I found a list on the Esquire website that intrigued me, at least at first. It’s called 175 Things a Man Should Do Before He Dies. After I clicked on the list and began reading it, I almost closed it. Some of the things on the list are so ridiculous or juvenile that it’s hard to take such a list seriously. Maybe it wasn’t intended to be taken seriously, but I tend to look at life through serious colored glasses, so that’s how I read it. As I worked my way down, I saw that it had some good tips too. Some really good ones, including: 21. Read the last book your wife read, unless it was by Maya Angelou. Discuss.
First, the part about Maya Angelou is funny. But second, reading the same book that someone you love has already read simply because he or she read it is an intellectually intimate act. It’s saying, “I want to know what you were thinking.”
61. Take a vow of silence for a week.
Silence can be a good thing. It forces a person to listen.
62. Leave something behind.
I think all of us what to leave something tangible behind—something that says, “I lived, and this is who I was.” But wanting to do it and actually doing it are two different things. Leaving behind such a legacy has to be calculated.
72. Get married.
Who would think that a modern day men’s magazine would encourage such a thing—especially in a list that encourages men to watch scrambled porn, to pay for sex (just once, mind you), and to sleep with someone you work with?
75. Let someone else take all the credit.
Talk about a pride killer!
117. Take a vacation without making reservations.
I would love to do this. It would add to the the adventure, assuming that you were willing to ask strangers a lot of questions about where to stay, what to visit, and where to eat. But think about all of the great, out of the way places you’d learn about from locals.
132. Kiss your dad.
Do it. Even if he is from an old school generation that might consider you soft for doing so. You’ll be glad you did.
150. Cook chateaubriand for twenty.
I have no idea what chateaubriand is, which sort of puts me on par with ALF, who once said, “I was going to prepare a lovely Chateaubreanne, but I have no idea what that is. So you're getting hamburgers.” I could make hamburgers for twenty.
Photo Credit: Sanja Gjenero
