Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/tilting-at-windmills

Comment #4201

2017-07-08T10:09:08Z

That is private Roman Catholic middle school. Public education in Puerto Rico has been a disaster since about the 1950's...

Homeschooling is not yet a widespread thing here. Most couples must work outside the home, often with more than one job, just to make ends meet. And most children go to public school because private schools are unaffordably expensive.

Comment #4200

2017-07-06T10:50:44Z

My respect for your middle school just skyrocketed.

Comment #4199

2017-07-06T10:34:06Z

Heavens! I did not issue any death threats! I was just pointing out that tilting at windmills does imply carry hazards.

Don Quixote is a work which I hold in very high regard. It is required middle-school reading, and is revisited in much depth in first year of college in all Hispanic countries.

Perhaps your semantic issues are justified, but to me at least, the use of "partner" carries the ring of equality in relationships, where the husband is not necessarily the master of the house.

Everyone's experience is different. My life experiences inform my points of view. Words carry baggage. Many people feel wife and husband carry a lot of negative baggage. Spouse, well...

Comment #4198

2017-07-04T21:45:07Z

Diane, I believe one way to phrase the point my Mom is trying to make is, if you add "partner" to the list of relationships, at least don't take out "spouse", "husband", and "wife". She has as much right to want to insist on being called someone's wife as anyone else does to be called a partner.

Comment #4197

2017-07-04T17:55:34Z

Whew. Is it true you're not considered a serious blogger till you've had your first death threat? :) It's a good thing I know you're my friend.

But please note that I did not say that partnerships cannot be lifelong and committed. Business partnerships can even last from generation to generation. But semantically, a partnership and a marriage carry different expectations.

It certainly is none of my business what label your half-brother gives his relationship. A partnership that has lasted 20 years no doubt has a lot more going for it than a marriage that breaks up after two. But that's neither here nor there as far as my point is concerned.

My quarrel is with what I see as a misuse of language, one that over-generalizes—and thus obscures—the human situation.

Comment #4196

2017-07-04T12:30:03Z

Here are my two cents:

When Don Quixote charged the first windmill, he was knocked off his horse by one of the gyrating arms. He took a very serious fall, which ultimately contributed to his death.

He refused to listen to Sancho Panza, (the Voice of Reason), calmly explaining to him that they were windmills and not giants.

My half-brother has lived with his partner for more than 20 years. In spite of Obergefell vs. Hodges, they have chosen not to get legally married. Their partnership does not deny lifelong, exclusive commitment, to each other and to each other's families.

Your view of the meaning of the word partner also discounts English Law's Common-Law Marriage. Many, many long lasting, successful, committed unions have been of this nature.