The Kiss
Four strangers travelled together in the same compartment
of an European train. Two men and two women faced each
other.
One woman was a very wealthy and sophisticated 70 year old
lady who was decked out in the finest of furs and jewelry.
Next to her sat a beautiful young woman, nineteen yrs. old--
who looked like something right off the cover of a fashion
magazine. Across from the older lady was a very mature looking
man in his mid-forties who was a highly decorated Sergeant
Major in the Army. And next to the Sergeant Major sat a young
private fresh out of boot camp.
As these four strangers travelled, they talked and chatted
about trivial things until they entered an unlighted tunnel,
and there they sat in complete darkness and total silence,
until the sound of a distinct kiss broke the silence; following
the kiss a loud slap could be heard throughout the cabin.
In the ensuing period of silence the four strangers sat
quietly with their own thoughts. The older lady was thinking,
"Isn't it wonderful that even in this permissive day and age
there are still young women who have a little self-respect
and dignity?"
The young woman, shaking her head and greatly puzzled, asked
herself, "Why in the world would any man in his right mind
want to kiss an old fossil like that when I'm sitting here?"
The Sergeant Major, rubbing his sore face, was outraged that
any woman could ever think that a man in his position would
try to sneak a kiss in the dark.
And the private, grinning from ear to ear, was thinking, "What
a crazy and mixed up world this is when a private can kiss the
back of his hand and then smack a Sergeant Major in the face
and get away with it!"