Afghani Chestnut

Barbara Walters of 20/20 did a story on gender roles in Kabul, several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that the women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands.

She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. From Ms. Walters’s vantage point, despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further back behind their husbands and are happy to maintain the old custom.

Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked “Why do you now seem happy with the old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?”

The women looked Ms. Walters straight in the eye and without hesitation said, “Land mines.”

Moral of the story: Behind every man is a smart woman.

Thanks and a tip of the Hatlo hat to Roberta Lewis.