I'm feeling really hungry today, so I am ordering a panino.
Showing off your knowledge of Italian, huh?
Let me see... The first panino sounds good. Have you ever had Number One?
Number One!
... or Number Two.
Number Two!
Both sound attractive. Do you have any recommendation? ...What's the matter?
How can I possibly choose between Number One and Number Two?
It's not that dramatic, is it? If I order Number One today, I will order Number Two some other time, and vice versa.
Why do you think Number One ever gained that status?
I guess that's the most attractive one, in terms of content and/or price. It could well be the simplest among all.
And, Number Two?
That's the second most attractive one in the same sense. What is this fuss all about?
I can't stand being a Number One.
Lucky that you have ever been a Number One. We all need somebody who thinks we are the best in the whole wide world, but it is often difficult to support such irrationality.
Whatever our conclusion may have been, it would not hold, if there is no Number Two, or Number Three, or Number Four, or Number...
You must be quite something, if you manage to give so little hope to any other candidate.
You see, I have a friend who has no friend other than myself.
If you are happy with the friendship, I don't see why that could be a problem.
It's not that I don't appreciate the friendship. But it becomes a great burden when I am the drinking friend, the hiking friend, the literature-and-art-discussion friend, the let's-drive-to-the-beach friend, the movie friend, the fashion-advisor friend, the gourmet-and-gourmand friend, the tango friend, the Galois-Theory friend... the wise friend, the funny-and-silly friend, the deadpan-humor friend, the optimist friend, the pessimist friend, the liberal friend, the conservative-manners friend...
I get the picture. You just can't be everything to your friend, but that is what becomes required of you.
And what if this friend calls up for just getting together, without any specific activity or topic of discussion in mind, and that for every other week?
It sounds like your friend is about to lose his/her only friend.
No, that's not my plan. But the sense of desperation does shave off quite a bit of attraction from a person.
You know, when you make a commitment to a person based on a monogamous relationship, that is precisely what happens.
I have to be everybody and everything to my partner...!
And your partner has to be everybody and everything to you. Some people do it effortlessly---for example, Meredith Brooks. Do you recall her song, "Bitch"? In that song, she manages to be everything to her lover and she is confident that her lover would not want it any other way.
Ahhh, you're making me feel totally inadequate!
I didn't know that you are for polygamy and polyandry.
I acknowledge that there are both psychological and biological minuses to them. But there are pluses, too, you know. But based on the fact that the numbers of males and females are approximately the same when they reach puberty, it is only fair that commitment is allowed on one-to-one basis.
Not necessarily. What if every man is committed to every woman, and every woman to every man? We can be fair by practicing both polygamy and polyandry.
That's no longer commitment!
In conclusion, we all need a Number One, who shoulders almost impossible responsibility.
Lately, I haven't been having a great time as a Number Two, either. I have friends who start calling me up much more frequently when their partners are away.
Oh, oh...
Mind you, they come in all combinations of gender and sexual orientation. The problem I have is, why do I have to serve as some kind of a substitute, or the next best thing.
The agony of Number Two! In short, Number One entails too much work and pressure, while Number Two does not satisfy your pride and needs.
By the way, may I recommend Number Six in the panini section?
Showing off your knowledge of Italian, huh?
Let me see... The first panino sounds good. Have you ever had Number One?
Number One!
... or Number Two.
Number Two!
Both sound attractive. Do you have any recommendation? ...What's the matter?
How can I possibly choose between Number One and Number Two?
It's not that dramatic, is it? If I order Number One today, I will order Number Two some other time, and vice versa.
Why do you think Number One ever gained that status?
I guess that's the most attractive one, in terms of content and/or price. It could well be the simplest among all.
And, Number Two?
That's the second most attractive one in the same sense. What is this fuss all about?
I can't stand being a Number One.
Lucky that you have ever been a Number One. We all need somebody who thinks we are the best in the whole wide world, but it is often difficult to support such irrationality.
Whatever our conclusion may have been, it would not hold, if there is no Number Two, or Number Three, or Number Four, or Number...
You must be quite something, if you manage to give so little hope to any other candidate.
You see, I have a friend who has no friend other than myself.
If you are happy with the friendship, I don't see why that could be a problem.
It's not that I don't appreciate the friendship. But it becomes a great burden when I am the drinking friend, the hiking friend, the literature-and-art-discussion friend, the let's-drive-to-the-beach friend, the movie friend, the fashion-advisor friend, the gourmet-and-gourmand friend, the tango friend, the Galois-Theory friend... the wise friend, the funny-and-silly friend, the deadpan-humor friend, the optimist friend, the pessimist friend, the liberal friend, the conservative-manners friend...
I get the picture. You just can't be everything to your friend, but that is what becomes required of you.
And what if this friend calls up for just getting together, without any specific activity or topic of discussion in mind, and that for every other week?
It sounds like your friend is about to lose his/her only friend.
No, that's not my plan. But the sense of desperation does shave off quite a bit of attraction from a person.
You know, when you make a commitment to a person based on a monogamous relationship, that is precisely what happens.
I have to be everybody and everything to my partner...!
And your partner has to be everybody and everything to you. Some people do it effortlessly---for example, Meredith Brooks. Do you recall her song, "Bitch"? In that song, she manages to be everything to her lover and she is confident that her lover would not want it any other way.
Ahhh, you're making me feel totally inadequate!
I didn't know that you are for polygamy and polyandry.
I acknowledge that there are both psychological and biological minuses to them. But there are pluses, too, you know. But based on the fact that the numbers of males and females are approximately the same when they reach puberty, it is only fair that commitment is allowed on one-to-one basis.
Not necessarily. What if every man is committed to every woman, and every woman to every man? We can be fair by practicing both polygamy and polyandry.
That's no longer commitment!
In conclusion, we all need a Number One, who shoulders almost impossible responsibility.
Lately, I haven't been having a great time as a Number Two, either. I have friends who start calling me up much more frequently when their partners are away.
Oh, oh...
Mind you, they come in all combinations of gender and sexual orientation. The problem I have is, why do I have to serve as some kind of a substitute, or the next best thing.
The agony of Number Two! In short, Number One entails too much work and pressure, while Number Two does not satisfy your pride and needs.
By the way, may I recommend Number Six in the panini section?
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