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On Tuesday evening I had a business meeting which was held in a booth at a local restaurant. Originally we planned to meet at 4 p.m. but due to circumstances my colleague re-scheduled for 6:30. By 9:30 business had been discussed, diagrams drawn, dinner eaten and drinks emptied. The question became, “What do you want to do now?”
We decided to go out. I put a few options on the table (Tokyo Joes, Soi Cowboy, the V Club, the Pent Club, etc) and my friend said that he’d like to check out the Pent, as he hadn’t ever been to a g-club before.
We arrived a bit before 10 p.m. and it was a quiet evening. There were two guys onstage picking guitars and singing some nice tunes. I actually liked what they were playing, but they were replaced at 10:30 by the usual 6 person band singing English love ballads. At that point my friend and I retired to the coyote-club disco in the back. They were only just getting started when we went in.
My friend liked the Pent and paid for a membership while we were there. I imagine he’ll be back often. We stayed until about midnight, buying drinks for two cute coyote dancers. Finally we left together.
Once he had hopped into a taxi, I walked to Nana Plaza. I decided that I wanted to see some places that I hadn’t been to in a while, or where I hadn’t been in a long time. I went to the third floor.
First stop Hollywood Strip. It sucked. I had a beer and left.
Next stop was the Carousel. I had never been in this bar before and it was rockin’! The go go had two large stages that rotated (hence the name Carousel, I guess). There was also a ‘cage’ above the bar, with about a half dozen dancers. The different presentation was effective, and the girls looked pretty sexy.
The place was fairly full of customers, plenty of girls, good music and everyone was having a good time. While I was there they threw a soft blanket on the rotating stages and had a pair of girls on each stage do a fake lesbian show. The girls were giggling and playing… it wasn’t real, but it was sexy anyway.
I should have stayed at Carousel longer — it turned out to be the best bar I visited all night — but after one beer I left and went to Rainbow 4. The usual lineup of stunners was on display. I bought a drink for #82 Gadai (rabbit) and cuddled her 40 kilo body for a while. She spoke good English and was pretty, but I wasn’t looking for a short time so she got bored and wandered away after finishing her drink. Then I spotted #66 who had a great body and a pretty round face. I was just starting to re-think that short time decision when she sprinted off the stage to collect her barfine from another guy.
She changed clothes and returned. Her customer never paid any attention to her… just kept chatting to his mate. After ten minutes of standing around doing nothing she grabbed her mobile phone and headed to the toilet. I realized I was getting bored too, so I paid my bill and left.
I went to Mandarin Table Dance. I barely had time to sip my beer when the lights came on, the music turned off and I was sitting in the middle of closing time. I sipped my beer slowly and enjoyed watching two dozen girls trying to use two small spaces to get changed and go. When my beer was done, I headed down the broken escalator and into the melee below.
I stopped at the burger cart and ordered two burgers with everything (bacon, egg & cheese) then went across to the Nana Plaza parking lot to eat my burgers and watch the fun. I grabbed a heineken, and on an impulse, bought a Singha for a very cute freelancer standing next to me.
She took the opportunity to chat with me as I ate my burgers, and she was easy on the eyes. I found that I just wasn’t in the mood for a short time tonight… I wanted to just sit in the middle of all the action and enjoy.
After ten minutes the burgers were gone and the girl was starting to figure out that she was gonna have to look elsewhere for her rent money. Neither of us moved away from the particular piece of real estate however, so over the next hour or so, she continued to chat with me occasionally and was part of the background of my night.
What distracted me from her was another girl who sat beside me and worked to get my attention. Finally she succeeded.
She was deaf. Completely. She could read lips with some skill, but couldn’t hear. Her speech was particularly difficult to understand, but I found myself a bit intrigued.
I started talking to her. It was a slow, difficult process. It might well have been painful if I were in a different mood, but I was in just the right frame of mind for it. I’d been to a restaurant, a g-club and four go go bars, and I was pretty mellow. I’d just finished two hamburgers, so I was content to sit and chat. She wasn’t particularly pretty or sexy, but she was making the effort to hold my attention, so I gave it to her.
She understood a bit of English, and I understand a bit of Thai. It was difficult for both of us to always know which language was being spoken at any point in time. She couldn’t hear me, only read my lips. I could hear her, but in addition to all the other issues, her pronunciation was so horribly unclear that it was difficult to identify each word. Not knowing whether it was English or Thai made it particularly problematic.
