Cultural awareness factoid re: multiple wives

The first in an occasional series on cultural awareness for Americans in the Middle East. Yes, it's true--many, if not most, Islamic countries permit a man to have more than one wife. There are several catches. First, you can't get younger, buffer Wife 2.0 simply because you are bored with Wife 1.0. In Iraq, there must be something wrong with Wife 1.0--she can't have children, she's sick, frigid, etc. Simply being bored with Wife 1.0 doesn't do it. Second, you must secure the consent of Wife 1.0 in order to acquire Wife 2.0. Wife 1.0 can refuse or she can negotiate and the price can be exorbitant. Finally, all of this has to be proven to a government functionary of some type who has some sort of non-appealable discretion. I explained this to Mrs. LMC who promptly responded that I had better not be shopping for another wife. When I assured her that I was not, she let up and said her consent could be purchased for the small price of a chateau in the south of France.

Yips! from Robbo: Personally, I'd have to ask the question who in Heaven's name would want more than one wife? Just thinking of all the mental, emotional and physical effort that would have to go into such a juggling act exhausts me. If it ever came to the kind of arrangement suggested by Mrs. LMC, I think I'd take the chateau and let the ladies sort out the rest of it between them.