I've been married for more than 30 years and have never "left the reservation," as they say. I might have peeked over the fence a few times but never strayed. A guy can peek, can't he? But I recently received an e-mail from a lady in Africa that is testing my resolve. How she found out about me, I don't know. Maybe Charleyworld is huge in Africa and she's a fan. (It could happen.) My wit and literary dexterity have been known to turn a girl's head from time to time. (It has, too.) Or maybe she knows that I once actually lived in Africa. (I did. I went to kindergarten in Morocco. I can still count to 10 in Arabic.)

In any case, this young lady is clearly infatuated with me and you can't really blame her. The question is whether I should respond to her outreach, not because I want to start anything, you understand, but just to let her know I appreciate her kind words. President Obama says we should reach out to our brothers and sisters in other lands and let them know the United States is a friendly place. I should tell her I appreciate her overtures and let her down gently. I don't want to hurt the poor thing. She seems so sincere and fragile.

You'll understand when you read the note she sent me. (I didn't edit it because I find her punctuation and grammar charming.)

Hello my dear friend,

How was your day?, Mine a little cold and windy here in Dakar, Senegal. My name is Miss.Joy Brown of the Republic of Liberia in West Africa, I am 5.6ft tall, I have never married before and now I'm living here in dakar senegal, Looking to meet with a nice person who would be a good friend to me, a friend who put me in the guide and me in this journey of life, who shift my feelings and reason together,

What does this mean to ask you for the friendship, friendship is a promise made in the heart of quiet, unwritten, unchangeable by time and distance Unbreakable and will live in my heart forever. And what it takes to be a friendship, it can take years to find a place where love, peace and joy to observe. This is a place that calms your fears. And there's strength lies. Storm yet to come, the rain does fall, but the faith to get it to the end.

l'm very gentle, lovely, sexy, romantic, responsible, kind, good, honest, and trustworth, because my mother use to tell me that good wife, good food, good manner and good sex makes a man feel at home.

l don't smoke and l don't drink, l hate war, l hate fighting and qurrelling in the house and l'm very hard working. I am from a good famil. l want you to reply me and send me your picture and phone number and i will return in kind to you, Remeber the distance or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life, I believe we can move from here! I am waiting for your mail.

Miss Joy Brown

Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever seen? Miss Joy Brown obviously knows how to treat a fella. And who can argue that a good wife, good food, good manner and good sex DOESN'T make a man feel good at home? I also like the fact that she hates "qurrelling," whatever that is.

So, I'm not sure what to do. I need to talk the situation over with my wife. She'll understand. I don't want to have a personal relationship with Miss Joy Brown, just help her out. Maybe we can bring her over as a housekeeper. My wife would enjoy not doing the windows and vacuuming. Or maybe we can hire her as sort of an au pair. My daughter is 21 now but she wouldn't mind having an au pair around the house.

The only problem I see is determining whether Miss Joy Brown lives in Liberia or Senegal. She seems a tad confused on that point, poor thing.