Blog 3721 – 01.18.2026
A Rose By Any Other Name
I find it telling the pet names that we give to the people and things that we cherish most. The old joke goes that several men were trying to enter heaven with their wives and were told by Saint Peter the reason that they could not come in was obvious from the pet names they had given to their wives. The first man called his wife Penny because his true god was money. The second man’s besetting sin was gluttony especially sweets and so he called his wife Candy. Before Saint Peter got to the third couple the man said to his wife, “Let’s go, we’re not welcome here, Fanny.”
William Shakespeare is credited with the phrase, “A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet. ”What is the significance of your pet name for your significant other? Is it as telling as those the three men in the joke gave to their wives? It has been suggested that bad girls prefer to be treated like good girls and good girls like bad girls. I think the same is true of boys as well.
I recall a song that was popular when I was a young man, “Angel Of The Morning.” I think the Ying Yang symbol describes us best. We are a mixture of light and darkness, the dark sacred night and the bright blessed day. Isn’t that right, Sweet Cheeks?
Your friend and fellow traveler
David James White
theencouragingword 