I recently saw a short play in Paris called Les Mangeuses de Chocolat (loosely translated, Women Who Eat Chocolate). Three young addicts decide to try group therapy, and the therapist (an ex-chocoholic herself) will try to help each find her élément déclencheur (key to getting unhooked). They all fail (surprise), and nothing gets resolved (this is French theater), but there are lots of good lines, some with more than a grain of truth. For instance: A survey reveals that nine out of ten people admit to loving chocolate... and the tenth one is lying.

The play was satirizing a French obsession (chocolate), but also the therapeutic establishment, which perhaps one couldn't get away with in America. I took it in good fun, except when a comment was made about women who eat their chocolate en cachette (in private). To the French, the idea seems silly enough for a gag, but given my American experience, I couldn't laugh. Too often, American women eat on the sly, and the result is much more guilt than pleasure. The tendency goes with an attitude that should be changed. Nothing is sinfully delicious. If you really enjoy something, as I adore chocolate, there is a place for it in your life. But we cannot allow guilt-ridden scarfing. Only with cultivated pleasure can you enjoy chocolate in the clear light of day. The same goes for other excellent foods Americans have come to consider no-no's.