There once was a man who had no feelings, didn’t want a relationship, took no risks, and would rather feel pain than joy.
He had a job that covered his needs. He needed no more than a roof over his head, comfortable seasonal clothes and a needs-must diet (meat, starch and two veg) so he wouldn’t die of starvation or scurvey.
He said women were trouble, so he never dated them. If it weren’t for his characteristic of loyalty, he wouldn’t see even his own mother. But every Sunday, he stopped over for dinner to see if she was still alive.
And when he had an itch, he rubbed one off. He planned on dying a virgin.
He said there was no such thing as friendship, so he never went to clubs or engaged in hobbies. For exercise, he went out for a brisk walk. There was no such thing as fun. Dreams and hope were for children. He was a grownup after all. Duty and loyalty were his buzz words.
His mother put up with his attitude for the most part. Except, she refused to bow down when he insisted that he could not have a sweet as dessert. Well it was her house, so she would have chocolate on the table. He said it was too sweet.
So mother decided to investigate and find ways of making chocolate more palatable for this boring man. She tried mixing the chocolate with different things so it wasn’t sweet,, but still tasted good to her.
## . . . .
[bitter and sweet diet][https://healthyhildegard.com/what-foods-are-bitter/]
one of the following – ginger, mint, cinnamon, nutmeg, chilis, coffee/espresso beans, nuts, orange/lemon/lime, bacon
with dark, bittersweet chocolate
## . . . .
Being a man, he was more interested in the ones that were fatty, like nuts and bacon. And he did like his coffee now and then. So what harm would it be if she made it with chocolate?
When he said yes, she reminded him that life and love were like chocolate. Bittersweet. The sweet tasted better if there was a foil. And the bitter was palatable with the sweet, but rarely on it’s own.
But to be honest, she hoped that the chocolate would soothe him. She had yet to meet someone who could resist the mmmmm-ness on their tongue. (Is there a word for that?)
When she served chocolate with bacon, he did get that drool look on his face. And actually took some time before swallowing it. That was a good sign. But he assured her it wasn’t the chocolate. And considering that men do have different tastes than women, he might have been telling the truth. Men do love bacon.
Mother introduced him to women from her church. But all he ever did was be unfailingly courteous to them. Well he had been raised right. She patted herself on the back.
She talked him into a Sunday evening stroll in the park with her. She knew there was a ball game there. He glanced over it and continued the walk.
Finally, she talked to her doctor…
She was in her worried mom mode. It appears it could be just that someone had hurt him. Which just meant he needed time to heal. But there might be something deeper wrong.
## . . . .
[anhedonia][http://www.anhedoniasupport.com/what-is-anhedonia/]
[schizoid][https://psychcentral.com/disorders/schizoid-personality-disorder-symptoms/]
[alexithymia][http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/somatoform-disorder/when-patient-has-no-story-tell-alexithymia]
[somatoform][https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/treating-somatoform-disorders]
## . . . .
She tried to get her son to go to the doctor, but like a lot of men, he refused. And the doctor had said, she couldn’t force the issue. He had a job, he ate, he slept. Seemed pretty functional. To everyone else though, his life was pretty dang sad. Especially to his mom.
mspeachierocks 