[BITList] Spanish Computer

[FA]

| A SPANISH Teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike 
English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. 'House' 
for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.' 'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 
'el lapiz.' A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?' Instead of 
giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and 
female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether computer' should 
be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four 
reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the 
feminine gender ('la computadora'), because: 1. No one but their creator 
understands their internal logic;
  2 The native language they use to communicate with other computers is 
incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for 
possible later retrieval; and
  4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself Spending 
half your paycheck on accessories for it.
  (THIS GETS BETTER!) The women's group, however, concluded that 
computers should be Masculine ('el computador'), because:
  1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
  2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
  3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time 
they ARE the problem; and
  4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a 
little longer, you could have got a better model. The women won. Send 
this to all the smart women you know...and all the men that have a sense 
of humour.