A married woman of childbearing age has given birth to a baby boy.
The event followed nine months of pregnancy.
"Both mother and baby are doing well," a spokesman for the woman said.
It is now expected that the baby will grow up.
I saw a link to the above Huffington Post (UK Edition) jab on one of my Facebook friend’s pages (yes, I admit, I look on there occasionally), with his comment: “This says it all.”
And I suppose on one level, it did say it all. But then, one of his Facebook friends offered a follow-up comment: “Yeah, like there's nothing else on the planet to think about.”
Now, we all know there’s plenty on this planet to think about – globally, locally and even our tiny little specs of lives. Although, as Rick so eloquently said to Ilsa in Casablanca – “I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”
Of course, there are plenty of more important topics to consider, huge problems to solve, big trouble brewing all over the place. But, gosh, wasn’t it nice just for a moment or perhaps nine months, to consider the birth of a child in a seemingly real life fairy tale?
I went to a winery with some former colleagues the other day, all single women. The subject of “how hard it is to find a good man,” came up. I tossed out that Prince William seemed like a good man – charming, bright, fun-loving, humorous, devoted. No wonder his wife looks at him, at least in publicity shots, with love and longing. Yet, she also presents the image of an independent thinker, despite her royal position; a woman trying to bring old traditions into a modern world, one who is handling all this scrutiny with grace and poise. Not a bad role model, I’d say.
The ladies I was with, all intelligent, well-educated career women agreed. So let me just say: It’s a departure, guys, from reality, not so unlike science fiction, westerns, Rambo or Stephen King novels. And as I expect many women can attest, as did my friends, it’s a pleasant departure where they can take a moment to ponder romance, love and a marriage of communication and commitment. It’s a form of fantasy where we can ignore the advantages that the prince and princess obviously have, and at the same time overlook the disadvantages of living in the public eye, although this is what brings their story to us, the masses.
Indeed, many women gave birth that day, and all the days before and since, and most were not observed or applauded so publicly and with such attention to their maternity wardrobe or the size of their post-delivery bellies. Just my opinion, but I like hearing about the birth of a royal baby, born to a loving couple. It’s light and it’s fun. It was a welcome break from the news about such despicable characters as Anthony Weiner and Bob Filner.
Okay, enough of this, you say. It’s time to get back to reality -- murder and mayhem, with some rollicking politics thrown in for real fun.
