Book of Resolutions

Chapter 6

JUNE

"Remind me again: HOW did you rope me into this?" Ben was indignant.

"'One new thing, once a month, as a couple...'"

"But Little Women!"

"What's WRONG with Little Women?"

"What's right with it?"

"Ben, you agreed and it is MY choice."

"A book club, you said, not..."

"Use your head, Ben: we HAD to start the book club."

"We could join..."

"There aren't any nearby."

"But reading Little Women...."

"It was a fair vote."

"I don't know how you get THAT!"

"The men voted YOU as their representative and the women voted Katie Lee."

"But the rules were: a book from 'Classic Literature'."

"And that saved you from reading the latest Samantha St. Clair book: The Fire of Their Passion."

"Would Katie Lee have actually made us read that?"

"Ben, have you MET Katie Lee?"

"Little Women is a child's book!"

It was my turn to choose an activity and I had chosen to read a book with a book club. There being none close to us, I created my own. We had invited my neighbors and in-laws, Jeb and Bonnie Tate as well as Jeb's bachelor brother, Ira. Then my first cousin Buddy Ray and his wife, Kay-Lynn who is Ben's sister. Of course, there was Katie Lee and all three of my daughters plus their husbands. By count, we had 14 adults: 7 men and 7 women.

We planned to hold the book club meetings at my house and everybody would take turns with snacks. It would be a lot of fun; plus, I had a lot of toys and a play area for the children, so babysitters wouldn't be necessary. With all the aunts, uncles, grandparents and parents, we could take turns helping to watch them. Everyone agreed it was a good plan. At least, it SEEMED like a good plan.

One of the early problems we encountered was that everyone had vastly different tastes in literature, and no one could agree on a book to read. Since the opinions seemed to run along gender lines, we decided to elect two representatives: one male, one female but no one married to each other. They would decide on the book. The men had elected Ben and the women Katie Lee. But they couldn't agree.

Ben wanted something off the current Bestseller lists or something from one of the great authors of the past, like Steinbeck; maybe The Grapes of Wrath. Katie Lee's opinions were decidedly opposite: she suggested the Kama Sutra, a variety of trashy bodice-rippers, and The Sheik. We amended the rules so that the selection must be made from Classic Literature. Katie Lee argued that both the Kama Sutra and The Sheik were classic, but I talked her out of it, using the argument that we must discuss the book in front of the children. That convinced her like arguments about the controversial nature of the other books hadn't, and she chose Little Women.

Ben and Katie Lee both refused to give in to the other's point of view. Finally, it was agreed that we would take a vote and, with 7 men and 7 women the vote should have been fairly straightforward. All the women were enthusiastic about Little Women and all the men were decidedly against it. But when we voted, all the women looked at Ira Tate. He is a bit of an old maid and is terrified of women. He grew uncomfortable under their gaze and squirmed quite a bit. When my daughter, Nora, said "Please, Uncle Ira? Won't you vote for Little Women?" he caved in immediately. It really wasn't a fair fight; Nora was pregnant and Ira was terrified of pregnant women. And so, the matter was decided.