Anybody got a kleenex?

TV BEHINDSCENES 123004
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

When is it okay for a grown man to cry? When Old Yeller dies and that's it? This is a question that most guys don't touch...yet we all wonder about the answer.

There have been some times in my life when I cried and felt like a man doing so. For instance...when Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' single season homerun record in 1998...I guess those were tears of joy...but tears nonetheless. I feel like any tear shed over a sporting event is a tear filled with testosterone.

But excluding the passing of loved ones...everything else is really a gray area when it comes to getting a pass for shedding man tears. Now let me share with you my problem...

Every Sunday night Anna and I watch ABC's Extreme Home Makeover. As a man you can't help but be impressed with the fact that a contractor can actually get his sub-contractors to show up and get the work done in 7 days. But here is the problem...the stories that these families have get increasingly more heart wrenching with every week. I find myself choking back a come-apart every Sunday night about 7:45. But since there are air compressors and pneumatic tools involved...do I get a pass on this one?