I've uncovered another difference between men and women.
Heather and I were talking about some of the little chores that needed to get done around the house, and one of them was to replace the outside light which had burnt out. The bulb is a 5-inch floodlight that's recessed into the roof over our front porch, and the distance from floor to lamp is 15 feet.
So I surveyed my options and turned to Heather:
M: "Well, I don't know how I'm going to reach that. We don't have a ladder tall enough."
(In my mind, I was softening her up for my "Let's go to Home Depot" sales pitch, where I could then buy a new tool (yay!) and look at all the other fun toys)
Heather considered it for a minute.
H: "Well, I'll go down to the office and see if someone can't come help you with it. I'm sure they have a ladder."
No! See, I wanted to go and make it into an adventure, and turn this into playtime. My wife was looking for a good, economical, social solution where many people did the work and reduced the cost for all. No fun.
Think of it in terms of asking for directions. We don't want to ask for directions because it's become an adventure, and we want to hunt our way to our destination. Women want to reduce the overall cost of the trip and try to involve many people.
Needless to say, we're at an impasse. I refuse to ask for help. Heather refuses to let me buy a ladder. The light has remained burnt out.
I would have been right there with you. I LOVE Home Depot. Yes, I know. I'm not a "normal" female. Because of the business I have chosen to go into, I have become obsessed with tools. I want a mitre saw to cut my own mouldings and an underpinner so I no longer have to use a pneumatic nailer and wood putty. My parents accompany me to art and framing trade shows. My mother loves the art and my dad loves looking at the equipment I can't yet afford.
A while ago, I had an employee at Home Depot show me how to install basement windows for my parents’ house. Since my father doesn't like anyone doing anything for him, I installed the windows while he and my mom were away.
I think more women do not get into fixing and doing things around the house themselves is because of the looks some men give as a female walks into what is generally considered a "man" store. A month or so ago, I was in the tool section looking for wire cutters and needle nose pliers. I am sure I was staring right at them but I couldn't find them. When I asked one of the men that worked there for assistance, he gave me this condescending smile and walked me over to where they were and pointed to the wire cutters and said as if talking to a three year old, "Those are wire cutters and that is needle nose pliers." I had to restrain myself from responding with a nasty remark.
The one thing I want to learn that I don't know is the differences between saws. I know what the different saws look like but I don't know what they do but I know they each serve a different purpose.
Here's a question for you...Why are there so many men who don't know how to fix things, anymore? It drives me to insanity when I know more about tools than a guy.