Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Would it indeed not be nice?

The newspaper today brings a story of an engaged couple who had been delivered on the same day by the same man. They plan to marry on that same date on the calendar (coincidentally the same date noted by others for its auspiciousness) and in so doing will have only one to remember for future birthdays and anniversaries.

Which makes me think: wouldn't it be great if you were an obstetrician to have a side business as a matchmaker? It's hard enough to keep track of one's classmates, let alone strangers in the same maternity ward you landed in, but the doctor could provide a service for people who would like to meet other people they were infants together with, complete with pictures (albeit pictures as newborns). To help keep track of the individuals as they grow up, the services of the State might be called upon over the years, all very discreetly, of course. Also, given the right circumstances, the couple in question need not get involved and an arranged union could be set up, saving endless hours on the dating scene and providing an economic boost at the optimum time based on not only traditional means but also the local and economic prospect, benefiting as many people as possible. Given the right data from personality and aptitude measurement tools, the pair could be incentivized toward the optimum lines of work, the best location to set up residence, the correct number and timing of production of offspring, proper observation of individual health maintenance programs based on actuarial tables, and in-depth counseling to ward off whatever disharmonies or inefficiencies encountered in daily life. Their two artfully managed lives without bounds could glide smoothly as if on precision bearings machined to exacting tolerances.

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