A friend recently said that he liked the traveling, consulting life but his wife made him quit that life so he could help raise the children. Here we have a odd man. I propose that the reality behind his statement is one of these three:

1. He really did enjoy life on the road but was not man enough to work that out with his wife; so his wife changed his mind for him.

2. He really wanted to help his wife raise the kids but was not man enough to tell me that; so he passed the buck to his wife.

3. He really wanted to get a different job so he could help raise the children, but he wasn’t man enough to take the initiative and do that; so his wife had to lend him some of her backbone.

Or maybe none of those is the case at all and my perception needs fine-tuning. Maybe he really has brass but (like most of us) isn’t in the habit of talking like it.