The Kiss

Four strangers travelled together in the same compartment of a
European train. Two men and two women faced each other.


One woman was a very wealthy and sophisticated 75 year old lady
who was decked out in the finest of furs and jewelry. Next to
her sat a beautiful young woman, nineteen years old--who looked
like something right off the cover of a fashion magazine. Across
from the older lady was a man in his late-forties who was a
highly decorated Sergeant Major in the Army. And next to the
Sergeant Major sat a young private fresh out of boot camp.


As these four strangers travelled, they talked and chatted about
trivial things until they entered an unlighted tunnel, and there
they sat in complete darkness and total silence, until the sound
of a distinct kiss broke the silence; following the kiss a loud
slap could be heard throughout the cabin.


In the ensuing period of silence the four strangers sat quietly
with their own thoughts.


The older lady was thinking, "Isn't it wonderful that even in
this permissive day and age there are still young women who have
a little self-respect and dignity?"


The young woman, shaking her head and greatly puzzled, asked
herself, "Why in the world would any man in his right mind want
to kiss an old fossil like that when I'm sitting here?"


The Sergeant Major, rubbing his sore face, was outraged that any
woman could ever think that a man in his position would try to
sneak a kiss in the dark.


And the private, grinning from ear to ear, was thinking, "What a
crazy and mixed up world this is when a private can kiss the
back of his hand and then smack a Sergeant Major in the face and
get away with it!"