Newsletter Stories

10/2/02
"Men and Women Shopping"

Has anyone ever noticed how different men and women are when they shop? I know for a fact that Mrs. C. and I are not even on the same planet when it comes to shopping. I can walk around a bike show for 2 hours and be fresh and ready to go. But get me close to the doors of the mall and my feet start hurting clear up to my neck, I get a low grade headache and become lethargic. A man's idea of shopping is this: We get out of the car and say OK, what are we here for? We have to identify what we are here for and where we are going to get it. I project the fastest way to the store through the mall, find what we are looking for, bag the item and head back to the register. All the better if I don't have to try it on. While walking to the register I visually analyze which line is the most productive and moving the quickest so that we can get out of there as fast as possible. Repeat process for next item.

A women goes to the mall for the shopping experience. They are giddy, filled with excitement, and ready to endure this process for several hours at a time if need be, with only a smoothie break in between. They want to go into EVERY store, they want to touch EVERY thing in the store and try most of it on. If you'll notice, the security tags for the women's dressing rooms are 3 digits, the men's side is single digits. This is the point the man needs to be ready with the correct answer to "Does this dress make me look fat?" The correct answer is not: "No fatter than the one before". Once she has decided on several potential items she slowly heads for the checkout counter making one last visual scan around the store to make sure she has seen and touched everything. At the register she tells the checkout girl that her hair is cute and proceeds to discuss the girls family problems with her as she rings up the purchase. The final part of the process is the woman ends up buying a whole lotta stuff today, and tomorrow ends up bringing most of it back. Repeat process for next item.

I'm not saying that either of these are right or wrong. It's just how it is. Men and Women are different. But I have to admit, if you put me in a motorcycle store or a Home Depot, I can take on some of the women shopping characteristics. Mrs. C. and I have a great relationship, but I can tell you that it is not built on shopping together.