Saturday STAR's lead story about a man who pleaded guilty to felonious wounding after stabbing a man is not really about the money involved.

It is $40, which he had borrowed and then, when he was unable to repay, could not deal with the lender's persistent demands.

It verges on the unbelievable when Collin Goyle, the man before the courts, said he was able to repay only $15 up to the point of the confrontation which led to the court appearance.

But it is not the money that is the point of conflict. It hardly ever is in cases where paltry sums or near insignificant items lead to arguments which then escalate. There are other, more significant, factors involved, among them stress and manhood.

For someone to borrow $40 and then be able to repay only $15 indicates an incredible level of economic stress, which affects many members of the society.

Added to that is the challenge to Goyle's manhood, as he told the court that the lender and his friends had assaulted him.

Not many men will accept the humiliation of being beaten if they can do anything at all to prevent it.

So, when cases like this come up, it must be remembered that the issue is not the tiny (to those who have more) sum of money involved, nor the dumpling, as was the case in a previous incident. There is a high level of stress in the society and men, especially those from the lower- income earning bracket, also face the issue of just how they maintain their self-respect as men.