As I said, though, I was in the mood for it, so I sat from 3 a.m. until 4 a.m. chatting with a deaf Thai hooker in the parking lot of the Nana Plaza hotel. If I ever write my novel, that’s a scene that has to make its way into a chapter.
She had a lot of time invested in me, and around 4 a.m. she suggested that we go somewhere so that she could show me that, while her hearing was broken, the rest of her body worked fine.
At this point, I was getting tired, and I still wasn’t in the mood to get laid. I asked her if she came to Nana every night and she said yes. I thought vaguely to myself that I might come back later in the week, stood up slowly as I realized my 48-year-old back was stiff from sitting on the concrete for two hours, and I hobbled over to a taxi and went home.
Looking back today, it may have been a disservice to sit and talk with her so long if I wasn’t going to go with her. At 4 a.m. she’d have to start all over again, or face a night with no income. I probably will go back to the parking lot later this week to look for her, but the chance that I’ll see her or recognize her again is pretty slender.
Anyway… I’ve had enough beer and whiskey for one week, and I’ve got a deadline on a project, so I don’t think I’ll be going out again before the weekend. If you happen to bump into a hooker who can’t hear you, tell her I’ll be looking for her again.
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15 responses so far
July 10th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
As well as not being paid she must have been bored out of her mind if you gave her a similar rundown of your life’s comings and goings. I am sorry to be so sarcastic with you but everything you write just makes me think ‘urgghh’ - you have such an ugly turn of phrase. Good luck with the novel - I hear Penthouse accept fiction don’t they? What a wonderful anecdote - chatting to a deaf hooker - chatting to an underpriviliged woman with a disability who is probably involved in prostitution because of issues to do with her background, upbringing, culture and difficulties. She no doubt has no money and inside probably loathed the fat American stuffing his face. Her only positive being that she didn’t have to fuck you. She probably has no money and finds life quite hard. Your story of boring her to death all night and not paying her just had me in stitches - what a funny guy hey?!! Why do you hate women so much? I think you need to head towards Soi Texas on your next night out if you know what I mean!
July 10th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
trudie: I’m shocked that my story had you in stitches; I didn’t think there was anything funny in it at all.
The girl might well have been bored, but it’s not like I had her handcuffed to the railing. In fact, I didn’t even approach her, she sat down next to me. She was free to leave anytime.
If everything I write just makes you think ‘urgghh’ then you might find life more comfortable if you don’t read my atrocious writing anymore.
I’m surprised at the juvenile crack about Penthouse, though. You seem much brighter than that. If I was writing fiction my stuff would be a great deal more entertaining, don’t you think?
I’m afraid your reference to Soi Texas has no meaning to me; I’d be pleased if you could clarify.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
‘the girl’ - even those two words sum up your attitudes to women. Of course she approached you - she was a prostitute!!!! The tone of your post is almost one of bravado - ‘hey, I have a story about a sad woman with a disability who I screwed over’ - because that is essentially what you did.
I have read your posts with interest - it is sometimes, not always, fascinating to see how people who think differently express themselves.. Your views do make me feel quite sick but then I presume that most of the farang women you meet here feel the same.
You mentioned writing a book and to be honest your posts read like terrible fiction - I could just imagine them in some tatty mag down some backstreet soi - it was a visual image I had - a reality rather than a joke. Really, there’s a market for your writing style - full of the word ‘melee’.
Soi Texas is a gay soi - I haven’t been there - I haven’t been in Bangkok that long - but I imagine that you are probably homosexual. This isn’t an insult as I have absolutely no prejudice towards anyone who is gay/straight. But just the way you talk about women it seems you have a big disconnection and I was just wondering whether you might prefer men? It’s the classic case I guess - men who are hiding their real sexuality often come across as macho or go on about ‘big tit’s like you did in one of your posts.
So you’re a middle management man who thinks he’s a hot shot in the Land of Smiles and the most impulsive thing he’s done this week is buy a woman a beer and eat burgers on sukhumvit. You’re probably scratching your balls by the watercooler right now Mr Werewolf.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
trudie: You obviously want to bust my balls. That’s okay… it comes with the territory of writing a blog.
