A Plea To Husbands and Boyfriends...

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sammygirly: So....I don't drive.  I have a little phobia, but I just tell everyone I'm spoiled and prefer to be driven  ;D

The other day I was on the way to the gym with my girlfriend and as we were leaving the parking garage we notice suddenly that the car seems to be lowering gradually on my side.  Not really an ego boost for me on the way to the gym and we joked that it's a good thing that's where we were headed (only a VERY good girlfriend can make a joke like that boys, keep that in mind)  At any rate, we get out on the road and we hear this terrible 'flub-bump, flub-bump' sound.

Being me, I hang out the window, look ahead and what do you know - the car has a VERY flat front tire.

Do we stop driving?  Oh no, we keep going, conversing on the best way to deal with this problem.  After five minutes of conversation on the dangers of a flat, we finally pull into a mall parking lot....where we spend ten MORE minutes trying to figure out if she has a spare tire or not.  After perusing the trunk of her new car and affirming that yes, there IS a spare - but gee it looks too small to fit the car, do you think they made a mistake putting that one in? ...

We each respectively called a man (her father, my gay best friend) to come help us.  Both of whom laughed, pointed and lectured us the whole time the tire got changed.

My plea - for the love of god don't laugh at your wife/girlfriend for her lack of car knowledge!  

Teach her!  Teach her how to change a tire and don't leave her alone until you know she KNOWS how.

Please.

This should never happen to another woman...

 

[Pecker]

Believe me, Sammy, I tried teaching her.

It ended up costing me $50 per year for a roadside assistance plan.

Pecker

(The Worst You Ever Gave Me Was the Best I Ever Had)

 

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mindseye: Bully for you for not driving -- too many drivers out there anyway; I've been car-free for over 10 years. Not due to phobia in my case; in fact, I'll occasionally rent a car when I have to travel out of town, but I live in a town with really good public transportation;

But your story reminded me of this old joke -- I hope you haven't seen it before. The way I heard the joke, both drivers were women -- but if that offends anyone, please feel free to modify the joke:

---

Her VW Beetle wouldn't start, so this woman gets out of the car and looks around for help. After a few minutes, another woman comes by and says, "I drive a car just like this! Maybe I can help?"

The first woman says, "My car won't start, but I've figured out why! Look," she says, opening the hood, "someone stole my engine!!"

The second woman gasps, but says, "That's okay, honey, it turns out I have a spare in my trunk!"

 

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aj2181: If I try to lecture my girlfriend she'll slap me up side the head. So naturally I don't do that anymore. I'm sure they didn't mean to sound like a lecture.....they both have your safety at heart.

 

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AnonyMs: might I expand on this plea to include a whole host of other things you guys seem to innately know and we women do not?

Like that thingie with the toilet where you change it out and the toilet quits running.....

like how to fix the faucet so it does not drip....

I'll add more as I think of them....

 

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GreenEyes: How to turn on and off the fuse box

How to change the air tube thing for clothes dryer

How to turn off the water for the hose outside

How to change a light bulb (no not from a lamp) the ones in a wall with a fancy cover

How to turn on the heat

How to cork the bathtub

How to hedge the bushes (plants - get your mind out of the gutter) without killing them

How to turn on a snow blower and get it ready for winter

How to use an electric saw wihtout cutting any fingers off

How to pump gas

How to change the oil

How to fix your car if you run out of gas... you know that gas in carb or something like that.

How to split the cable wire

How to hook up certain entertainment systems including computer

How to undrain a pipe

How to replace the rubber part in toilet bowl

How to spackle

Ok most on the list I have accomplished in my years of living ... boy do I miss some of those fingers.

 

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aj2181: [quote author=GreenEyes link=board=99;num=1062334490;start=0#5 date=08/31/03 at 13:27:35]
Ok most on the list I have accomplished in my years of living ... boy do I miss some of those fingers.

[/quote]


You go Girl!

I'm ashamed to say I have no clue how to do quite a few things on that list. (My eyes roll with embarasment : )

 

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sammygirly: I can do the toilet thing Nony!!

I fixed one all by myself once!  Replaced the guts and stuff and man was I proud for weeks.  Everyone who visited got to see my new toilet innards.  ;D

...as for the driving thing...trust me when I say Max is determined to "fix" that....argh.

Another to the list: Explain how you just KNOW where all those cables go to expertly hook up the DVD/TV/VCR/STEREO/2 game consoles and surround sound......??

 

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gigantikok: Generally DVDs/TVs and other electronic equipment that hooks up to a TV comes with a cable that has three different colored ends. Just plug the ends into their respective, color-coordinated holes. Then pick up the remote, press the "TV/Video" button, and voila. Not rocket science. Just match the colors, Sammy.

