portance to the entire "moment of truth". If we spent in any of these 4 elements one half of the time we consume in glueing a pair of false eyelashes or overstuffing the front of a dress, we'd have a much better chance of "passing", or at least of making a realistic, pleasant im- pression among our friends. Some TV's will swear that no one can read them. Their overwhelming and final proof (so they think) is the fact that they have not been picked up by the law and have not det- ected any raised eyebrows among the dozens and dozens of plain cit- izens they meet in the streets, stores and restaurants.

Let me be just plain nasty here. One of our greatest weaknesses is our tendency toward self-deception. Our eyes see in the mirror what we'd like to see, not what other mortals see. So you move about the city and you are still out of jail... what does that prove? It proves that 1) you are fairly passable and some people can be fooled 2) others read you but don't give a hoot. 3) others read you but are more inter- ested in making a sale than in creating an embarrassing scene on their premises 4) others read you but think you are a harmless nut and just shrug the whole thing off. 5) others read you and have a good chuckle. You make a good story to tell when they get home in the evening. It might go like this: "You know, honey? I saw the damnedest thing today at the restaurant... "Here I was sitting in one of the booths when this big boned dame sits down across from me at a near by table. I give her the usual cursory glance you normally give people.. Then, something strikes me as odd... the dame has a neck just about twice as thick as mine... She's dressed kind of fancy, well groomed you might say, nice hairdo, but you should have seen that neck! She catches me staring, so I quickly glance away. Impolite to stare, you know... A bit later I notice with the corner of my eye that she's re- moving her gloves. WOW! You should have seen those hands! So I take a fast peep at her feet, and sure enough, they match the hands in size! So, I say to myself: there's a hefty dame. And I forget all about her for awhile. But then I notice she's getting up, probably going to the ladies' room... You won't believe me, honey, but the guys in our army platoon moved more gracefully than that dame. A little later she's back at the table. I could tell she was coming I could hear the klomp-klomp coming near.. then she sat...stiff as a board..nothing feminine about her I assure you.. and at that point I began to wonder.. maybe she was a he..but still..I could have been mistaken.. until she spoke to the waiter ther I was positive I was not mistaken. That was a guy. Did I do anything about it? Of course not, why should I stick my neck out. besides, he could have been an actor..or God knows what.. maybe an escaped convict, dangerous, you know..so I finished my meal, paid the bill and walked out."

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