I’ve heard women
complain that anytime a man is in the room women act differently. I’ve heard
that given as a reason women like to get together with just their girlfriends
because they all are so different when no man is present, no matter how unconscious
of it they may be. (Side note – any time I’ve heard a woman say this, they
never claim to be guilty of it themselves – it’s just their girlfriends who get
weird.)
I never
understood, observed or necessarily disagreed with that claim, but what I have
observed is that there are only two situations where I have found that women
totally ignore me:1 – Parent/Teacher conferences
2 – When they are clothes shopping
Every Parent/Teacher
conference I’ve ever been in with Cheryl where the teacher is a woman, the
teacher talks 90+% of the time to Cheryl. Occasionally they’ll shoot me a
glance maybe just to see if I’m paying attention, but rarely more than that.
But shopping
is the environment in which I have seen some women show a side I have never seen anywhere else,
where they become most aggressive, focused and oblivious to anyone else in
their periphery. It’s a little unsettling. I’ve actually been
taken aback seeing women reach across and in front of someone else who has the
misfortune to be standing between the woman and her prey.
And in the
shopping scenario, it's a little embarrassing to admit, but I was flattered when I noticed that women act differently around me when shopping than they do in other situations.
But now, the obvious question becomes – are men guilty of the same thing? Though I don’t know if guilt is the proper word there. I don’t know that there’s anything wrong with it. In fact, as I say, I think it’s kind of cool.
But as for me?
Yeah, I’m sure I act differently when women are present…I mean, my
buddies do, not me! But now, the obvious question becomes – are men guilty of the same thing? Though I don’t know if guilt is the proper word there. I don’t know that there’s anything wrong with it. In fact, as I say, I think it’s kind of cool.
Yesterday I called a shop where knives, holsters and the like are sold to do a little research, and immediately after asking when something would be available, the guy on the phone said "Is this for you or your husband?"
ReplyDeleteI know that doesn't directly relate to this, but I thought about how blatantly he was implying that it probably wasn't for me because I'm a girl.
I do think both sexes act differently around the gender that they're attracted to.
Final thought: I hope I don't act like an oblivious lunatic when clothes shopping, though I would say there's a very methodical way to shop that may make me seem a little more crazy than normal.
-Becca Jane
OK, so, thanks for the comment, Becca Jane, and after reading it, I realized I needed to go back and edit my post to make it clear I wan't saying ALL women shop that way, but I sure have seen it a lot.
ReplyDeleteBut...Becca - "knives, holsters and the like"?!?!? Uh...well, I'm speechless. We'll tawk. Hey - any chance you and Mark can be at your Mom's when we are there for Wyatt's bday?!
Jamie, I'll be there Saturday evening through Sunday night! Mark can't come, unfortunately...
ReplyDeleteYou go shopping?? With your wife??
ReplyDelete