 

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GreenEyes: "gigantikok Posted on: Today at 3:59pm
Generally DVDs/TVs and other electronic equipment that hooks up to a TV comes with a cable that has three different colored ends. Just plug the ends into their respective, color-coordinated holes. Then pick up the remote, press the "TV/Video" button, and voila. Not rocket science. Just match the colors, Sammy."

He says that with such ease...... ???

So you take this wire thingy and put it in that hole thingy and then you connect this thingy with that... hmmm wait it sounds a little bit like sex.

 

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sammygirly: ~just nods prettily~

 

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gigantikok: [quote author=GreenEyes link=board=99;num=1062334490;start=0#9 date=08/31/03 at 16:19:06]
So you take this wire thingy and put it in that hole thingy and then you connect this thingy with that... hmmm wait it sounds a little bit like sex.

[/quote]
Funny how phallic and sexual most electronic/man-made equipment is...

 

[jdoe86]

Sammy, I used to run an auto repair shop and I did my best to educate the women who came in. I did this for a number of reasons. One reason was to keep them informed enough to understand the repairs and not feel that I was taking advantage of them. Another reason was related to the situation that you had. To know enough about cars that they would not be stranded or cause more damage by not understanding the car. Nuf said...I also used it as an opportunity to flirt.

 

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GreenEyes: "Funny how phallic and sexual most electronic/man-made equipment is... "

Ya noticed that too ;D

geo8x6 no harm is every done with a little flirting. Besides they got free car advice. What more would a woman want.

 

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RedheadedSpdFrk: I must be the exception...I can do all of those things except the snowblower thing. I don't even know what a snowblower looks like...no snow in Vegas. I hate feeling helpless and don't want anyone to assume that I'm unable to do things myself because I'm a woman. I almost want to host some classes for women on how to do certain "guy things" (tire changes, etc) just so that they know how. Knowledge is power.

But I'm not opposed to using my sexuality to get some guy to help out. I have on more then one occasion shown a bit more cleavage and batted my baby blues to get a tire or battery changed (or get out of a speeding ticket ) but it was only because I didn't want to get dirty.

I set up my own home theater...just a question...was the color coding on the RCA plugs done so you don't have to read the directions?

 

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awellhungboi: You know, one of the many things I love about women is their general strength and capablility to do whatever they set their minds to.  A woman who can really take care of herself is such a turn-on to me.  Most of my girlfriends have been real go-getters in the real world, and then amazingly gentle and yielding in the bedroom.

Hmm, hold on, I'm getting all teary eyed.

 

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7x6andchg: What I think is funny:

Most of the stuff on Greeneyes's list....I learned to do from my mother.

We had a 1983 Toyota Tercel that was abot 35% bondo (a material used to cover over rust holes) - which MOM had done, for example.

Most of the things you ladies are discussing are things that generally fall into our bailiwick as men - so I would tend to think that unless you ask (or read directions), it'll just keep getting passed down the male side of the family tree...so please ask, would be my advice.

But your point is well taken - I never ever make anyone feel bad for not knowing something they don't know - perhaps she/he hasn't been exposed to it, and literally doesn't know.

7x6&C

 

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wvalady1968: I don't flirt to get guys to do something for me. Not that I'm against it; I just don't do it that well. I was raised overly pampered and told that I couldn't do things cause I was a girl. I really hated that. When I was a kid, I really believed that boys were smarter or possessed some innate something that girls lacked. [Don't go there. It's tit for tat. ]

Until I realized that all it takes is training and/or brains.

I change tires and CAN change the oil. I've installed ceramic tile on my bathroom walls and around the stove in the kitchen as a splash guard. I can paint and wall paper almost professionally, although I hate painting trim.

There are very few things that I can't do eventually if the instructions are well written. When I helped my guy replace the bathroom sink, I'm the one who finally fingured out how to plumb the darn thing. The instructions made us crazy, plus by that time it was late Saturday night and we were tired. I finally figured out that they'd skipped a step in the intructions, perhaps assuming that people would KNOW to do that??

Instructions are even harder to follow now, since they all seem to be written in about four languages, so no one is left out. It makes the manual seem more complex, and since the manuals are getting smaller, the tiny print makes it all worse.

 

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7x6andchg: Or even if they are written in English - it's badly translated Engrish from some other language..

"For to be putting part A into receptable B until the noise of the clicking is audible....then division C and D are joined by fusing with the collage."

Or some such...I've gotten many a laugh from instructions like that.

7x6&C

 

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wvalady1968: True, Paul, true!!