Please – Start at the End! When first married I used to come home To my lovely bride Right after work And inquire.. “How was your day Sweetheart? Start at the beginning And share all the details Don’t leave anything out” Many years Have now gone by And when Late in the afternoon I drag myself Thru the front door Details begone! “ Please spare me – Start at the end As long a you’re OK The kids are OK
The grandkids are safe No one got hurt Shot Locked up or died I DON’T CARE! So there it is Great contrasts between Gentle caring Then And jaded attention - Now But what about A middle ground? Peculiar it may be I enjoy The challenge of Starting in the middle Particularly Of a mystery Whether it be On TV or within Pages of a book Strange you say! Of course! Please now Bear with me It’s much more fun And challenging When I begin In the muddledmiddle I have to pay Close attention As the story Moves forward While at the same time
Speculating backwards As to what Brought us To this midpoint If you think about it That’s what Any good detective Does in viewing The immediate Crime scene And then he must Recapture The prior events Leading up To what He hears or sees now Following this path Personally - Hooks me I mimic his character And become the detective How does this All relate To my daily Domestic encounters? Maybe yes – Maybe no Can one imagine What would transpire If I were to Ask my wife “How was your day?
Please start in the middle” As she would be going Both forward and backward Simultaneously describing (in minute minutia) I would be totally lost And dared to say “Where are we? Where have you lost me?" (That may provoke hostility) "You never truly listen
to what I am saying" "Not so - Not so! The problem is that I am listening And that I simply Cannot follow you" All those Elaborated details Would have multiplied By a factor of ten (just like proliferation of ‘Shmoos’ In ‘Lil Abner) As has been said Many times before ‘The devil is in the
details’ Prudently I retreat From this gambit And once more Ask only for The endpoint Today’s chapter Is now closed (she may not be speaking to me for the rest of the evening) But for sure As the Sun Will rise tomorrow There will be Another Please – Start at the End!