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Modesty is not always the best policy
Lankan 'figure hugging' sarongs
One of the odd things about the United States is the commonly accepted norms of modesty. Large numbers feel it sinful for a female breast to be seen, even if on a marble statue from ancient Greece. I wonder how this concept developed.

Near our apartment in Jakarta it was common to see people relieving themselves in a river while a few feet away other people were doing their laundry or even drawing water for cooking or drinking.

In Tehran in the summer time, there are people who can typically sleep on the roof and enjoy sex in the open air. In Sri Lanka and many other countries the only places for most people to bathe are streams or lakes and they get pretty naked or at least exposed through a wet sarong - in the process.

In Belgium, it is common to see men urinating in public. And it is common for women to have to walk by a urinal to get to the toilet stall.

Until the last couple of centuries, few people had private bedrooms. And there were no such things as bathrooms. Even today, probably a majority of the world's families live in one room. Where bathing was considered desirable, there was no way to do it in private. Even kings and queens often had other people in their bedrooms through the night and morning.In the past, the concept of modesty was simply not an option.

There was, no choice and all sorts of body parts, and all sorts of bodily functions at work were seen .A good part of the American people are now taught (for example), that the female breast should never be seen in public. This is both curious and sad.

Take for example the minister who wrote to the Miami Herald in 1999 that his Florida vacation was absolutely ruined because he saw a bare breast on the beach. Or the father who demanded that the school bus route be changed because it passed a copy of a Greek statue of a male. He also claimed to be a Christian. Why do these Christians find God's creations so terrible?
Courtesy Gamber Review

Laugh Zone
Touring South Africa
A tourist is travelling with a guide through one of the thickest jungles in South Africa, when he comes across an ancient Mayan temple. The tourist is entranced by the temple, and asks the guide for details. To this, the guide states that archaeologists are carrying out excavations, and still finding great treasures. The tourist then queries how old the temple is.

"This temple is 1503 years old", replies the guide. Impressed at this accurate dating, he inquires as to how he gave this precise figure. "Easy", replies the guide, "the archaeologists said the temple was 1500 years old, and that was three years ago"

Cop wants an excuse
A man was driving home late one afternoon, and he was driving above the speed limit. He notices a police car with its red lights on in his rear view mirror. He thinks "I can outrun this guy," so he floors it and the race is on. The cars are racing down the highway - 60, 70, 80, 90 miles an hour.

Finally, as his speedometer passes 100, the guy figures "what the heck," and gives up. He pulls over to the curb.

The police officer gets out of his cruiser and approaches the car. He leans down and says "Listen mister, I've had a really lousy day, and I just want to go home. Give me a good excuse and I'll let you go." The man thought for a moment and said... "Three weeks ago, my wife ran off with a police officer. When I saw your cruiser in my rear view mirror, I thought that you were the officer and that you were trying to give her back to me!"

Avoiding a big object
Driving to work, a gentlman had to swerve to avoid a box that fell out of a truck in front of him. Seconds later, a policeman pulled him over for reckless driving. Fortunately, another officer had seen the carton in the road. The policmen stopped traffic and recovered the box. It was found to contain large upholstery tacks.

"I'm sorry sir," the first trooper told the driver, "but I am still going to have to write you a ticket." Amazed, the driver asked for what. The trooper replied, "Tacks evasion."

A driving school test
The following are a sampling of real answers received on exams given by the California Department of Transportation's driving school.

Q: Do you yield when a blind pedestrian is crossing the road?

A: What for? He can't see my licence plate.

Q: Who has the right of way when four cars approach a four-way stop at the same time?

A: The pick up truck with the gun rack and the bumper sticker saying, "Guns don't kill people. I do."

Q: When driving through fog, what should you use?

A: Your car.

Crossing the border
While crossing the US-Mexican border on his bicycle, the man was stopped by a guard who pointed to two sacks the man had on his shoulders. "What's in the bags?", asked the guard.

"Sand," said the cyclist.

"Get them off - we'll take a look," said the guard.

The Cyclist did as he was told, emptied the bags, and proving they contained nothing but sand, reloaded the bags, put them on his shoulders and continued across the border.

Two weeks later, the same thing happened. Again the guard demanded to see the two bags, which again contained nothing but sand. This went on every week for six months, until one day the cyclist with the sand bags failed to appear.

A few days later, the guard happened to meet the cyclist downtown. "Say friend, you sure had us crazy", said the guard. "We knew you were smuggling something across the border. I won't say a word - but what is it you were smuggling?" "Bicycles!"

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