On the subject of Men

"I try to be like Grace Kelly, but all her looks were too sad,

So I tried a little Freddie, I've gone identity mad."

I just don't "get" men, and I am one. I don't think I ever have. Maybe it was because I was forced to drive a minivan for a few years, and had all the testosterone sucked right out of me.

Fact is I have always been this way. My women friends will tell you. My men friends will tell you. I am just different. For me, that's okay.

My blogging friend Little Ms. Notetaker recently went out to a social function, which presumably is a place where people want to meet other people. This particular party was even put on by a local radio station for the purpose of singles meeting singles.

See her blog linked to the right for the full story... but, long story short, one of the few desirable men in the room came over and talked to her, and gave her his number. Problem was, the number belonged to a mother whose voicemail cheerily spoke of the family not being able to take the call.

Why in the hell can't men just be honest? I know very few that can. It seems to be a part of the man handbook that to be a man, you have to prove it. Big trucks - are you hauling something or making up for something else. Drink more than everyone else and be obnoxious, what does it prove? Roll through a stop sign or don't even stop, is coffee that important?

Okay, I will admit, women do this too, but it seems like two factors make you more likely to make me go sheesh. The more expensive the car, the more rights you seem to have. The more you make, the more you feel entitled to. Oh, make it a third, if you are a man, you're more likely do all of the above.

So here's the challenge I put to men. Just for a minute, put yourself in their shoes. I don't mean go get a pair of F Me Pumps and parade around in them. (Okay, how many men just went for the gutter while the women went "shoes!") I mean, consider what it is to be gentle. Think of what it means to be emotional. Feel for one minute that you have to work that much harder for things that you might already take for granted.

I can handle men one on one, or in a group of trusted friends, but in a group of "guys," I will probably feel out of place. I guess that is why some of my best friends are women, and why calls for "a guy's night out" rarely come my way.

Doing karaoke, I usually understand songs by women (we've already talked by Amy Winehouse) better than those by the rocking he-men. One of my favorite artists is Mika, whose song Grace Kelly talks about a guy who couldn't win no matter if he was gentle, or a manly man. I understand that one. 

The quote I use the most is "in the battle of the sexes, I can't root for my own side." It sounds like something one might use to pick up women. Well, I have one, and I plan on keeping her.

As my parents taught me, it's okay to be a man as long as you can learn to always put the word gentle in front of it.

Good night Ladies, and Gentlemen!

Yours Truly,

Johnny Blogger