The proof of love is to suffer for the one you love.

Padre Pio

I had a marriage website passed on to me recently by my wife (who received it from a mutual friend). I have no comment on the site. It seemed rather nondescript to me, so I didn’t click around much. But one thing really struck me from the front page. Their currently running poll was:

Was the last fight you had with your spouse worth it? Yes / No

Such a simple question, and it drives the point home really effectively. (That point being, of course, that most of the time, fights are not worth it.) After voting, I was further surprised to see that a whopping 29% voted Yes. I would have expected something in the single digits!

I can count on one hand the arguments and fights I’ve had with my wife that actually produced some good. The vast majority… I wish they were curtailed, defused, derailed, or prevented.

They next time you’re about to engage your spouse in a heated argument, think about whether it’ll be worth it or not. Aim for peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, sincere love, forgiveness and reconciliation. it’s not worth it I think it’s better for you to be reconciled with your spouse than to be the winner of a long argument.

I received notice about this via e-mail.

Hand sanitizer gels and wipes include a surprising amount of alcohol (e.g., Purell and Germ-X contain 62% Ethyl Alcohol), and a child who swallowed enough of such products could experience what 2-year-old Sydney and 4-year-old Halle went through: intoxication, possibly even alcohol poisoning. “Ingesting as little as an ounce or two of this product could be fatal to a toddler,” says Heidi Kuhl, a health educator at the Central New York Poison Control Center.

The snopes.com page dealing with this issue provides enough detail to convince me (as a parent) that toddlers and young children should use hand sanitizers only under close adult supervision.

I came across this very entertaining story. I have reproduced it here for your reading pleasure:

Divert Your Course

ACTUAL transcript of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. This radio conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations on 10-10-95.

Americans: “Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.”

Canadians: “Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.”

Americans: “This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.”

Canadians: “No, I say again, you divert YOUR course.”

Americans: “THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH. THAT’S ONE-FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.”

Canadians: “This is a lighthouse. Your call.”

A little Googlage tells us that it’s not a true story. But extremely funny nevertheless. Well, as long as you’re not American…