This is from an email I received lately. I do not know if the "facts" are true or not, but the end line is a good lesson!
WOMEN WHO KNOW THEIR PLACE
Barbara Walters, of 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan , several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands.
She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. Despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to, and are
happy to, maintain the old custom.
Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, 'Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?'
The woman looked Ms. Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation said, 'Land Mines.'
Moral of the story is (no matter what language you speak or where you go):
BEHIND EVERY MAN, THERE'S A SMART WOMAN
Now you can consider this cultural issue any way you like, but think of the lesson here. It is indeed the man's given responsibility to protect his woman from all dangers in life. "Land Mines" come in all sorts of varieties. So while we may laugh at the 'Land Mines' response, the reality is that the man should be in front to protect...not to be better or more important than the woman, but to protect her from whatever evil may come in life....including the land mines.
...IN GOD WE TRUST...