Saving Second Base and Herding Cats

Just got back from the Race for the Cure which was held here in Egypt at the Pyramids of Giza. I do have to give credit to my friend Ben Dunbar for providing the first part of the title of this blog entry... and only a guy would consider a world-wide race to find a cure for breast cancer a moment to reflect on one's adolescent conquests! However, recognizing that the race for getting to second base is as important at certain stages of our lives as finding a cure for this horrific disease is to us now, I concede that the phrase resonated with me. Who doesn't remember how important it was to either a) get to second base or b) allow someone to get there. How many of our earliest sexual memories have to do with the development of our breasts...the first "training bra", wondering how big would they get or how small they would stay (never the right size, if you ask most women) and how much of them could be shown to look sexy without appearing to be slutty? No wonder that the thought of our hooters, tatas, boobs, jugs, tits being invaded by some disease shakes us to the core. It threatens our youth and our sexual identity in a way that other cancers cannot...we have no joyful high school memories of our colons, our lungs, or skin...but our party fun bags?? Well, I leave it to you to ponder. Suffice it to say that this particular cancer is one that women are willing to go to the mat for or, in my case, to Cairo to fight!

And it is in the details of that trip that the second part of the blog title comes in . Adults really should not travel together in groups of larger than maybe four, and that assumes that they are paired in couples. Why? Because adults get used to doing things their own way and on their own schedule. They have their own rhythm and timing that rarely blends well with others. Trying to get seven adults to leave on time (with all essential gear), decide on a place to eat, meet at a given location or simply walk from point A to point B together is virtually impossible. It is about as easy as trying to herd cats, and equally frustrating. Intuitively, and for the survival of all, breaking up into smaller units is necessary. That is not to say that traveling with a group is not fun...it is wonderful. It's just that you have to factor in much longer waiting periods while people retrieve keys, sunglasses, take bathroom breaks, duck into stores and take pictures. And you wait while one of those incredibly independent cats goes gets diverted by one tangent or another. Thank god cats are deemed sacred in Egypt.