Back in college, one of my roommates had his "cure or kill" method for colds. His procedure was to lay around watching TV, munching Vitamin-C tablets, and drinking 16 oz. tequilla sunrises! He always said that if it didn’t cure you, at least you wouldn’t mind when it did you in!

Curl up with a good book, Peter.

In this regard, my daughter is manly. I, however am not, having just resorted to a doc yesterday when confronted with laryngitis. The doc, however, was fascinating, a beautiful Russian diva of a doc who left the Soviet Union back in the Reagan years with her research scientist young husband. Lovely time with the Russian femme. So see Peter, you can be manly and go to a doc. No telling what you’re missing. R

Maybe it is genetic and therefore you cannot help yourself. Or maybe not, as I hate to go to the doctor, too.

Or, perhaps as Robert says, we just need to find more interesting doctors.

Get well, soon.

Hope you are feeling better, Peter. Couldn’t avoid noting the very end of the article you linked. It reads:

"The findings suggest that parents, and especially fathers, can sway their sons’ behavior by talking openly about health and healthcare, Marcell said. This can help teach them that "talking about things and seeking help" are a normal part of being a man, he explained.

And though it might be uncomfortable, Marcell noted, it’s particularly important to talk about reproductive health, including STDs, birth control and pregnancy."

Notice that talking about MARRIAGE is NOT included in the issues of "reproductive health." But isn’t marriage precisely the subject young men need to hear about from the dads...as regards not only health but real manliness?

What a stupid study. I'm sure most 15-19 year old boys rely on their parents to schedule their doctors appointments; I certainly don't know of any who have their own health plan. How many men ages 24 and up visit the doctor regularly would be a much better way of reaching any meaningful conclusion.

Based on Mr. Schramm's many previous affirmative references to manliness (both the Mansfield book and the character trait), I am not entirely sure to what degree his self-description is serious and to what degree it's in jest. It reads as though there are multiple layers of sarcasm involved.