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Carrie : That
day, Tim popped the question.
Tim : How'd you like to have dinner with my folks
Tuesday night?
Elizabeth : I'd love to.
Carrie : On Tuesday, he called with some bad news.
Tim : My mother's not feeling very well.
Elizabeth : Well, gosh, I'm sorry.
Tim : Could we take a
rain check?
Elizabeth : Of course. Tell your mum I hope she feels
better.
Carrie : When she hadn't heard from him for two weeks,
she called.
Elizabeth : Tim, from Elizabeth. That's an awfully
long rain check.
Carrie : He said he was
up to his ears and that he'd call her
the next day.
Elizabeth : He never did call, of course. Bastard.
Carrie : She told me one day over coffee.
Elizabeth : I don't understand. In England, looking at
houses together would have meant something.
Carrie : Then I realized no one had told her about the
end of love in Manhattan. Welcome to the age of
"un-innocence." No one has breakfast at Tiffany's, and
no one has affairs to remember. Instead, we have
breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and affairs we try to forget as
quickly as possible. Self-protection and closing the deal
are paramount. Cupid has flown the co-op. How the hell
did we get into
this mess? There are thousands, maybe tens of thousands
of women like this in the city. We all know them, and we
all agree they're great. They travel. They pay taxes.
They'll spend $400 on a pair of Manolo Blahnik strappy
sandals. And they're alone. It's like the riddle of the
Sphinx. Why are there so many great unmarried women and
no great unmarried men? I explore these sorts of issues
in my column and I have terrific sources: my friends.
Peter Mason : When you're a young guy in your 20s,
women are controlling the relationships. By the time
you're an eligible man in your 30s, you feel like you're
being devoured by women. Suddenly, the guys are holding
all the chips. I call it the mid-30s power flip.
Capote Duncan : It's all about age and biology. I
mean, if you want to get married, it's to have kids,
right? And you don't want to do it with someone older
than 35, 'cause you have to have kids right away and
that's about it. I think these women should just forget
about marriage and have a good time.
Miranda Hobbes : I have a friend who'd always gone out
with extremely sexy guys and just had a good time. One
day she woke up, and she was 41. She couldn't get any
more dates. She had a complete physical breakdown,
couldn't hold on to her job and had to move back to
Wisconsin to live with her mama. Trust me-- this is not
a story that makes men feel bad.
Charlotte York : Most men are threatened by successful
women. If you want to get these guys, you have to keep
your mouth shut and play by the rules.
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