A sling without out a prayer.

The first Queen Elizabeth occasionally used the  motto 'video et taceo', 'I see, but say nothing'.

This generally meaning that she knew much -- she had a superb intelligence service -- but that knowing did not require her to act.

And while I could use this quote as the basis of a screed on the NSA, I have a more personal set of plaints.

For the past month, I have been wandering about with a sling on my left arm (as you may recall bears dropping off six foot high ladders do not bounce -- they suffer dislocated shoulders).

This has not seemed to cause strangers to offer to hold doors open for me, nor avoid running into my left side, or suggest helping with packages.

The sling has -- it seems -- given people the belief they have the right to invade my privacy -- a phenomenon which it seems to share with a pregnant woman's abdomen.

On Saturday, while walking, my wife Margaret got an earful about how different injuries could indicate psychic stress -- specifically shoulder injuries indicated that a man was under too much pressure -- and how there was a great book on it.  Saying that the injury was due to a fall didn't phase the speaker at all.  (I later suggested asking if discomfort in the fundament was due to dealing with a pain in the ass.).

People have walked up saying 'What happened to you', or just 'Rotator Cuff, huh?', and of course offer to tell me all about their own experience.

The reaction when I respond briefly -- and neutrally -- is one of injured offense.

Maintaining a private space seems to have become bad manners, and a limitation on the right to curiosity.

I should note, that I do not object to people saying, 'Excuse me, I know its none of my business, but could I ask what happened to your arm?' That is a request and an acknowledgement that the information is mine.

However, there appears, in the mind of many, that one has an obligation of 'letting others help', to provide a venue for 'sharing', to build community. I do not for a minute believe that such interactions is any form of altruism, as it show no concern for another person's 'otherness' -- the boundaries which make each of us free individuals.

So, two cheers for formality and manners -- the bane of freedom and the mark of civilization.