The Difference Between Men and Women

Mad Mike

Let's say a guy named Roger is attracted to a woman named Elaine. He asks her out to a movie; she accepts; they have a pretty good time. A few nights later he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy themselves. They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing anybody else.

And then, one evening when they're driving home, a thought occurs to Elaine, and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: "Do you realize that, as of tonight, we've been seeing each other for exactly six months?"

And then there is silence in the car.

To Elaine, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: Geez, I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he's been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn't want, or isn't sure of.

And Roger is thinking: Gosh. Six months.

And Elaine is thinking: But, hey, I'm not so sure I want this kind of relationship, either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I'd have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily toward... I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person?

And Roger is thinking: ...so that means it was... let's see... February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer's, which means... lemme check the odometer... Whoa! I am way overdue for an oil change here.

And Elaine is thinking: He's upset. I can see it on his face. Maybe I'm reading this completely wrong. Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment; maybe he has sensed-even before I sensed it--that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that's it. That's why he's so reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He's afraid of being rejected.

And Roger is thinking: And I'm gonna have them look at the transmission again. I don't care what those morons say, it's still not shifting right. And they better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time. What cold weather? It's 87 degrees out, and this thing is shifting like a garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves $600.

And Elaine is thinking: He's angry. And I don't blame him. I'd be angry, too. I feel so guilty, putting him through this, but I can't help the way I feel. I'm just not sure.

And Roger is thinking: They'll probably say it's only a 90-day warranty... scumballs.

And Elaine is thinking: Maybe I'm just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I'm sitting right next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who seems to truly care about me. A person who is in pain because of my self-centered, schoolgirl romantic fantasy.

And Roger is thinking: Warranty? They want a warranty? I'll give them a warranty. I'll take their warranty and stick it right up their...

"Roger," Elaine says aloud.

"What?" says Roger, startled.

"Please don't torture yourself like this," she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Maybe I should never have... Oh God, I feel so..."

(She breaks down, sobbing.)

"What?" says Roger.

"I'm such a fool," Elaine sobs. "I mean, I know there's no knight. I really know that. It's silly. There's no knight, and there's no horse."

"There's no horse?" says Roger.

"You think I'm a fool, don't you?" Elaine says.

"No!" says Roger, glad to finally know the correct answer.

"It's just that... it's that I... I need some time," Elaine says. (There is a 15-second pause while Roger, thinking as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe response. Finally he comes up with one that he thinks might work.) "Yes," he says.

(Elaine, deeply moved, touches his hand.) "Oh, Roger, do you really feel that way?" she says.

"What way?" says Roger.

"That way about time," says Elaine.

"Oh," says Roger. "Yes."

(Elaine turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last she speaks.)

"Thank you, Roger," she says."

"Thank you," says Roger.

Then he takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn, whereas when Roger gets back to his place, he opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the TV, and immediately becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a tennis match between two Czechoslovakians he never heard of. A tiny voice in the far recesses of his mind tells him that something major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures it's better if he doesn't think about it.

The next day Elaine will call her closest friend, or perhaps two of them, and they will talk about this situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and everything he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression, and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification. They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it, either.

Meanwhile, Roger, while playing racquetball one day with a mutual friend of his and Elaine's, will pause just before serving, frown, and say: "Norm, did Elaine ever own a horse?"

And that's the difference between men and women.

© Dave Barry (I don't know the exact reference!)

angelofdeath

lol, so true:)

Stark

"Did Elaine ever own a horse?" nice one.

Commissar

Originally posted by Mad Mike

"No!" says Roger, glad to finally know the correct answer.

Brilliant.:D

simu

Eh?

Töpher

Genius!

Unpossible

its funny cos its true

zAbbo

more of this

Mad Mike

Originally posted by Commissar

"No!" says Roger, glad to finally know the correct answer.

Brilliant.:D

Yes Commisar that was the line that cracked me up too. This piece absolutely captures my experience of the male-female relationship particularly in the early period.

Any wimmin out there? I'd love to know if it rings a bell from the opposite point of view too?

kmart6

Pure Class:D

AL][EN

rofl good ending!

quank

ROFL!

excellent
thats the best thread ive read this week:D

Havelock

This will be the first time I rate a thread, excellent. Would make an great sketch show piece.

The_Goose

ha ha ha good stuff and so true!!

Mossy Monk

i got lost half way through that

LoneGunM@n

*lol ... It's so true!!

Originally posted by Havelock
Would make an great sketch show piece.

But who would do it justice??

peckerhead

[But who would do it justice?? [/B]

Dunno about the woman, but I vote Hugh Laurie for the man...

Great thread! Someone siad "more like this", so here's the 500-word version...

peckerhead


HER SIDE OF THE STORY:

He was in an odd mood when I got to the pub, I thought it might have been
because I was a bit late but he didn't say anything much about it.
The conversation was quite slow going so I thought we should go off
somewhere more intimate so we could talk more privately.
So we went to this restaurant and he's STILL acting a bit funny and I'm
trying to cheer him up and start to wonder whether it's me or something
else.
I ask him, and he says no. But you know I'm not really sure.
So anyway, in the cab back to his house, say that I love him and he just
Puts his arm around me. I don't know what the hell this means because you
know he doesn't say it back or anything.
We finally get back to his place and I'm wondering if he's going to dump me!

so I try to ask him about it but he just switches on the TV.
Reluctantly, I say I'm going to go to sleep.
Then after about 10 minutes, he joins me and we have sex.
But, he still seemed really distracted, so afterwards I just wanted to leave

but I just cried myself to sleep.
I dunno, I just don't know, what he thinks anymore. I mean, do you think
he's met someone else???....

HIS SIDE OF THE STORY:

**** day at work.
Tired.
Got a shag though....