Eyes Wide Open
I hate stereotypes about men and women. More accurately, I hate falling into those stereotypes because the fact is that I do because they are SO true!
My latest realization that all men are created equal is when I count the amount of times my husband asks me "where is the (fill-in-the-blank)?" Where are my shoes? Where is the mustard? My wallet? My keys? The car parked? The thing is, he will immediately open the fridge and panic. He can't see what he's looking for! But is he truly looking, or is it just easier for him to ask me? He says it's part laziness, and part thinking that I went and moved his stuff. Sometimes he will go into a teenaged-type tizzy, thinking that I threw something away because growing up, his mother used to do that to him all the time.
Which brings me to what I call his "Depression-Era Mentality". I do not throw away his things because he knows exactly what he owns and he would be very, very upset if I so much as toss out the old white t-shirt that says "Bahamas" across the front and has pit-stains. I do not throw anything of his away... EVER. He's a hoarder and believes he needs everything he has. The problem is, he just can't find it when he needs it.
The crazy thing is, I'll usually do know where the thing he's searching for is. I can be on the phone with him and direct him to the right spot. Today, though, I couldn't remember where or if I put something away. Of course, I am the one to put something somewhere, because that equates to cleaning up, and we all know that men do less of that than women. See, I'm back to stereotyping, but I swear it's the truth. It was true for my father, it's true for my brother and it's true for my husband. We women just get so used to getting up, finding the item for the man within a minute, and sitting back down.
Unfortunately, today, on my hubby's birthday, I could not remember if I moved his very important item. He had to rely on his own eyesight. I had to ask him if he was "REALLY looking, like eyes-wide-open-looking on not just scanning the room." He got angry; his day would be ruined if he couldn't locate this thing. He called back a minute later. He found it. And blamed me for moving it.
My latest realization that all men are created equal is when I count the amount of times my husband asks me "where is the (fill-in-the-blank)?" Where are my shoes? Where is the mustard? My wallet? My keys? The car parked? The thing is, he will immediately open the fridge and panic. He can't see what he's looking for! But is he truly looking, or is it just easier for him to ask me? He says it's part laziness, and part thinking that I went and moved his stuff. Sometimes he will go into a teenaged-type tizzy, thinking that I threw something away because growing up, his mother used to do that to him all the time.
Which brings me to what I call his "Depression-Era Mentality". I do not throw away his things because he knows exactly what he owns and he would be very, very upset if I so much as toss out the old white t-shirt that says "Bahamas" across the front and has pit-stains. I do not throw anything of his away... EVER. He's a hoarder and believes he needs everything he has. The problem is, he just can't find it when he needs it.
The crazy thing is, I'll usually do know where the thing he's searching for is. I can be on the phone with him and direct him to the right spot. Today, though, I couldn't remember where or if I put something away. Of course, I am the one to put something somewhere, because that equates to cleaning up, and we all know that men do less of that than women. See, I'm back to stereotyping, but I swear it's the truth. It was true for my father, it's true for my brother and it's true for my husband. We women just get so used to getting up, finding the item for the man within a minute, and sitting back down.
Unfortunately, today, on my hubby's birthday, I could not remember if I moved his very important item. He had to rely on his own eyesight. I had to ask him if he was "REALLY looking, like eyes-wide-open-looking on not just scanning the room." He got angry; his day would be ruined if he couldn't locate this thing. He called back a minute later. He found it. And blamed me for moving it.
posted by Tracy at 6:30 AM
1 Comments:
I had never felt so lost and disorganized than when I first became a single male again. But after several months of this (as well as countless hours of therapy) I can now tell you the contents of my food cupboard and whether or not I'm low on laundry detergent. Ooh that reminds me I need to stop and pick up laundry detergent on the way home.
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