And I really really don't think she's crazy. I think she's different ("or maybe exactly the same.") Her drunk-dial to the Drapers was a little odd and I know some people have commented about the obviousness of her bra strap hanging out in that scene but I've always wondered if that was what Don was imagining. (Crazy I know!) Plus she knew when she called that Betty might (and actually was more likely to) answer the phone.

I do think that Don (Dick) and Suzanne are in love – and Don is definitely in over his head (as Roger warned him he was). That hand-holding ON THE TRAIN really clinched it for me. I mean here's a guy who's so invested in keeping his secrets he carries a key for his locked box of them around with him at nearly all times, he never came out and admitted his affairs to Betty (only that he was 'disrespectful' to her) and he's holding hands on a train full of commuters who live in his town with the undoubtedly recognizable to many schoolteacher from that town??? He's lost control.

So what do I think is going to happen? I do think the Draper marriage is headed for the end, either by Don or Betty and I'm not sure which one of them will pull the trigger. I keep thinking back to an interview I read with Matt (on here, I'm sure!) when he mentioned he really wanted to show Betty still pregnant and show this time when both Betty and Don were hopeful and were really trying.

And I think that time is over. It ended really when they came back at Rome . That romance and passion they had in Rome was pretend. Just like their marriage is at this point.

Not altogether unrelated but as an aside am I the only one who has thought about the connection with "Farrel" – feral?

It's interesting because the main people at whom "the cultural revolution" was aimed, are the ones that lost or suffered the least because of it.

1) Right now, the job market is tough for everybody in many places, and

2) The WMC's doing the loudest bitching are losers & will always be losers.

Lots of WMC's are still doing fine. Hey, some of my best friends are WMC's!

But I work in a field that is extremely diverse & I like it.

From my vantage point, I don't see that the 60s (and, to a lesser extent, the 70s) resulted in that great a power shift. The same people still "write the checks," as Meowser noted above. They're just writing them to a broader range of people.

The rising stature of women and people of color and gays and people with disabilities has not in any way caused the downfall, extinction, subjugation or erosion of rich White males and the privileges they enjoy. Those guys really haven't given up or lost anything (well, anything of value) as a result of the gains made by others. So what if they can't (or rather, don't dare) call people N!663R to their faces any more, or can't pinch a woman on the butt in the work place. Are those really such huge losses in the overall scheme of things? I don't think so. In fact, I think their lives have actually IMPROVED because of these changes. They're actually better off now than they ever were. Longer life expectancy, more money, more ways to make and shield money, better mobility, relaxed societal constraints and expectations — they actually have more freedom now than before. Despite the shock to the system they received in the sixties, they still have everything…and so much of it.

As I said above, it is still their table. Thankfully, though, it's a far bigger one than before; the guest list is more varied; the conversation, while maybe not to everyone's liking is certainly more interesting; and the menu provides a much better selection of food and wine. I don't think that's a bad thing…

I don't know if that's true.

Maybe we'll have to agree to disagree. You probably know better than I, and certainly history sides with you.

But perhaps the future sides with me?

I just had lunch with one of my friends. She makes a good 20 grand more every year than I do — and that's a lot. She owns several nice homes, which in general she rents to Section 8 families: doesn't need the money. She's happy and creative and is at the point of walking away from her company, which would be more or less the last nail in their coffin.

The state they're in now, they would be paying this woman consultant fees for years.

My friend is the opposite of a white man, and I see the future turning her way. She is not alone, either. Two of my other friends — also Black women — are in similar positions now, where knowledge = power because of a rising demand for their skills.

I wan't always an idealist, hull. But, like the other man said, now I'm a believer.

Maybe we'll just have to meet for a drink in an even-numbered year, and the winner of this tiny dispute pays. Yes? If the white man is still ascendant, I'll be happy to buy … but if I'm right, you're buying me my single malt.

Deal?