(Note: This was originally written in October 2003. I found it among some old emails, and was so impressed with my own writing skills that I thought I should share.)
The three letter word that should have been four. Perhaps one letter got dropped in the rush. People use the word often. Verb form. They get carried away. They go crazy. Caught up in a moment that they've been planning their entire lives. It's a good word, I hear. It's a dirty word, too, or so I'm told. A naughty word; a nice word. Confusing and compelling and lovely and forbidden and intimidating and gentle and understanding and sweet and bitter and cold and hot, all at the same time. Do you know the word I mean? You know the word; we all know it, due to overexposure in the media and half heard gossip in the locker rooms of America. The dirty jokes, and the giggles at slumber parties.
Sex.
It is evil, or is it good? Perhaps it can be both at the same time? Religion warns against it. Movies glorify it. Newspapers use it for a headline, and magazines sell depending on how often it's printed on their covers. Parents worry about it. Children wonder about it. They stay up all night, concerned that you're out using the word; you stay up all night, wondering if you should. (Of course, some of us already have. Though it may come as a shock, your parents use the word, too.)
How can such a short little word be so loaded? How can a single syllable spark so much controversy? Of course, there are codes and buzzwords we use to get around that delicate little word. We wink and nudge, and you get the point across through a subtle combinations of carefully placed phrases and carefully timed glances. But why don't we go ahead and just use the word itself? What are we afraid of?
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