Being “Intelligent” does not mean that you are “Smart.”  Take my wife – please.

When she went into Grade 9, the school administered an IQ test, on which she scored in the middle 120s.  She is reasonably ‘intelligent,’ however….
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Where and when I attended high school, jewelry of any sort on students was rare.  I was almost the only one I knew who had a wristwatch.  Boys wore no rings, often because of sports.  Bracelets and bangles were non-existent.  Very few girls wore necklaces.  There must have been a few Catholics mixed in with us heathen Protestants.  I remember a couple of modest, sterling crucifixes, and the cafeteria served salmon loaf each Friday.

Not being a “Christian,” and desiring to be a little different, I wanted to wear some kind of necklace, but not A CROSS. I read in some magazine, an offer like, Send in two Post Toasties box-tops and 75¢, and we’ll send you a genuine, pewter, Maltese Cross.  I hung it from a cheap, steel chain, and wore it for years.  One day, it just disappeared.  With no memory, I couldn’t look back to see exactly where and when and how I had lost it.

Fast forward ten years.  I have a couple of kids and a wife.  We are watching some PBS documentary about the Knights of Malta, and how they petitioned the Pope to allow them to use the Maltese Cross as their religious emblem.  I casually said, “I used to have a Maltese Cross that I wore, but it just disappeared one day.  I don’t know how I lost it, or where it went.  And the wife said:

Well, when we first started going out, I noticed you wearing it.  I didn’t know what it was.  I’d never seen anything like it.  The only ones I knew about were part of Nazi war medals.  I didn’t know why you were worshipping Nazis, but I just didn’t think it was right.  One day, when we were at the beach, you took it off to go into the water, and I took it out of your shoe, and buried it in the sand.

W!   T!   F!??

So:
Before we were even married
Without my Knowledge
Without my permission
Without having me explain myself
Without knowing what it was
Without doing any research
Without asking questions
Without expressing her concern

She just felt justified in stealing my personal property, and disposing of it without telling me, because she somehow disapproved – and then, voluntarily piping up, and admitting to it.  Her recent ex-Catholic status forced her mind to confess her sin.  Had it been me…. My ‘Smart’ brain would have told my ‘Intelligent’ mouth to Shut the f**k up!!

Fifty years later, I am still occasionally reminded somehow, and I am still angered.

😦