a place that makes useful men out of boys. Don' t you want to be useful like your brothers?"
I was not convinced. I did not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my home and throwing me into the huge, high-walled building.
When we arrived at the gate we could see the courtyard, vast and full of boys and girls. "Go in by yourself, " said my father, "and join them. Put a smile on your face and be a good example to others. "
I hesitated and clung to his hand, but he gently pushed me from him. "Be a man, " he said. "Today you truly begin life. You will find me waiting for you when it's time to leave. "
I took a few steps. Then the faces of the boys and girls came into view. I did not know a single one of them, and none of them knew me. I felt I was a stranger who had lost his way. But then some boys began to glance at me in curiosity, and one of them came over and asked, "Who brought you?"
"My father, " I whispered.
"My father's dead, " he said simply.
I did not know what to say. The gate was now closed. Some of the children burst into tears. The bell rang. A lady came along, followed by a group of men. The men began sorting us into ranks. We were formed into an intricate pattern in the great courtyard surrounded by high buildings; from each floor we were overlooked by a long balcony roofed in wood.
"This is your new home, "said the woman. "There are mothers and fathers here, too. Everything that is enjoyable and beneficial is here. So dry your tears and face life joyfully. "
Well, it seemed that my misgivings had had no basis. From the first moments I made many friends and fell in love with many girls. I had never imagined school would have this rich variety of experiences.
We played all sorts of games. In the music room we sang our first songs. We also had our first introduction to language. We saw a globe of the Earth, which revolved and showed the various continents and countries. We started learning numbers, and we were told the story of the Creator of the universe. We ate delicious food, took a little nap, and woke up to go on with friendship and love, playing and learning.
Our path, however, was not totally sweet and unclouded. We had to be observant and patient. It was not all a matter of playing and fooling around. Rivalries could bring about pain and hatred or give rise to fighting. And while the lady would sometimes smile, she would often yell and scold. Even more frequently she would resort to physical punishment.
In addition, the time for changing one' s mind was over and gone and there was no question of ever returning to the paradise of home. Nothing lay ahead of us but exertion, struggle, and perseverance. Those who were able took advantage of the opportunities for success and happiness that presented themselves.
The bell rang, announcing the passing of the day and the end of work. The children rushed toward the gate, which was opened again. I said goodbye to friends and sweethearts and passed through the gate. I looked around but found no trace of my father, who had promised to be there. I stepped aside to wait. When I had waited for a long time in vain, I decided to return home on my own. I walked a few steps, then came to a startled halt. Good Lord! Where was the street lined with gardens? Where had it disappeared to? When did all these cars invade it? And when did all these people come to rest on its surface? How did these hills of rubbish find their way to cover its sides? And where were the fields that bordered it? High buildings had taken over, the street was full of children, and disturbing noises shook the air. Here and there stood conjurers showing off their tricks or making snakes appear from baskets. Then there was a band announcing the opening of a circus, with clowns and weight lifters walking in front.
Good God! I was in a daze. My head spun. I almost went crazy. How could all this have happened in half a day, between early morning and sunset? I would find the answer at home with my father. But where was my home? I hurried towards the crossroads, because I remembered that I had to cross the street to reach our house, but the stream of cars would not let up. Extremely irritated, I wondered when I would be able to cross.
I stood there a long time, until the young boy employed at the ironing shop on the corner came up to me.
He stretched out his arm and said, "Grandpa, let me take you across."
My mother stood at the window watching our progress, and I turned towards her from time to time, hoping she would help. We walked along a street lined with gardens, and fields planted with crops: pears, and date palms.
"Why school ?" I asked my father. "What have I done ?"
"I'm not punishing you, " he said, laughing. "School's not a punishment. It's a place that makes useful men out of boys. Don' t you want to be useful like your brothers?"
I was not convinced. I did not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my home and throwing me into the huge, high-walled building.
When we arrived at the gate we could see the courtyard, vast and full of boys and girls. "Go in by yourself, " said my father, "and join them. Put a smile on your face and be a good example to others. "
I hesitated and clung to his hand, but he gently pushed me from him. "Be a man, " he said. "Today you truly begin life. You will find me waiting for you when it's time to leave. "
I took a few steps. Then the faces of the boys and girls came into view. I did not know a single one of them, and none of them knew me. I felt I was a stranger who had lost his way. But then some boys began to glance at me in curiosity, and one of them came over and asked, "Who brought you?"
"My father, " I whispered.
"My father's dead, " he said simply.
I did not know what to say. The gate was now closed. Some of the children burst into tears. The bell rang. A lady came along, followed by a group of men. The men began sorting us into ranks. We were formed into an intricate pattern in the great courtyard surrounded by high buildings; from each floor we were overlooked by a long balcony roofed in wood.
"This is your new home, "said the woman. "There are mothers and fathers here, too. Everything that is enjoyable and beneficial is here. So dry your tears and face life joyfully. "
Well, it seemed that my misgivings had had no basis. From the first moments I made many friends and fell in love with many girls. I had never imagined school would have this rich variety of experiences.
