Questions, hope not stoopid.....

[serious crayons]

Ennis' dad is my guess.  It's hard to muster sympathy for a man who would expose his sons to such brutality.

Oh yeah, I bet that's who Katherine meant.  I was stumped.

Yup. I don't think there's any way to feel sorry for that guy.

I do feel sorry for Monroe, because I think in Alma's mind, he's "sloppy seconds."  (Is that the right term? I've never used it before.)

[Ellemeno]

Yup. I don't think there's any way to feel sorry for that guy.

I do feel sorry for Monroe, because I think in Alma's mind, he's "sloppy seconds."  (Is that the right term? I've never used it before.)

My understanding of the origins of this term leads me to suppose that it is not one a genteel lady would use.  Of course, how a genteel lady would even come to know this meaning...

I have heard that it refers to after a lady has had a gentleman spill his seed into her, what a second gentleman would experience immediately after with said lady.

[serious crayons]

Eeewwww .... Yikes. Well, I make no claim to be a genteel lady, but I was oblivious. I thought I'd heard it on TV, and places like that! Forget I said it. (Glad I found out here, though, rather than ... I don't know, over the dinner table at my in-laws'.)

And of course, it wouldn't apply in this case, at least in a literal sense. 

[Ellemeno]

Eeewwww .... Yikes. Well, I make no claim to be a genteel lady, but I was oblivious. I thought I'd heard it on TV, and places like that! Forget I said it. (Glad I found out here, though, rather than ... I don't know, over the dinner table at my in-laws'.)

And of course, it wouldn't apply in this case, at least in a literal sense. 

Fair lady latjoreme, I think I've also heard it on TV and the like, which has confused me.  I'm sure someone more worldly will enlighten us.

UPDATE:

From Wikipedia:
Sloppy seconds is a slang term for the practice of a man having sex with a woman immediately after another man has had sex with her, and the previous man's semen is still present inside the woman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloppy_seconds

[Jeff Wrangler]

From Wikipedia:
Sloppy seconds is a slang term for the practice of a man having sex with a woman immediately after another man has had sex with her, and the previous man's semen is still present inside the woman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloppy_seconds

I got news for Wikipedia. "Sloppy seconds" isn't just used in relation to heterosexual intercourse.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I'm not so sure about this. All those not-so-subtle slights to his masculinity: has no rhythm, can't fix the truck, wouldn't listen to her if he were going deaf, never will make as much money as she made at Neiman Marcus (!) add up to something. And her gabbiness seems the equivalent of Lureen's bleached hair, an outward sign of inner frustration. I think she probably understands approximately as much as Lureen does, at this point.

Does LaShawn say Randall will never make as much money as she made at Neiman Marcus or as much as she spent at Neiman Marcus?

A minor point, to be sure, but, with respect, I think it's the latter. She says she could have had any job she wanted in North Dallas but she took Neiman Marcus because, Honey, when it comes to clothes she's got no resistance. 

I don't think LaShawn is frustrated. I think she's just an airhead. But, in her own cheerful, oblivious, ditzy way, I love LaShawn! 

[Ellemeno]

I got news for Wikipedia. "Sloppy seconds" isn't just used in relation to heterosexual intercourse.

Noted.  Thanks Jeff.   

I don't think LaShawn is frustrated. I think she's just an airhead. But, in her own cheerful, oblivious, ditzy way, I love LaShawn! 

I respectfully disagree.  I don't think she is cheerful, oblivious, ditzy, or an airhead.  I think she is disappointed, aware that she is in a loveless marriage, aware that Lureen is slighting her (but continuing to be polite).  I think she is plenty smart enough, and coping with living in a place she doesn't want, with a person she doesn't want.  Frustrated.

Jack asking her to dance may be the best moment she's had in ages.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I wonder to. I mean he if he just is putting the numbers up so he wouldn't have to go to town so why would he take such care to make the numbers look right? I would think if that was it and he didn't want to go to town then he would be really depressed but he didn't look that way when he was putting up the numbers.

I also look at the numbers as the address of the trailer, because I don't think there was any on the trailer itself, to me it was almost as if he wanted to put the numbers up so that he could be found, otherwise who would know which was his trailer?

Thats also why it is so sad, that Jack wouldn't be coming to his trailer.

Maybe there could be someone else?

I have to admit I've never given much thought--OK, never given any thought--to the specific significance of "17," but I have thought that in general, Ennis having his very own mailbox and an actual address is an indicator that he is becoming more open and accessible to people. No more mail addressed to General Delivery, Riverton, Wyoming, and waiting at the post office for him to decide it's time he checked to see if he had any mail. Nope, his mail will be delivered right to his doorstep.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I respectfully disagree.  I don't think she is cheerful, oblivious, ditzy, or an airhead.  I think she is disappointed, aware that she is in a loveless marriage, aware that Lureen is slighting her (but continuing to be polite).  I think she is plenty smart enough, and coping with living in a place she doesn't want, with a person she doesn't want.

Jack asking her to dance may be the best moment she's had in ages.

If you're actually quoting the Wikipedia entry, I wouldn't bother. It's Wikipedia that's wrong if it limits the use of the term.

We'll have to agree to disagree about LaShawn. No offense, but I think you're reading too much into her. Actually, I tend to think her character was mainly created for a little comic relief--creation justified by Jack's lie, even in the original story, about the "ranch foreman's wife," but still mainly a little comic relief.

[Ellemeno]

We'll have to agree to disagree about LaShawn.

Okay, tell you what, think about it a little for the next day or so, and tell me if you still think I'm overanalyzing this one.  Put yourself in her place, and feel what it might be like.  I mean if you want to.  If you don't want to, okay.