The Bachelor...The Bachelorette...Lice...Or A Cave??

We humans are interesting creatures with our varying natures, needs and wants. This has all been proven time and time again throughout the perplexing The Bachelor and The Bachelorette series of past years. I'll have to admit that I have been an avid watcher, as we all become privy to this incredible lesson in human behavior. (?) One of my closet out of town friends and I find ourselves text-messaging each other with our reactions and voicing opinions. (Mind you -- we are two mature adult women with college-aged children who are fascinated by the complexities of it.) ABC has definitely stumbled upon a worthwhile series that is capturing the nation's attention.

This latest season of The Bachelorette with Ashley and her incredible menagerie of men has been especially interesting as she sorts through the differing natures. There is a lot of fun and camaraderie, but it has also been filled with angst and pain. I have found my heart hurting so for the rejected ones. It had boiled down to JP and Ben after she had disposed of the bulk of disappointed men. Ashley's heart was broken, as well, along the way. We are all left wondering how a courtship and potential marriage can thrive that is drowning in such complexity. People en masse are privy to the personalities, actions and reactions. One may ponder if this is a good avenue for finding true love.

I felt compelled to do a little research on other dating scenarios in history. I rounded up a few other perplexing avenues. There is another interesting mating/dating scenario in northern Siberia according to Hans Zinsser's book, "Rats, Lice and History." There was an Australian man named Weizl who was an anthropologist who resided in there amongst the natives. He had a great many visits by enthusiastic, laughing women who came to his house and threw dead lice at him. Weizl became aware of their interesting tradition of throwing lice at men as their way of showing love and affection for a man to indicate their accessibility.

Perhaps, it could be another show ABC could consider -- .nah -- let's stick to The Bachelor and The Bachelorette!

In the book, "More Best Worse, and Most Unusual," by Felton and Felton, it was definitely proven that it is far more rewarding to have a mate than to be alone. They wrote about Charles Hamilton who lived in Britain in the 18^th century. He had a desire to have a hermit residing in his garden, as a symbol of affluence. He was required to not utter a word while he lived in a cave and to let his beard, nails and hair grow without being cut. He paid him a generous amount, along with a Bible, an hourglass and a shirt made out of animal hair. However, after six long weeks, the hermit he hired went berserk with loneliness and felt the need to leave the strange setting.

Many years ago I had an interesting conversation about relationships with a close friend. I was impressed with her eloquent words that said it all. She simply said, "Relationships should be easy, if it's right." What a profound statement. This message should, perhaps, be passed along to all the bachelors and bachelorettes. I suppose healthy relationships should also not include lice and caves. Hmm -- perhaps, it could be the makings of another interesting TV show?? Nah -- .let's stick with what ABC is doing best!