More than one person has told me that I'm unbelievably lucky. I have a darned good 17 years and counting marriage even with impaired social skills, a six figure job and two very nice sons. I look around at all the supposedly fully functional men that come home to a house that's all emptied and their wife gone. There are plenty of stories even here on DP of guys that got burned. I see that 80+% of the population earns less than I do.

Are people jealous? It's like y'all resent the bullets I have dodged. This can't be just dumb luck. I had to have done something right. However, I get this strange attitude that some of you WANT to get hit by life's bullets and don't think you can learn anything from my experiences.

One big social turning point was 26 years ago, the first time that I visited it Brazil. I was desperate for companionship and started showing interest in the server at the lunch counter at the Rio de Janeiro airport. I hadn't even been in Brazil for my first hour. When she told me that she lived in Rochinha, one of the most dangerous slums in the country, I didn't care. I figured that I would finally start a social life or get a knife in my ribs, I didn't care. She was so impressed that I would risk my safety to be with her. I think it was the first time that my interest in a female was reciprocated.

Fast forward another nine years. Some of you all think that I "purchased" my wife. Well, if I did, I must have gotten a really good deal. How much is 17 and counting years of happiness worth?