It will be tiresome for you, me and everyone who follows the comments if we keep this up for too long, so I’ll acknowledge that the material you’ve been reading is offensive. I’d be surprised if any woman who read it disagreed.
All of the blogs (of mine) that you have commented on have been nightlife or Thai girl related. In fact, it seems that all of your comments have been on those types of blogs.
I’m not sure if you’ve read any of the other stuff. I’ve got two blogs in the past ten days or so on the state of Thai politics. I’m not sure whether you’d find them more or less offensive, but feel free to look at them.
For the record, I’m not gay, but I imagine you knew that already.
Also, I’m not middle management. I’m self employed so I scratch my balls at home rather than at the water cooler, but your characterization is accurate about the activity. I like to lay around in the nude picking lint out of my navel, drinking beer and farting too. It seems that in the few months that you’ve been here you’ve developed a very clear stereotype of all the men who live in Bangkok (based on your broader comments about farang men).
The worst part is that most of your ideas are probably right. I am part of a broad class of overweight, unpleasant looking, ill-mannered men who live in Bangkok — not for the sparkling conversation, amazing culture and lovely weather — but because I am able, by dint of my white face and bank account, to enjoy the attention of girls younger and more beautiful than any I could hope to spend time with back in farangland.
Perhaps you think that you are exposing that fact with your insights into my character. I freely admit it. I suspect that what makes you feel sick is not because you think its fiction but because you know it’s true.
A very significant part of life in Bangkok is the reality of men like me paying young Isaan girls for sex. I’m not trying to run away from that fact. I suspect that what sickens you is the thought that this is for real.
You mention that you imagine that most farang women who meet me are sickened by me. I mentioned (in a different comment that you may not have seen yet) that I certainly present myself to women differently in person than I do on a somewhat anonymous internet blog. I daresay I’m capable of being charming at times. Isn’t that tragic!?
And, honestly, I don’t hate women. I’m just not all that fond of myself a lot of the time.
I continue to be surprised that you sicken yourself by reading blog after blog and comment after comment that offend you. However I’m happy for you to read, and comment on, my writing for as long as it interests you (not that I think you need my permission). This has been fun for the past 45 minutes or so, but I have to go to a party now. I’ll be interested to see what’s waiting for me tomorrow!
Very genuinely, I hope you enjoy your life here in Thailand.
In my own sick way, I enjoy mine immensely.
Cheers,
WW
July 10th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
It is about the attitudes behind your actions that I find pretty crass. You talk about women as objects. Have some respect. You might be buying sex - it is the oldest profession - and I have mixed views on the subject myself- prostitution exists in all societies -and in some it is called something else - sometimes they call it marriage. I don’t find the reality of it sick. I can understand why less appealing men might pay for sex. God we all need sex. I’m not being a prude about it. I just think that you seem spiritually defunct in how you view women.
I will undoubtedly read some other blogs on other subjects. I have never really got into reading blogs and never been on this site before.
Try opening your mind when you’re not picking lint out of your navel or sleeping with poor country girls.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Trudie,
WW doesn’t need me to stick up for him but the guy is amazingly honest. I’ve seen him share very unflattering characterizations of himself. Not just in terms of being unappealing to women but in how the whole Thailand experience makes him feel and how he’s come to terms with it.
Billy
July 15th, 2008 at 2:44 am
I am just being ‘amazingly honest’ too - sorry I thought the whole idea of a forum or blogs was that you gave your opinion/reactions???
He talks about women like they’re worthless - that has nothing to do with being in Thailand or how he’s come to terms with the fact that he is unattractive.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:39 am
No, Trudie, that just happens to be how you perceive it. You have found a way to fight with everyone in every single thread you’ve commented on.
July 15th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
The fight started when men on here posted disgusting views of women. And now you are attacking me for taking offence to that? Why shouldn’t I speak my mind. I am not interested in posting anything else on here so don’t worry you can all continue to congratulate yourselves on your warped view of women and the world.
As far as I’m concerned people like WW are writing things that are pretty much fighting talk. I feel sorry for all of you. I really do.
My final comment would be that whilst leafing through the menu at some brothel that some of the men on here should find the time to look through some ideas about spirituality and life and respect.
