The woman effect

A month ago Sally and I were visiting our daughter and her family in Tonga (they are sailing to New Zealand). It was a grand experience, but since coming home I've had a low-lying lurgy that kept me thinking about my intestines more than I ordinarily do, or care to do. Yesterday Sally prodded me to visit the doctor, which I did. He is male (graduated Dartmouth, hence a skier, a necessary quality in my mind) but of course is surrounded by women. He sent me off to the hospital to deposit samples of bodily substances in tubes and cups, which were overseen by other women. By the time I was done, two hours later, I was feeling much better, and this morning even more so.

I calculate that, including Sally, I was altogether attended by no fewer than nine solicitous women, and I am now convinced that the so-called placebo effect is actually a woman effect, and that if enough and sufficiently friendly women would look after us, we would all feel very much better. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford