Johnny Carson.  Apparently, he was quite a guy.  I can honestly say I rarely watched his show, but I did catch it once, circa 1976, in which I learned something from his opening monologue.  It has stuck with me ever since.

Johnny’s opening monologue that night included a discussion of marital disagreements.  He said there were two words that should be eliminated from all marital arguments;   “Always” and “Never”.

Think about it… “You always do X”  …. “You never do Y”…

And really, when it comes to people, you can’t say someone always, or never does something… whatever it is. This rule can be expanded to include complaints about your boss, your neighbour, your mother-in-law, or whomever…

No one always does something or never does the other, in a marriage or otherwise.  People may be creatures of habit, but Johnny Carson had a good point.  Take always and never out of the discussion –those words form an accusation and a defence that rarely leads to resolution.  Try it.  See what happens.

Always uploaded before noon on Sundays (ha!) is this week’s grand finale of Oops!  Wrong Box!  Chapter 5, Scene 18.

… I’m always trying to grow my audience so a Like on the Contentment is for Cows Facebook page is always appreciated and these pitches never work.  

Enjoy!