Thank god there are lots of British men out there that would look down on you all. And I have to say that a lot of Thai women I’ve spoken to say that many Thai people find many farang and Thai relationships really really offensive and unsavoury as they feel that money is the main factor. This is coming from Asian women. I would say that actually many farang women have a more liberated view on prostitution than many Asian women here in Thailand. They also have a more liberated view on farang/Asian couplings than many Thai women here too.
I have nothing else to say to any of you. Do I feel threatened in Bangkok knowing that there’s horrible men like you lot about talking about how inferior I am or slating the way my body looks - actually yes, I do feel quite uneasy I have to say. There’s nothing wrong with western women and I am really sorry that none of you have met lovely, down-to-earth, sensitive and loving women. Perhaps it is your disgusting attitudes rather than your pot bellies eh?
July 16th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Well, now that trudie has decided to leave us, I thought I’d put together a short retrospective of her many comments.
From trudie:
“I have to say, as a Farang woman new to Asia with no preconceptions - the vast majority of Farang men with Thai women I have seen have been pretty ugly and would have struggled to find a woman in another country
you farang men don’t have a clue
you might want to ask yourself what you have to offer a woman - apart from that big fat western wallet.
You absolute bunch of cunts. There is no other word for you.
Marc and Tommy you are also pretty obnoxious.
you racist sexist pigs
Do I feel threatened in Bangkok knowing that there’s horrible men like you lot about… actually yes, I do feel quite uneasy I have to say.
It seems you and old WW think farang women are all bitches.
And you wonder why I am ‘combative’ as you side with your friend who talks about women like they’re dirty bits of meat in his revolting little butcher’s shop.
I am completely feminine but I still find men get their boxers in a twist about the fact that I am more intelligent possibly than them or stronger in some way. It is a subject that bores me.
like the emotionally developed souls they are, men are throwing their toys out the pram and blaming women as they’re left floudering with their own inadequecies.
men have been shits to women since time began I reckon.
I personally love to cook for a man, bathe him, massage him and look after him but I think the only difference is that I am not under his thumb because I have a good job and my own place etc. They want you under the thumb no matter how gentle you are.
to surrender to a man you have to be able to trust him and I’m sorry but your average spiritually bankrupt western guy doesn’t offer that.
the comments from a lot of men on here is pretty lacking in what it takes to be a real man.Although I think you probably lost your bollocks a long time before western women starting nipping at them!
men brought that on themselves…by treating women like shit.
Perhaps it is your disgusting attitudes rather than your pot bellies eh?
I too look for gentleness and kindness in a partner. It is rare coming from western men
Western men don’t allow western women to be feminine- most western men seem to either want a girl who looks up to him and won’t compete or they want a woman with money who will take care of them.
I think the problem is that many western career women have is that they see men for what they are and don’t like them.
Werewolf you’re the kind of male - met them a thousand times over - who thinks he is brighter than he is and you are a bit of a ponce
I’m sure you’re not upper class - you are probably one of those ponces who thinks he’s one of the lads.
sorry but you do write like a ponce. Listen I’m not one of your young Thai girls - I wouldn’t be impressed with your cheap topman suit and I know a ponce when I hear/see one.
Your views do make me feel quite sick but then I presume that most of the farang women you meet here feel the same.
I imagine that you are probably homosexual. This isn’t an insult as I have absolutely no prejudice towards anyone who is gay/straight.
So you’re a middle management man who thinks he’s a hot shot in the Land of Smiles and the most impulsive thing he’s done this week is buy a woman a beer and eat burgers on sukhumvit. You’re probably scratching your balls by the watercooler right now
[Thai] women only sleep with you because they like the look of your baht and I imagine that most farang women wouldn’t touch you in a million years. Any intelligent farang men on here or is it just full of cocks like you lot??!!
If you are under 25 I understand that you are young and possibly underdeveloped with your thoughts and ramblings. If you are over 25….I’d probably suggest a psychoanalyst.
Try opening your mind when you’re not picking lint out of your navel or sleeping with poor country girls.
Oh come on….that is pretty lame… You aren’t one of those guys who likes to wear nappies are you and pretend to be a baby??! If you were at all insightful you would have guessed by now that women’s magazines are the antipathy to where I am coming from in life.
