sophie's fair

Lady and the Tramp (c) Walt Disney Co

i got a kick out of one of the singles ads that appeared in the atlanta journal. i heard it on a tv show, bashing the men who responded to the ad:

SBF seeks male companionship, ethnicity unimportant. I'm a very good looking girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods, riding in your pickup truck, hunting, camping and fishing trips, cozy winter nights lying by the fire. Candelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand. Rub me the right way and watch me respond. I'll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me. Kiss me and I'm yours. Call (404) 875-6420 and ask for Daisy.
Over 15,000 men found themselves talking to the Atlanta Humane Society about an 8-week old black labrador retriever.
Men are easy.

in 1996, another ad like this appeared in a peoria shopper, an illinois newspaper reported. nobody could tell if it was just another urban legend or the works of a desperate person(s) who wanted to find shelter for an ownerless dog.
While the Peoria version quoted above simply works this gag into the common technique of catching a reader's eye with an ad that initally appears to be one thing but is eventually revealed to be something else (such as the common scheme of printing of SEX in big, bold letters at the head of an ad, followed by copy reading: "Now that we've got your attention . . ."), the version quoted in the example block at the head of this page is an out-and-out deception.
Pets should be adopted by people making informed choices after due consideration and forethought, not by those jumping into spur-of-the-moment decisions after having an idea sprung on them by surprise (or by those making hasty choices in attempts to save face or spite those who made them look foolish).

but let's admit it, whether the story's true or a gag, it's riotously, absurdly, laughably creative! the poor suckers (15,000 of them) must've adopted thousands of pets to save face that day.

I am not a cat man, but a dog man, and all felines can tell this at a glance -- a sharp, vindictive glance.
-- James Thurber

life lessons:
1) you get enough exercise just pushing your luck.
2) dont date outside your species.
3) boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men.