Copyright 2019 by Bruce D. Bruce WORDPRESS EDITION Cover Photo by Victoria Borodinova https://pixabay.com/photos/wedding-bride-the-groom- 2874998/ I will make NO money from this book. It is royalty free and a labor of love. Note: Yes, these good deeds are impressive, but we may want to ask how society can change so that some of these good deeds are not needed. Chapter 1: Questions 1-20 1. “Married/Committed People of Reddit, What Made You Realize Your Partner was the One You Wanted to Spend Your Life With?” 1) ConstantlySlippery wrote this: “She used to get on her bike at college and pedal a few miles across town, say at 6am, to leave cookies (that she baked in her dorm) and a little note in my car to have a great day at work. When it was f[**]king freezing out. “At first it was a little creepy, but I eventually realized that was who she was, and that is the kind of person we need more of in this world. “That was about 30 years ago.” PresidentTheRock commented: “My girlfriend in high school (no longer together because of the distance of college) absolutely decked out my locker in notes and gifts on Valentines Day. The thing was full, with little post-it notes with messages covering all the walling of it, and a ton of little gifts. We had only been dating less than a month so it kinda freaked me out. I had only gotten her chocolates and a stuffed bear. I realized as we continued dating that her love language was gifts, it filled her with so much excitement to make gifts for people and see their reactions, and my birthdays or Christmases were always a lot of fun with her. I tried to match her gifts, but she’d always find some way to make her gifts to me even more creative and sweet. Some people are just like that and more power to them, it’s a good trait to have. “I am pretty proud of one Christmas gift I gave her, though. I got her into The Office and one year I got her a teapot with gifts and memories inside, like Jim gave Pam. She loved it.” 2) HiHoKermit wrote this: “I met my wife at work, and we became best friends from the get-go. We were finishing each other’s sentences within a week. We were both in our late twenties and both in long- term relationships with people who were pleasant but unaffectionate and disinterested. The kind you stay in because you’ve come this far so you might as well just stick it out, even if you have nothing in common any more. “Before long whenever something happened to me, good or bad, it was this woman that I wanted to tell, not my girlfriend. She made me laugh like no one I’d ever met, she asked about my feelings and opinions on things (which she ALWAYS agreed with) and paid real attention to my well- being in a way that no one ever had. We never once discussed having feelings for each other but both absolutely knew that we were supposed to be together. “I finally knew what love was, and ‘I should be grateful for this relationship because I’m lucky someone just tolerates me’ was not it. So I ended things and moved in with my sister. “When I told my (now) wife that I’d moved out, she told me that she had also left the week before and was staying with a friend. She’d known I wasn’t happy but wanted me to feel like leaving was my choice and not something that I was doing for her. “I realized how incredibly lucky I was to have even met her, let alone for us to jump into the abyss for each other at the same time and decided that I would never ever take it for granted. So I waited a socially acceptable length of time (about 18 months) and then proposed, at home, after making her a martini.” 3) WrestlingWoman wrote, “When I told him about my childhood favorite wrestler that I couldn’t remember the name of. I told him what little details I remembered of the wrestler. Next week when he visited me, he handed me a printed-out photo of the wrestler and told me his name and that he had died. He had googled his [*]ss off just to figure out who the wrestler was for me. It was in that moment I realized he really loved me and that he was the one.” Note: Later, she identified the wrestler as Hercules Hernandez. 4) wafflesveryhappy wrote, “When I realized that he annoys the crap out of me yes, but I surely don’t wish to be annoyed by anyone else. He’s my annoying person, and I’m his. In fairness to him, I wouldn’t put up with me.”1 2. “A Common Stereotype is Men ‘Protecting’ Women — But have You [a Woman] Ever been in a Situation Where You ‘Protected’ a Male from Something/Someone? What’s Your Story?” 1) crzukenosama wrote, “For as long as I can remember, I considered it my job to do this for my younger brother as we grew up in a troubled household. I apparently did such a good job that he didn’t know how bad things were until he was in his late teens.” rahws commented: “I was going to say I’ve done it for my younger brother, too. 1 Source: scramalamajama, “Married/committed people of Reddit, what made you realize your partner was the one you wanted to spend your life with?” Reddit. AskReddit. 25 May 2019 <https://tinyurl.com/y2qsrr2p>. “The craziest time I had to help him out was a few years ago. One of my friends was going through a real tough time in his life, and he got hooked like crazy on drugs. He came to my house really high and drunk one day. After a while, he started joking around and telling my brother he should try drugs, too; he was really persistent about it. He even shows the drugs at one point and urges him to take it. My brother was 12 at this point in time. I was obviously furious. An argument ensued. It escalated very quickly. Hands started being thrown, but luckily other people were there to break it up fast. That’s the only time I’ve ever gotten physical to protect a male.” 2) HappyGiraffe wrote, “I am white; my partner is dark skinned. I am extremely tired of ‘stepping in’ when he is being held by security/questioned/etc. and literally all I have to do is stand beside him and say, ‘Is everyone okay?’ And ‘Yeah, we are together’ and then SUDDENLY: miracle, no issues, we can move on with our lives.” Mufacita commented, “I’m Canadian with a Mexican mother. I used to get searched multiple times in every American airport. As soon as I started traveling with my white husband, that stopped altogether.” 3) FranSly wrote this: “Haha, yes, my husband is a big guy, with a long beard and wild look, but he’s cotton candy on the inside. “Once, in a family party we found a not-so-close cousin who has always been a drug-taking, alcoholic douche who is always looking for conflict. We always try to just ignore him and stay as far as possible from him, but this time he approached my hubby while he was going out from the bathroom and tried to start a fight. I was watching from our table like if I knew something was threatening My husband, because he doesn’t even speak our language so he was very confused at this ugly, violent, drunk guy trying to fight him, so there I was running towards him, with my super short body, and I don’t know where I got my strength from, but I pushed him so hard he fell and I stepped in front of my husband and started yelling at the bad guy to go away. This guy is known for even hitting women, he doesn’t cares, but people who saw it says that even he looked surprised and kind of scared. “I’ve always been a calm, kind and even an childish person, but this guy had awakened my inner monster, hahaha, I pushed him off the party and was barking like a demon Chihuahua. “We still see him from time to time — unfortunately, he always gets in family reunions — but now he openly avoids us, specially me. That’s great for all, cause God knows I would kill whoever tries to harm my puffy puff.”2 3. “What was a Really Kind Gesture Someone (Other than Spouse/Partner) has Done for You Recently that Made Your Day?” 1) thisgurrrl wrote, “A colleague left a thank you note on my desk for being kind. It was unexpected and made for a good start to the day.” 2) fzn_4, a male, wrote, “Yesterday, I went to my favorite Lebanese restaurant and forgot my credit card. The cashier (who is also daughter of the owner) didn’t charge me; she said, ‘Oh, you’re an assiduous and trustworthy client, consider it thanks for eating here every week’. It was just a sfiha and a Coke, but it was nice anyway.” 2 Source: brian0123, “A common stereotype is men ‘protecting’ women — but have you ever been in a situation where you ‘protected’ a male from something/someone? What’s your story?” Reddit.