I am sorry to be so sarcastic with you but everything you write just makes me think ‘urgghh’
You are so offensive in how you talk about women that I would imagine that most women would actually find you a turn off. No wonder you have to pay for it my friend!
Why do you hate women so much?
Have you seen most of the farang men here with Thai girlfriends??? - pleeease….usually got a good job which makes them feel like their some big player or something, usually eaten all the pies, pasty, often spoilt, not altogether attractive
As much as a farang man doesn’t like a farang woman with a personality or god forbid, actually more intelligent!!?? - farang women don’t like fat pasty out of shape British guys who drink 8 pints of stella and think having a suit job in Asia makes them some kind of city slicker.
She no doubt has no money and inside probably loathed the fat American stuffing his face. Her only positive being that she didn’t have to fuck you.
Hey, every woman knows a stupid farang when she sees one.
I don’t have a judgment…. Maybe that’s why I’m single eh??”
I would like to take this opportunity to defend myself against one slanderous comment from trudie. She stated, “It seems you and old WW think farang women are all bitches”
I would challenge trudie (or anyone else) to find one word I’ve ever written or spoken against farang women in general on this weblog or anywhere else.
I admit freely making statements about specific western females (farang_girl for example), but I’ve never bashed farang women generally, nor have I ever responded in kind to the insults and name-calling from trudie on this site.
And I note that, in spite of her statements to the contrary, trudie never appeared to read or comment on anything except the posts about Thai females and relationships. Not a peep about politics, language, culture, health or tourist life.
So it’s goodbye to a natural complainer who appears to have a very limited scope of interests in Thailand, and an offensive name-calling one at that.
trudie, I’d like to say I’ll miss you, but I won’t.
July 16th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Goddam, she’s right, we better be better men from now on. Perhaps, we should all join a monastery!
October 6th, 2008 at 4:03 am
I don’t see that feeling offended and making that known is a bad thing or shows me to have a limited scope of interests. You’re the one spending your time writing boring articles on here WW. I have been sickened by some of the attitudes on this site and I’m not the type not to say how I feel. You’re more than welcome to feel offended by what I say - I hope that some of you are. Giacomo - well, I don’t know what to say…I mean you’re just a bit of a cock - I know again, that isn’t very nice coming from a girl but you know..I’m not anti-sex you know just anti-men who treat women like whores really. I love the way you all stick together though - quite endearing if it wasn’t so stomach churning. There have been attacks on women on this site and I for one won’t fucking stand for it. You can think I’m a crank, or a bore or some fat Western farang or whatever you like. Do you know what I am - intelligent, attractive and happy. No I didn’r write anything about politics or culture you ponce - why should I - I’m interested in why sexism exists, how it pervades society and the effects it has. Sorry do you want me to comment on some art exhibition or my latest trip to Koh Samuii??
October 7th, 2008 at 5:24 am
Oh, you came back.
You’ve spent a lot of energy reading and commenting on my “boring articles”.
I think your words speak for themselves. You don’t know how to address anyone without name-calling and insults. It makes nearly everything you say lose any impact it might have otherwise had. You love that word, “ponce”. I wonder if you even know what it means?
Back at the beginning, when I was still taking you seriously I invited you to read some of the political commentary I wrote. You answered that you might do it. That was you, not me.
From trudie: “Sorry do you want me to comment on some art exhibition or my latest trip to Koh Samuii??”
Actually, given your nasty manners I’d rather you didn’t comment at all, but it’s an open forum, so have at it. Every time you start tapping the keyboard you make it more obvious what a nasty and pathetic person you are.
It’s a shame you’re so bitter about life. I wonder if you were this unhappy as a child as well….
October 8th, 2008 at 12:13 am
You’re missing the point. I am annoyed about the attitudes from several men on this site and I bet there would be many women reading these articles who would think so too. I don’t think manners comes high up with many people on here so far be it for me to be chastised about that.
I’m neither nasty nor pathetic nor bitter and you sound like a cliche. I’m just intelligent and I say it as it is - how I see it. I love my life and the people in it but yes, I have always been an advocate of women’s rights and their place in the world. I think some of you have become so indoctrinated with the system here in Bangkok being geared towards men that you have lost sight of reality.
