Pulling a Treppenwitz

I'm going to borrow a blogging technique I learned from a favorite blogger friend: I will tell you something that happened to me, and ask how you would handle the situation. Tomorrow I'll tell you how I handled it.

Imagine, for a moment, that you are a 35-year-old single woman, and an age-appropriate, decent looking man with a good-enough profile (seems nice enough, is educated and employed, nothing blatantly wrong) contacts you. You exchange a few emails and agree to meet the next time he comes to Israel.

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PART I:

In the course of these exchanges, he mentions that in his trips to the holy land, he stays in a certain town quite a distance away from you (details withheld to protect the innocent) rather than in Jerusalem (where most Orthodox tourists usually base themselves, unless there is a specific reason to be somewhere else). You ask why.

Among other reasons, including knowing people in Town X, he says

Though I love Jerusalem, staying in hotels there is not pleasant as there are too many Arabs working in them. In the hotels I stayed in Town X, I did not find that to be the case.

What is your reaction?

I'm interested in hearing what my readers think about this, and am conducting a bit of an experiment. Please share your opinion in the comments, and please include where you live and how you would "label" yourself politically vis-a-vis Israel. Thanks!

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PART II

Now imagine that in the same email, he has the following questions for you:

Would you feel fulfilled as a housewife and full-time mother? Would you wish to work away from home, while leaving your children in the care of others?

I'd like to hear from readers, especially female ones, what your answer would be. If you don't mind, include your age and whether you have kids (and if so, how many hours a week you leave your kids in the care of others, if you do).

Thanks!