Don and Paul are travelling through Oklahoma in the third chapter. Don keeps reverting back to his "why do we ask why questions" thought and they begin a conversation about the perfect woman. Paul describes one woman that he used to see in Oregon, whom Don thinks to himself won't be his "one." When describing the perfect girl, Don breaks down the men and their answer to this question into two distinct camps: those men who want a woman to complete their lives; and those men who want a woman to join their completed life. He reserves judgment and says he doesn't think one is any better than the other, but something inside me disagrees.
I think the one who is looking for a woman to join his completed life has the headstart on the other type of guy. But I am biased. I can see a little bit of myself in both, but I think I'm part of the latter group. I could be blind and lying to myself, as it can be hard to give a self assessment. One can insert wishful thinking in front of objective thinking. I sure like the idea of a person "finding" him or her self before they become one with another, but that's just me. There's a lot to be said for continuous self discovery with the aid of a companion. In an ideal world, I guess, a man would find himself content with where God has him, knowing that he is not complete or perfect or finished with his journey, but is content with who they are and not yearning for something out of reach or hating oneself because of unmet goals, etc.
When Paul describes his perfect companion -- one who joins him in camping 'n' hunting, and will carry the deer back to the truck. Don responds with something like: "How will this woman give up her career in professional wrestling to settle down with you?" It's funny. Maybe Paul is designing a woman who doesn't exist in his mind.
When a person is married, I'm not sure that answering this question or pondering what the perfect spouse would be like is helpful or healthy. Maybe it is, but if someone focuses only on their spouse's shortcomings in comparison to some ideal in their mind. Maybe a better question to ask a married person is "What do you like or appreciate about your spouse?" Then maybe they can see how God provided just what they needed in a mate. I'm no marriage counselor, but I think it can be cool to count our blessings and look for ways that God has shown His provision in our lives -- sometimes without us knowing it or having anything to do with it.
Don starts off the chapter by going through the glove box and finding some tapes -- Lynyrd Skynyrd, U2's The Joshua Tree, and George Winston. He blanches at playing any Southern Rock and he doesn't know who George Winston is. Why he chooses silence over the great Joshua Tree album is a mystery to me. And I'm shocked that anyone wouldn't know who George Winston is. He is one of about three people that should have their photo in the dictionary next to the entry for "New Age Music."