Apologetic explanation

[ICE]

Originally Posted by Mac I hope no one is dumb enough to light up a gas fire place knowing the flue isn't connected

To which I replied:

Half of the population is women.

Several members cringed and I was told: "That was an inappropriate and unprofessional comment."

Well it's not like that is beyond me but hold the horses will ya. First of all it was Mac that called them dumb, not me.

Some of my best buddies are women. They are a bfb in the vernacular of the day. That's why I understand that 99% of women have no clue how a fireplace works. As soon as they hear the part about the colorless, odorless gas, women think, "got it... odorless", "it doesn't stink", "it's not gonna be a mess to clean up 'cause I can't see it", "what am I going to wear to work tomorrow."

You men, think of the smartest, most street savvy, mechanically astute woman that you know. Now remember all of the times that she had an AHA! moment when you clued her in on some of the stuff that men inherently understand and women absolutely don't.

I know it is difficult to remember specific topics but I know you remember that it happens. You remember thinking, "Gosh, I thought she was smarter than this".

Like your Degreed CPA wife that you sat down and explained "OK honey, this is how a can opener works." .........Well that one was me. You should have seen the mangled can. I was surprised that she didn't hurt herself. She wouldn't let me take a picture.

Now and then she bestows an AHA moment. Which brings up her contribution to the education of a man. When I have an AHA moment I see a look in her eye. It's hard to pinpoint the thought behind that look. The best that I can do is guess that she's thinking "He couldn't be that dumb, could he?"

Oh I almost forgot about the apology that went with this explanation so here goes, I am sorry about what Mac said but I can say in his defense that he didn't know what he was doing when he did it.

So do you see that I wasn't being rude to women?

Doggone, Half of the population is women.

 

[steveray]

I see what you were saying.....it was a broad generalization, not a generalization about broads....Right? It has more to do with mechanical aptitude than gender....Which has traditionally been skewed to the male side (and rapidly diminishing)....My brother in law can't hang a picture, good thing my sister grew up with my father and I.....

 

[kilitact]

To which I replied:Several members cringed and I was told: "That was an inappropriate and unprofessional comment."

Well it's not like that is beyond me but hold the horses will ya. First of all it was Mac that called them dumb, not me.

Some of my best buddies are women. They are a bfb in the vernacular of the day. That's why I understand that 99% of women have no clue how a fireplace works. As soon as they hear the part about the colorless, odorless gas, women think, "got it... odorless", "it doesn't stink", "it's not gonna be a mess to clean up 'cause I can't see it", "what am I going to wear to work tomorrow."

You men, think of the smartest, most street savvy, mechanically astute woman that you know. Now remember all of the times that she had an AHA! moment when you clued her in on some of the stuff that men inherently understand and women absolutely don't.

I know it is difficult to remember specific topics but I know you remember that it happens. You remember thinking, "Gosh, I thought she was smarter than this".

Like your Degreed CPA wife that you sat down and explained "OK honey, this is how a can opener works." .........Well that one was me. You should have seen the mangled can. I was surprised that she didn't hurt herself. She wouldn't let me take a picture.

Now and then she bestows an AHA moment. Which brings up her contribution to the education of a man. When I have an AHA moment I see a look in her eye. It's hard to pinpoint the thought behind that look. The best that I can do is guess that she's thinking "He couldn't be that dumb, could he?"

Oh I almost forgot about the apology that went with this explanation so here goes, I am sorry about what Mac said but I can say in his defense that he didn't know what he was doing when he did it.

So do you see that I wasn't being rude to women?

Doggone, Half of the population is women.

I can see where birds of a feather stick together, ring true in this case. Perhaps if you broaden your horizons, just a little.

 

[globe trekker]

A closed mouth gathers no foot!

.

 

[pwood]

my wife was making jello the other night and after 20 minutes of stirring the mix on the stove i had to ask her if she had the burner on:mrgreen: she didn't! i once changed the chain on my chainsaw and put it on backwards. didn't cut worth a dam. yeah, we are both blondes!

 

[LGreene]

At the risk of sounding defensive or coming across as a broad with something to prove, I'll say that I try to avoid generalizing because I know how it feels to be on the receiving end. Mechanical ability is more common in men than women, but there are plenty of men who don't know how a fireplace works - including my husband. If I don't know how something works I read the instructions, take it apart, put it back together, and employ whatever resources I have to figure it out. If he doesn't understand how something works he fires it up and burns the house down.

When I started working in a male-dominated industry in 1986, I had contractors who didn't want me running their projects, coworkers who wouldn't take direction from me, and guys who called on the phone and asked for anyone but me. On one of those calls, when I nicely insisted that I could help him, he said, "Ok - you can help me. I'll have 2 hot dogs and a coffee." None of this was based on my actual ability - it was based on a generalization about the capabilities of women.

Thankfully I have a sense of humor and I've worked my @ss off to make sure I'm as capable as possible. I don't have those problems any more. But I do think that generalizing about either gender can lead to trouble.

 

[Francis Vineyard]

The problem with half of the population is they don't know which is the better half to think with and I'm probably wrong about that half the time.

Francis

 

[mtlogcabin]

The small building department office that I worked in in Fla was all male with a female receptionist. After a year of answering the same question with the same answer the receptionist provided I hung a sign at the front desk that stated

"Do you want to speak to the man in charge or the woman that knows what is going on"?

It caused a few chuckles and provider her with the respect she had earned & deserved

If I don't know how something works I read the instructions,

You know how to read all those foreign languages?

 

[ICE]

I was at the counter when two men arrived with questions. I didn't know an answer to one of the questions regarding a setback requirement so I turned to the lady permit clerk and asked her. She gave us the answer. Well these two men had a conversation in Spanish figuring that none of us spoke Spanish. One of us does.

I shouldn't tell you what they said about me.

Because I had to ask a woman for the answer, I lost all authority to claim manhood and in fact, became a ******* ****.

Did I tell you too much?

When I inspected their work, I didn't want them to feel shortchanged so I did some of my best work ever.

They asked me to explain the corrections.

I told them to go see the woman.