So after a busy week, as the weather is grim on the Jura, Mr S and I sat & watched an old favourite this afternoon - The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman

In one scene he asks the daughter of Mrs Robinson to marry him and they have quite a long conversation about blood tests.

Why is this and what happens if you get the wrong results?

Just curious

Uh... I'm guessing you don't have much of a sex life, eh? :-) He's talking about sexually transmitted diseases and such (assuming I remember it correctly). Does that clear it up a bit?

Blood tests are medical exams everyone in the US needs before getting a marriage license.

It used to be in most states that you had to have a blood test for syphilis before you could be married. That's been eliminated in most states now, I think.

Because everyone now has syphilis or because it's now just considered to be a minor STD in the scheme of things?

Yes, they've been eliminated in most states now and were used to check primarily for STDs (it was the 60s, after all...), but also for sickle cell.

Back in the sixties, the citizens of the United States were notorious filth wizards, wallowing in depravity and sin the like of which couldn't even be imagined by your typical Frenchman.

Of course, nowadays, Americans have cleaned up their act and are really quite upstanding and moral.

Not quite as upstanding and moral as the English, of course, but getting there.

I think we should congratulate them for doing so well.

Ok , I think I get the gist of the tests but Mr S is more interested if the Alfa was a 1600

It was one of these, apparently.