My problem is that I was probably brought up to be independent and to challenge ideas which I found offensive. You can slate me as much as you like and I can slate you as well as several other men on here but when you boil it down to everything the underlying fact is that the attitude to women on much of this site is disgusting. I think it is ideas like this in the world which create violence and ultimately wars. You talk about an unhappy childhood and I wonder what type of childhood you are creating for all your children with backwards attitudes and prejudices. I have spent time on this site over the last few months but not actually that much. I’ve written this in about two minutes so it’s not exactly like I’m doing a thesis. Whether you take me seriously or not is neither here nor there to be honest. I’m not interested in political commentary - I’m sorry if that seems wrong to you.
I have been in Bangkok a while longer now and to be honest, I’ve got used to seeing seedy looking men with Thai prostitutes as well as older men with bored beauties. But I still don’t want to hear anyone talking about women like their worthless. The debate which I admit, is now just a slanging match is finished. Ok, you can claim a victory. You haven’t actually addressed what I have written in that my problem is the way that women are talked about on this site. That has always been my issue and still is. But you would rather tell me about my manners than address the reality of what I am actually trying to say. I am sure it has provided good food for thought for anyone who has actually read these toings and froings and I am sure we have supporters on both sides.
October 17th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Trudie,
Whether you realize it or not, you are the one missing the point. As WW points out, you have come out in every thread and been the one to instigate name calling and all sorts of other rude behavior. You talk about people’s attitudes but I have seen several threads where people have attempted to respectfully disagree with you and you started calling them names.
And, the one thing I’ve learned over my years is that people who have to keep repeating something about themselves usually aren’t what they claim to be. Anybody who keeps beating you over the head with the claim that they are intelligent is rarely very intelligent otherwise they wouldn’t need to demonstrate it. For instance, nobody who was actually intelligent would make the following statement:
“I think some of you have become so indoctrinated with the system here in Bangkok being geared towards men that you have lost sight of reality.”
If the reality is that the system is geared towards men then how have they lost sight of reality when that is the reality?
You go on to say:
“My problem is that I was probably brought up to be independent and to challenge ideas which I found offensive.”
Listen, that is the least of your problems. Your problem is that you don’t know how to engage people who don’t agree with you in a respectful manner and with an open mind. I think you will find people like myself agree with you that SOME men are very disrespectful of women. However writing about a random encounter with a deaf prostitute isn’t being disrespectful. It’s simply an account of something that’s happened. Rather than discuss the issues that broght her to her profession or half a dozen other issues that we could have all engaged in an intelligent conversation your first reation was:
“As well as not being paid she must have been bored out of her mind if you gave her a similar rundown of your life’s comings and goings.”
Those were the first words out of your mouth. No wonder you aren’t taken seriously here.
See, the thing you miss is that fans of WW’s writings don’t is that he isn’t trying to tell a story. He simply shares snippets of his life. He’s not trying to teach a lesson or make anybody a better person for having read his works. If you don’t enjoy it then you are free to move on. However when you start calling the guy a bore and making nasty and biting comments then it really says more about how happy you are with your life than it does about him.
And in there is a truth that maybe is lost on someone who isn’t constantly being solicited by the working girls. Sometimes stuff like this does happen. It’s unique. It’s something most men or women don’t ever hear about back home. WW is honest to say that he feels a little guilty because he might have wasted her time and having been in the same position a few times I know exactly what he’s talking about and that is why his post connects with me.
To suggest that WW treats women poorly is a laugh. On his previous blog he wrote extensively and frequently on who these working girls are. He humanized them to people who would normally think of them only as whores. He’s written about their kindness and friendliness. He’s attempted to get inside their heads and understand them. Hell, the guy has even loaned them money and helped them with English classes and such. There are plenty of sites out there that paint such women to be vipers who are only out for your cash (and unfortunately some are) but you seem to be barking up the wrong tree in your critisisms here.
And Trudie, I think that is the lesson you need to take away from these exchanges. We’re never going to see eye to eye on core feminist issues but the least you can do is treat people respectfully. If you’re going to sway people over to your way of thinking you attract more flys with honey than vinegar. Give us an intelligent argument minus the name calling and presumptive attitude. Quit going on in every post about how intelligent you are and demonstrate it through your words and ability to entertain opposing points of view without accepting them. Better yet, take me up on my offer to post a blog post here. If it’s well written I have no problem posting something even if I don’t agree with it.