We played all sorts of games. In the music room we sang our first songs. We also had our first introduction to language. We saw a globe of the Earth, which revolved and showed the various continents and countries. We started learning numbers, and we were told the story of the Creator of the universe. We ate delicious food, took a little nap, and woke up to go on with friendship and love, playing and learning.
Our path, however, was not totally sweet and unclouded. We had to be observant and patient. It was not all a matter of playing and fooling around. Rivalries could bring about pain and hatred or give rise to fighting. And while the lady would sometimes smile, she would often yell and scold. Even more frequently she would resort to physical punishment.
In addition, the time for changing one' s mind was over and gone and there was no question of ever returning to the paradise of home. Nothing lay ahead of us but exertion, struggle, and perseverance. Those who were able took advantage of the opportunities for success and happiness that presented themselves.
The bell rang, announcing the passing of the day and the end of work. The children rushed toward the gate, which was opened again. I said goodbye to friends and sweethearts and passed through the gate. I looked around but found no trace of my father, who had promised to be there. I stepped aside to wait. When I had waited for a long time in vain, I decided to return home on my own. I walked a few steps, then came to a startled halt. Good Lord! Where was the street lined with gardens? Where had it disappeared to? When did all these cars invade it? And when did all these people come to rest on its surface? How did these hills of rubbish find their way to cover its sides? And where were the fields that bordered it? High buildings had taken over, the street was full of children, and disturbing noises shook the air. Here and there stood conjurers showing off their tricks or making snakes appear from baskets. Then there was a band announcing the opening of a circus, with clowns and weight lifters walking in front.
Good God! I was in a daze. My head spun. I almost went crazy. How could all this have happened in half a day, between early morning and sunset? I would find the answer at home with my father. But where was my home? I hurried towards the crossroads, because I remembered that I had to cross the street to reach our house, but the stream of cars would not let up. Extremely irritated, I wondered when I would be able to cross.
I stood there a long time, until the young boy employed at the ironing shop on the corner came up to me.
He stretched out his arm and said, "Grandpa, let me take you across."
2010年9月9日星期四
A lovable eccentric
True eccentrics never deliberately set out to draw attention to themselves. They disregard social conventions without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary. This invariably wins them the love and respect of others, for they add colour to the dull routine of everyday life.
Up to the time of his death, Richard Colson was one of the most notable figures in our town. He was a shrewd and wealthy businessman, but most people in the town hardly knew anything about this side of his life. He was known to us all as Dickie and his eccentricity had become legendary long before he died.
Dickie disliked snobs intensely. Though he owned a large car, he hardly ever used it, preferring always to go on foot. Even when it was raining heavily, he refused to carry an umbrella. One day, he walked into an expensive shop after having been caught in a particularly heavy shower. He wanted to buy a $300 watch for his wife, but he was in such a bedraggled condition than an assistant refused to serve him. Dickie left the shop without a word and returned carrying a large cloth bag. As it was extremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter. The assistant asked him to leave, but Dickie paid no attention to him and requested to see the manager. Recognizing who the customer was, the manager was most apologetic and reprimanded the assistant severely. When Dickie was given the watch, the presented the assistant with the cloth bag. It contained $300 in pennies. He insisted on the assistant's counting the money before he left -- 30,000 pennies in all! On another occasion, he invited a number of important critics to see his private collection of modern paintings. This exhibition received a great deal of attention in the press, for though the pictures were supposed to be the work of famous artists, they had in fact been painted by Dickie. It took him four years to stage this elaborate joke simply to prove that critics do not always know what they are talking about.
Up to the time of his death, Richard Colson was one of the most notable figures in our town. He was a shrewd and wealthy businessman, but most people in the town hardly knew anything about this side of his life. He was known to us all as Dickie and his eccentricity had become legendary long before he died.
Dickie disliked snobs intensely. Though he owned a large car, he hardly ever used it, preferring always to go on foot. Even when it was raining heavily, he refused to carry an umbrella. One day, he walked into an expensive shop after having been caught in a particularly heavy shower. He wanted to buy a $300 watch for his wife, but he was in such a bedraggled condition than an assistant refused to serve him. Dickie left the shop without a word and returned carrying a large cloth bag. As it was extremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter. The assistant asked him to leave, but Dickie paid no attention to him and requested to see the manager. Recognizing who the customer was, the manager was most apologetic and reprimanded the assistant severely. When Dickie was given the watch, the presented the assistant with the cloth bag. It contained $300 in pennies. He insisted on the assistant's counting the money before he left -- 30,000 pennies in all! On another occasion, he invited a number of important critics to see his private collection of modern paintings. This exhibition received a great deal of attention in the press, for though the pictures were supposed to be the work of famous artists, they had in fact been painted by Dickie. It took him four years to stage this elaborate joke simply to prove that critics do not always know what they are talking about.
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