روز سوم

AN ABSURDITY

Although it is probably universal human behavior to be contemptuous of the bizarre superstitions practiced by inhabitants of unfamiliar cultures, it seems to be somewhat imprudent to laugh at others before one takes a good, hard look at the absurd taboos and fetishes one accepts as part of one’s everyday life.

Isn’t it somewhat absurd when the “dyed-in-the-wool” bigot, who illogically fears the taint of close association with blacks (behavior that resembles fear of a taboo). spends most of the summer lying in the sun trying to acquire the color he claims to abhor? Since doctors tell us that excessive sun-tanning may be a cause of skin cancer, our strange yearning for sun-darkened skin has all the qualities of a fetish.