Barbara Walters had done a story on gender roles in Kuwait several
years before the Gulf War, and she noted then that women customarily
walked about 10 feet behind their husbands. She returned to Kuwait
recently and observed that the men now walked several yards behind
their wives.

Ms. Walters approached one of the women for an explanation. "This is
marvelous," she said. "What enabled women here to achieve this
reversal of roles?"

The Kuwaiti woman replied, "Land mines."