Serenity now!
Almost everything I write goes under the “Brad” category because almost every story I have to tell includes him in some way. But just so nobody assumes I have nothing to talk about but Brad, let me clear that up. I also have tons to say about myself.
Truth is, I spend 9 hours everday at work, which is pretty much taboo as a blog topic. And the rest of the day is spent by myself or with Brad. I have no family in this town and very few friends. So forgive if I’m the obnoxious girlfriend who won’t shut up about her man, but really, all you’d read about otherwise is what I had for lunch and how long it took me to clip my toenails last night.
To avoid that, here’s another story about the boy and why I love him so:
Brad is so good at handling situations. Whereas I become a crazed woman incapable of functioning when things get even a little off track, he almost always remains calm and steadfast. Case in point. This morning he discovered that his Jeep had been broken into and his wallet and subwoofer were stolen. And the Jeep’s soft top window is destroyed.
Now if this had happened to me, I would have first gotten really pissed and used a few select profanities to express it. Then I would have called Brad, yelled, cried and exclaimed that I just cannot deal with this right now! I would have shut down, unable to figure out what to do and who to call to make it better. I would have insisted that Brad come home right away and help me deal with this please. Then I would have crumbled into a heap and stared at the wall until someone, namely Brad, told me exactly what to do and maybe even did it for me.
That, approximately, is my method for coping with situations that revolve around me.* But Brad is obviously much more capable at being a functioning human being than I am. His reaction to this situation was to calmly call me to let me know what happened, calmly call the landlord and the police, and calmly cancel all of his credit cards. Not once did he yell, cry, pout or stare at the wall. I never even heard him get mad or saw him shake his fist at the injustice of it all.
He handled it. He just handled it. And to me, that is an amazing and enviable talent!
*I’m surprisingly much more calm when I’m not at the center of the situation. I’m pretty good at handling other people’s crises, just not my own.
July 25th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
Have you pinched him lately to make sure he is human? I also become a frezied-non-functioning-human when something goes wrong. Why are guys always The Voice of Reason??
July 26th, 2006 at 7:25 am
See, in other people’s lives, I’m totally the Voice of Reason. People often come to me when their lives are chaotic and they need a little logic and reason. I’m good at that.
It’s just my own life that I can’t get ahold of!
July 26th, 2006 at 7:51 am
I am EXACTLY the same way. You described my pathetic reactions perfectly. I wanna steal your description, in fact. And also, I want to find a man equally in control of things.
July 26th, 2006 at 9:55 am
See, Shannon always is the voice of reason for me when I talk to her about girl problems. She must be able to handle stuff as long as it doesn’t involve personal stress.
In handling bad situations, I’m usually very calm. Sometimes I get really really pissed for about 5-10 minutes, but then I calm down and handle it.
Men seem to handle things better because society expects them to. So they fulfill that expectation. Men are also more logical in most things. That may sound sexist, but I mean… seriously. We all know it’s true. Sure, there are exceptions, but I think most people (both male and female) would agree with me.
July 26th, 2006 at 10:08 am
I have to respond Jason, as I usually do to your comments.
First I agree with the fact that society often expects men to handle things, so they often do. A lot of times I even think that way. Like, I’m a girl, I’m not expected to know what to do when my faucet is leaking. I’ll just ask Brad. Not because he, in reality, necessarily knows more about it than I do (maybe he does, but there’s no guarantee), but because he’s ‘expected’ to figure out what to do, so I know he will. I’m not proud of myself for that, but it’s sometimes true.
On the other hand, I have to disagree with your assessment that men are generally more logical. Granted, women are considered more ‘emotional’ than men, but I know far far too many men who make the dumbest decisions based things not even closely resembling logic. And I know far far too many women who astound me with their astuteness and reason, that I just can’t agree with “we all know it’s true.” I’m not just talking exceptions to the rule here. I’m saying the logical women in my life far outweigh the logical men; and the illogical men far outweigh the illogical women.
Maybe it’s just the line of work I’m in and the people I hang out with.
July 26th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
“Maybe it’s just the line of work I’m in and the people I hang out with.”
Yeah… I hang out with a bunch of male engineers. My female friends are all random people who are not engineers, plus all of my girlfriends have been nutso. So I guess we’re both biased towards our generalizations based upon who we know.
You are the only normal girl I talk to on a semi-regular basis.
Perhaps it’s just that most of the people in the world are illogical and sometimes stupid, and we know a few people who are not.
July 27th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
Also, I meant illogical instead of nutso. Only one went nutso.
August 1st, 2006 at 10:07 am
Yeah, that sounds like Kev and me as well.