A child of The Rules

My friend Marta is a child of The Rules. That’s how her adventurer-Spanish-mother-to-be caught her Jewish New Yorker husband. She has told Marta the story 100 times. And when Marta said to her “But you were from Spain? They don’t have Rules there!” she answered, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Which I guess means, “If a city is full of neurotic sheep-like morons, you must act like one in other to catch one.” But is it really worth it? Becoming even more of a moron in order not to be the only moron alone? Marta certainly thinks so. Her fate (and birth) rested on it.