Monday, February 27, 2006
The Man Thing v The Woman Thing
A joke I heard yesterday noted that had the first astronauts to land on the Moon been women, we'd now be booking condo vacations there - simply because they'd have asked for directions and solved all our earthly problems.
Stereotypes again. Women ask for direction; men persevere. Pluses in both habits, if you ask me.
Today a woman motorist asked me for directions to somewhere I knew, but was hazy on one intersection. I asked if she had a map so I could show it to her. Of course she did - and when she pulled it out she immediately solved her own problem. But no, she wasted both our time by asking for directions.
Since last night I have been trying to work out how to do one tiny thing in the coding of a web page. I've probably spent 8 hours on it. When I could have asked on a forum. Finally I cracked it - having learned quite a number of valuable things along the way.
Pluses and minuses. I felt good after helping the lady get to her destination. And I felt good solving my own problem.
But if either of us had used the other's strength on our own behalf, perhaps the results would have been achieved with a lot less angst and in a lot less time!
Stereotypes again. Women ask for direction; men persevere. Pluses in both habits, if you ask me.
Today a woman motorist asked me for directions to somewhere I knew, but was hazy on one intersection. I asked if she had a map so I could show it to her. Of course she did - and when she pulled it out she immediately solved her own problem. But no, she wasted both our time by asking for directions.
Since last night I have been trying to work out how to do one tiny thing in the coding of a web page. I've probably spent 8 hours on it. When I could have asked on a forum. Finally I cracked it - having learned quite a number of valuable things along the way.
Pluses and minuses. I felt good after helping the lady get to her destination. And I felt good solving my own problem.
But if either of us had used the other's strength on our own behalf, perhaps the results would have been achieved with a lot less angst and in a lot less time!
