So of course we all have things we do well and those we don’t—traits and gifts and all those sorts of things. We’re better at some efforts and try to steer clear of the ones we’re not. And some of us realize that more clearly than do others.
A dear friend of my brothers’ and mine who now lives in Tucson planned to come to town to visit his folks. So he emails my bro Gary and me to schedule a time to see us while here. No big deal, right? Mike’s gonna be here nearly a week, so even all us busy folk can figure this out.
So the joint emails flow between the 3 of us. And I could only sit back and laugh as the guys tell each other why a certain date or time won’t work for them. But that’s all they said! No, ‘but what about this time,’ etc. No ‘how about this day, or we could do it closer to you in your time frame.’ And both emailing me privately about what to do. Baffled.
I mean, really? Their parameters were pretty clear. So I email and say, looks like this date and time will work for all. Voila! It did. And Mike said, “Leave it to a woman to get it organized.”
Well, duh. LOL. Because women are, after all, gatherers. While men are still flailing about trying to bag the wooly mammoth, we’re already sitting down to eat the harvest.
And while I know Feminists preach against these generalizations (and I confess, I am a Feminist! It’s not a four-letter word to me), oft times in the interest of making our lives better, folks get diverted on the politically correct track and lose all sanity.
Men are wired differently from women. Yes, another news flash (reference Five Keys for Understanding Men!). For instance, most men I know do a great job of spacial organization (like packing the car). I suck at that. But give me an event to organize, and it’s done in nothing flat, while the guys stand around scratching their heads (I’m sticking to PG-rating here) and wondering who needs to do what when.
The guys I know are actually great at organizing hunting endeavors. “I’ll take this blind and you take that one.” But unless there’s going to be something to shoot, well, getting everybody to the same restaurant on time is beyond their ken.
And that’s fine. As long as they know it. Kinda like back to the car-packing scenario. I make packing lists, get it all together, and then let the male of the species fit it all in the van.
Division of labor. It works for me. I bet it works for you too. It’s not that we can’t get those out-of-our-skill-set things done. We can. I can get the stinking van packed. And hopefully actually find what I need when I get to the destination. Hey, as long as I arrive with the correct dogs to show, all is good. And the guys I feel certain would have eventually met up at the same place and time (well, maybe. They’ve failed before!). But as long as we’re all involved, why not do what we’re best at, and save time and energy for actually enjoying each other?
So go slay that beast and bring back the bacon. In the meantime, I’ll have harvested from my garden and cooked up enough so that if said game isn’t abundant, no one will starve. Bon Appetit!
How do you get along with the opposite sex?
