News

With four impressionable, young children at home, I don't watch the news much any more.  I do, however, enjoy reading the news from the homepage on my computer throughout the day, keeping myself current on local and world events.

Long ago, it struck me that some of the craziest news headlines could only involve men....Man jumps from rocks at lake and misses water....Man tries surfing on mattress tied to roof of car, falls onto freeway and is run over....Naked man diverts US Airways flight.  You just don't see these types of stories where women are making the news in such interesting ways. I've commented on this numerous times to my husband asking, "Why is it that you men give zero thought to what might happen if your plan fails?"  He doesn't appreciate being stereotyped like this, but he can't provide a good rebuttal either.

I've used this same theory at the playground before. You'll see a small child teetering on the spindle-top of the 8 foot playground equipment and all the moms at the playground will run over to surround the equipment should he fall. The child, who obviously came with his father, is oblivious to the crowd gathered below while his dad, who is sitting across the playground reading the paper, looks up and tells the hysterical moms, "Oh, he's fine. He'll figure out how to climb down." Men tend to be reactionary while women are much more proactive, which is why I never allowed my husband to take our kids to the playground, when they were little, unless I went along. It's true.

I guess this is why my husband and I make a good team. I think things all the way through while he doesn't pre-think anything. (See the post, Hair)  I also participate in what I call "failure analysis." Having grown up with an engineer for a father, there is much logic and analysis that goes into most things I do. If something goes wrong, I usually study the failure with the goal of not repeating it in the future.  My husband, and I'm sure he's not alone, is famous for saying, "What are the odds that it will happen again?" With my logic and his odds-making, we work together well, typically preventing reoccurring catastrophes.

This morning, I woke up and sat down to read the news on my computer, as I do each morning. One headline caught my eye. I'm not one who gravitates toward the extreme or the National Enquirer type of news. I don't even read People magazine.  This morning, I could not help but click on the headline, Woman Attempts Plastic Surgery On Own Face. I admit, I kept going back to the word woman. My mind kept reading it as man. This story, as sad as it is, broke all of my previous stereotypes.

The doctor in the article blames the economy for this poor woman's failure to think this all the way through. Personally, I don't care how bad the economy is. There is absolutely no way that I am going to attempt any kind of surgery on my own face. Just going with the odds here, I think her husband must have suggested it.

Comments

[Randall]

Hey, wait a minute. You mean to tell me that all those things I have been reading about blonde women are not true??? Those are quite good situational comedies! Hmmm, I can’t imagine a man could have penned them, because they are too well written. Now Sheila, I know in the past that your college gave all the accolades and attention to your blonde teammates during your heyday, but going so far as to write and circulate dumb blonde jokes about them………..How could you? Randall :-)

[S]

You always keep me on my toes, Randall! I'm not sure what you are reading, but it sounds interesting. I used to be blonde so I am careful not to "label" people based on things like hair color. (They do NOT have more fun, BTW.) Perhaps I can find an article about a brunette, red head or the like. Forgive me?